Name: Remember Me Like This
Rating: 5 (2 reviews)
Author: Bret Anthony Johnston

About this book

Summary

Book Summary

A gripping novel with the pace of a thriller but the nuanced characterization and deep empathy of some of the literary canon's most beloved novels, Remember Me Like This introduces Bret Anthony Johnston as one of the most gifted storytellers writing today. With his sophisticated and emotionally taut plot and his shimmering prose, Johnston reveals that only in caring for one another can we save ourselves.

Four years have passed since Justin Campbell's disappearance, a tragedy that rocked the small town of Southport, Texas. Did he run away? Was he kidnapped? Did he drown in the bay? As the Campbells search for answers, they struggle to hold what's left of their family together.

Then, one afternoon, the impossible happens. The police call to report that Justin has been found only miles away, in the neighboring town, and, most important, he appears to be fine. Though the reunion is a miracle, Justin's homecoming exposes the deep rifts that have diminished his family, the wounds they all carry that may never fully heal. Trying to return to normal, his parents do their best to ease Justin back into his old life. But as thick summer heat takes hold, violent storms churn in the Gulf and in the Campbells' hearts. When a reversal of fortune lays bare the family's greatest fears - and offers perhaps the only hope for recovery - each of them must fight to keep the ties that bind them from permanently tearing apart.

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Media Reviews

"Johnston has a talent for drawing well-rounded characters, although verbal excess weighs down the novel's pace. In the end, this is a convincing and uplifting portrait of a family in crisis." - Publishers Weekly

"Starred Review. Despite the dark subject matter, this is ultimately an uplifting reading experience owing to the believable love and warmth of the family, with all their flaws and weaknesses." - Library Journal

"Their interior monologues slow the momentum, and it takes a bombshell to shake things up ... A crisis erupts that is more manufactured than inevitable... Johnston struggles to balance the family regrouping with the external threat, but his fine detail work augurs a bright future." - Kirkus

"It is as a writer that I admire the architecture of Remember Me Like This, the novel's flawless storytelling. It is as the father of three sons that I vouch for the psychological authenticity of this depiction of any parent's worst fears. Emotionally, I am with this family as they try to move ahead - embracing 'the half-known and desperate history' that they share. I love this novel." - John Irving

"In this deeply nuanced portrait of an American family, Bret Anthony Johnston fearlessly explores the truth behind a mythic happy ending. In Remember Me Like This, Johnston presents an incisive dismantling of an all-too-comforting fallacy: that in being found we are no longer lost."—Alice Sebold

"You could say that this book is ripped from the headlines, but that wouldn't be fair. Bret Anthony Johnston's riveting novel picks up where the tabloids leave off, and takes us places even the best journalism can't go." - Tom Perrotta

"Both devastating and transporting, this is the rare novel a reader lives in, so persuasive is the impact, the insight, the heat of south Texas." - Amy Hempel

"This mesmerizing story of loss and redemption on Texas's Gulf Coast will take you in and hold you and not let go until it's done with you, leaving you wiping at your eyes with the kind of soul-gratitude that comes only after experiencing true art." - Andre Dubus III

This information about Remember Me Like This 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 review

Celia Phillips

Surprising Family Saga
Bret Anthony Johnston is the Creative Writing Director at Harvard. I am not surprised, as this, his debut novel, is a very creatively crafted offering: plot and characters both.

A young boy, Justin Campbell, is missing. This book examines the feelings of the family while he is missing and after he is found. Some heady stuff here.

It is hard to dislike any of the characters, despite the fact they are flawed. Most important they are searching for the truth during and even after Justin is found. We hear the story from many voices, even though, ironically, never from Justin himself. Interesting approach by this author and makes one consider why he did this. I too was continually impressed with the non-judgmental love the parents, grandfather and brother showed.

The story takes place in Corpus Christi, TX, Johnston's home town. Eric, the father, is a teacher. Laura, the mother, is a volunteer at the local dolphin rescue. Griff, the younger brother is an avid skate boarder.

There is an incident that involves the coping of a swimming pool at the old, abandoned Teepee Motel. This is where Griff skates his board. I mention this because coping has a double meaning, the edge of a pool which one grabs to emerge from the pool AND the ability to withstand a challenge. Johnston admits he did not even see that coming. Johnston says in an interview published at the end of the book:

"But in the book, according to certain readers, the word “coping” takes on a more nuanced definition. It’s a word I’ve heard all my life as a skater—coping, coping, coping—but the novel was almost done before I started hearing that piece of language as it would apply to Griff and Justin and their family. Who knew? Not me. I couldn’t have planned something like that. I wouldn’t want to. I’d rather wait for the book to surprise me, to change the way I view—and hear—the life around me."

If you read this book, please do not skip this interview. It is a pleasure to read entirely on its own.

I felt totally engaged with the characters as I read and experienced this book. As a result, I recommend it to all readers who enjoy a family saga ingeniously rendered.

5 stars

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