In a book club and starting to plan your reads for next year? Check out our 2025 picks.

Book Summary and Reviews of If I Forget You by Thomas Christopher Greene

If I Forget You by Thomas Christopher Greene

If I Forget You

by Thomas Christopher Greene

  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Readers' Rating:
  • Published:
  • Jun 2016, 256 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About this book

Book Summary

Two former lovers reconnect in this beautiful and haunting tale of great lost love from the critically acclaimed author of The Headmaster's Wife.

Deeply affecting and compulsively readable, The Headmaster's Wife was a breakout book for Thomas Christopher Greene. Now, Greene returns with a beautifully written, emotional new novel perfect for his growing audience.

Twenty-one years after they were driven apart by circumstances beyond their control, two former lovers have a chance encounter on a Manhattan street. What follows is a tense, suspenseful exploration of the many facets of enduring love. Told from altering points of view through time, If I Forget You tells the story of Henry Gold, a poet whose rise from poverty embodies the American dream, and Margot Fuller, the daughter of a prominent, wealthy family, and their unlikely, star-crossed love affair, complete with the secrets they carry when they find each other for the second time.

Written in lyrical prose, If I Forget You is at once a great love story, a novel of marriage, manners, and family, a meditation on the nature of art, a moving elegy to what it means to love and to lose, and how the choices we make can change our lives forever.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"Greene's candid tale of true love besieged by insurmountable hardship, only to be rekindled later in life, is delicate and tender, providing readers with a gentle escape and soulful interlude." - Booklist

"Just finished reading it. Liked it! I'll be hand selling this one." - Clay Belcher, Signs of Life Books. St. Lawrence, KS.

"WOW. What a book! I finished If I Forget You this morning. I thought it was a great love story, emotionally taut in all the right places." - Tina Panik, Avon Free Public Library. Avon, CT.

"Greene writes his characters so well and portrays Henry's longing so beautifully that the reader can't help but be touched by their predicament. This absorbing and unexpected love story was a delight to consume." - Claire Benedict, Bear Pond Books. Montpelier, VT.

"We all want to believe, don't we, that a lost love will find us again, and change everything? Thomas Christopher Greene's If I Forget You is just that, Romeo and Juliet, if they had lived, Rhett and Scarlet, if she hadn't been so blind, and Rick and Ilsa, if the world hadn't been at war. Romantic, full of yearning, and hopeful, this is an unapologetically passionate tale about the kind of enduring love we dream about when we are young." - Robin Oliveira, New York Times bestselling author of My Name is Mary Sutter and I Always Loved You

"Piled-on melodramatic elements (an overbearing father, an act of violence) and a pat ending threaten to undermine the care with which he has created two believable and empathetic characters. Nevertheless, readers will be rooting to see Henry and Margot together again despite the odds." - Publishers Weekly

This information about If I Forget You was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Lea Ann M. (Seattle, WA)

If I Forget You
What an interesting book. Mr. Greene has a way with words that catches and holds my attention. This tale of the "star crossed lovers" is as well written as was The Headmaster's Wife. I realize that some readers are put off by an author who switches characters and/or time and both are done in If I Forget You. However, the story is so compelling, the characters sympathetic and the chapters short enough that I doubt many folks would be thrown off by this way of telling a rousing good story. Henry and Margot become like good friends whom we sometimes wish we could take by the napes of their necks, and shake some sense into them. But, the story is better as it is told by the author. Our sympathies surround each of them as we watch their lives unfold and wonder just how it will all end for each of them. Do read this book. You will be glad that you did and you will want to share it after you have done so.

Daryl B. (Poolesville, MD)

Lovely, touching story
I loved this book! It was hard to put down as I was drawn to both the main characters. I was especially touched by Henry. I liked the ending but was surprised by Margot's confession. Brought the book "Love Story" to mind -rich boy falls for poor girl. I would recommend this for book clubs, beach reads or a great weekend read.

Cheri S. (Newburgh, IN)

Irresistible Love
Destiny: noun: a predetermined course of events often held to be an irresistible power.

