Sign up for our newsletters to receive our Best of 2024 ezine!

What readers think of The Forgetting Time, plus links to write your own review.

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reading Guide |  Reviews |  Beyond the book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

The Forgetting Time by Sharon Guskin

The Forgetting Time

by Sharon Guskin
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (3):
  • Readers' Rating (31):
  • First Published:
  • Feb 2, 2016, 368 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Feb 2017, 368 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Reviews

Page 2 of 4
There are currently 31 reader reviews for The Forgetting Time
Order Reviews by:

Write your own review!

Nikki M. (Fort Wayne, IN)

Five glorious stars!
This novel was fascinating, thought-provoking, page-turning magic. It has been a very long time since a novel has touched me so deeply. Beautifully done!
Diane C.

Both fantastical and logical
Guskin's debut novel deals with a subject that's hard to wrap my head around - memories of a past life so vivid that they have survived the mysteries of death and birth. But she captures readers with believable emotions and well-plotted rational. The two main characters, Janie and Anderson, are very different from each other, sometimes at odds and at other times in sync. The combination of the two, Janie's intelligence bent by raw emotion and Anderson's emotions flooding out years of logic and intellect, give the story a robust perspective. Guskin is a talented writer, and I'll be on the lookout for her sophomore novel!
Judy K. (Conroe, TX)

What a pleasant surprise!
When I picked this book up, I didn't know what to expect, knew nothing about it. If I had, I probably would've passed, thinking it was too "new-age-y" for me. But, what a delightful surprise when I found myself absorbed in the story, turning pages long after I should've been asleep, wanting to get more deeply involved. Without giving anything away, let me say, this story sucked me in. Once I figured out what the overlying subject matter was (something I would've rejected out of hand), it was too late. I was hooked. Great story, clever writing, enlightening and highly recommended.
Power Reviewer
Sandra H. (St. Cloud, MN)

Who Are We--
Sharon Guskin's "The Forgetting Time" posits the theory that we that we can take on or absorb the life of another. Focusing on Janie, a single mother, and the child, Noah, she conceives on a week's vacation, plus a lonely scientist, Dr. Jerome Anderson, suffering from aphasia who has spent his life studying the belief that life after death can exist, Guskin's writes an enthralling novel.

Noah is suffering from the belief that he has another life and struggles with the two personalities that war within him. The novel details Janie's attempt to find a solution to her son's agonies and Anderson's attempt to prove his thesis using Noah's struggles. While this sounds dark and deep, it becomes instead a beautifully written story of love and loss.

Guskin's novel offers much for book groups to discuss. Don't pass this up!
Shirley L. (Norco, LA)

Interesting Story with an Inspirational Message
Some stories are difficult to break in to. Not this one. From page one, the author opens wide an entire assortment of characters for our reading pleasure.
The plot is entertaining. The characters are believable, complex and well formed. The message is beautifully delivered, softly, not with a sledgehammer.
Life is precious. We are all related to each other. An idea we have all heard before; it is told here in a clear, interesting and beautiful story. I loved it.
Sherrie R. (Fort Worth, TX)

Fantastic Read!
The writing was fluid, the story so mysterious that I couldn't put it down. I was captivated by Janie, Noah, and Anderson, their relationships with each other and their journey. It is a mesmerizing read that will stretch your mind with all its possibilities that you may never have dreamed possible. When I wasn't reading it, I was constantly thinking about it- what was to come. So many questions- what did I think, can this be real, always wanting to know more!
Book Clubs will LOVE it! Movie possibilities?
Grace W. (Corona del Mar, CA)

Not to be forgotten
Sharon Guskin's debut book, The Forgetting Time, is an excellent read and extremely well written. The plot is fast paced. The characters are vividly portrayed and highly engaging. Beautiful themes of living in the present moment and forgiveness punctuate the story-line. This story of reincarnation and of life being lived to the full will haunt your memory long after you finish this book.
Laure R.

WARNING LABEL REQUIRED - GREAT READ
A great read that I simply could not put down! A single mother, willing to go to great lengths to help her small child's deep distress with unexplained, tragic memories that defy all logic.

Beautifully written, with characters who leap off the pages. Ever since finishing this book, I find myself daily thinking about the possibilities in the way we view our past and our future.

I can't wait for more from this author. I will just be better prepared to be totally absorbed in the read. Thank you, BookBrowse, for an author I likely would not have found otherwise. It's that good!

Beyond the Book:
  Dr. Ian Stevenson

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Small Rain
    Small Rain
    by Garth Greenwell
    At the beginning of Garth Greenwell's novel Small Rain, the protagonist, an unnamed poet in his ...
  • Book Jacket: Daughters of Shandong
    Daughters of Shandong
    by Eve J. Chung
    Daughters of Shandong is the debut novel of Eve J. Chung, a human rights lawyer living in New York. ...
  • Book Jacket: The Women
    The Women
    by Kristin Hannah
    Kristin Hannah's latest historical epic, The Women, is a story of how a war shaped a generation ...
  • Book Jacket: The Wide Wide Sea
    The Wide Wide Sea
    by Hampton Sides
    By 1775, 48-year-old Captain James Cook had completed two highly successful voyages of discovery and...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
In Our Midst
by Nancy Jensen
In Our Midst follows a German immigrant family’s fight for freedom after their internment post–Pearl Harbor.
Who Said...

Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.

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

Wordplay

Big Holiday Wordplay 2024

Enter Now

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.