Is there such a thing? Does it exist? And is love the power behind it – or is it fear? And is it part of our destiny to not only love someone but to also love ourselves?

Thomas Christopher Greene's latest novel, If I Forget You, begs you to search from within to see what you believe while being drawn into a lyrical telling of a story of love.

Greene's masterful use of alternating mindsets is paired perfectly with his seamless story telling despite a constant change of time-frame. No other author of recent note has perfected that often-used format as beautifully and fluidly as Greene.

In a classic case of opposites attract, Henry Gold – a man driven by integrity, raised in quite ordinary circumstances, possessed of an artistic soul and rich in all things other than money, is drawn to Margot Fuller – his opposite in all ways, save one – her equally undeniable penchant for him and him alone. In direct contrast, Margot has unending financial wealth, was raised with no moral guidance other than 'public image is everything,' and is self-centered and somewhat hedonistic.

Their love is a transforming force in Margot's life and she is forever changed. And Henry, always valiant and true, has his heart and soul thrown into the refiner's fire more than once because of this unconditional bond they share. But challenges emerge and choices are made that put love, honesty and truth to the test.

One of the greatest challenges we all have is facing our truth – finally being completely honest with yourself and with those who matter most to you. If I Forget You inspires us to try.

Deborah P. (Dunnellon, FL)

If I Forget You
I was not aware of the authors first 4 novels but was lucky BookBrowse offered "If I Forget You" for review. The impression I had was this was a love story. It is, but it is so much more in the hands of the author,Thomas Green. It is this reviewer's opinion that the author's use of alternate chapters allows the story to flow so smoothly that at times it was almost poetic. Green's choice of topic, character development and smooth writing style held my attention to the last word. I look forward to his next offering and have ordered his prior novels.

" If I Forget You" is a well written novel to be read and enjoyed anytime and would make a beach vacation memorable.

Jean N.

If I Forget You
I thought this novel was beautifully written, with lyrical prose sprinkled throughout the book. This was a love story of two young people from entirely different backgrounds who lived separate lives for years, and met each other unexpectedly later in life. I liked the way it was written, from both viewpoints, and alternating the past and the present. The story both kept my interest and touched my heart.

Kathleen J. (Charlotte, NC)

Enduring love and personal growth.
I love this story. I could not put the book down. The writing flows seamlessly and surely as it reveals the secrets of two lovers as they reunite years after their first love affair. Both characters suffer grief when they are forced apart. One has to question decisions made by both, but seldom is there wisdom in youth. Both characters grow and find themselves as they reunite later in life. Some questions go unanswered at the end of the book. However, both characters find strength through grief and disappointment and are set on a path to fulfilling their personal talents.

...22 more reader reviews

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

Thomas Christopher Greene Author Biography

Thomas Christopher Greene is the author of four novels: Mirror Lake, I'll Never be Long Gone, Envious Moon and The Headmaster's Wife. His fiction has been translated into eleven languages and has won many awards and honors. In 2007, Tom founded the Vermont College of Fine Arts, a top fine arts college, making him the youngest college president in America at that time. He lives in Montpelier, VT, with his family.

Link to Thomas Christopher Greene's Website

Other books by Thomas Christopher Greene at BookBrowse
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

More Recommendations

Readers Also Browsed . . .

more literary fiction...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket
    The House of Doors
    by Tan Twan Eng
    Every July, I take on the overly ambitious goal of reading all of the novels chosen as longlist ...
  • Book Jacket: The Puzzle Box
    The Puzzle Box
    by Danielle Trussoni
    During the tumultuous last days of the Tokugawa shogunate, a 17-year-old emperor known as Meiji ...
  • Book Jacket
    Something, Not Nothing
    by Sarah Leavitt
    In 2020, after a lifetime of struggling with increasingly ill health, Sarah Leavitt's partner, ...
  • Book Jacket
    A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens
    by Raul Palma
    Raul Palma's debut novel A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens introduces Hugo Contreras, who came to the ...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

H I O the G

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.