{"id":5064,"date":"2025-12-08T04:35:49","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T04:35:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=5064"},"modified":"2025-12-08T04:35:49","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T04:35:49","slug":"before-i-forget-by-tory-henwood-hoen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=5064","title":{"rendered":"Before I Forget by Tory Henwood Hoen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tory Henwood Hoen\u2019s sophomore novel arrives as an unexpected gift\u2014a story that transforms the devastating reality of Alzheimer\u2019s disease into something surprisingly luminous. Before I Forget<\/em> follows twenty-six-year-old Cricket Campbell as she returns to her family\u2019s Adirondack lake house to care for her father, Arthur, whose dementia has progressed to the point where he no longer recognizes his own daughter. What begins as an act of familial duty morphs into something far stranger and more wonderful: the discovery that as Arthur loses his grip on the past, he gains an uncanny ability to glimpse the future.<\/p>\n

This is Hoen\u2019s second novel following The Arc<\/em>, and it demonstrates a marked evolution in her craft. Where her debut explored the pressures of modern romance and career ambition, Before I Forget<\/em> ventures into deeper emotional territory, blending literary fiction with touches of magical realism to explore how we construct meaning from loss.<\/p>\n

The Architecture of Grief and Grace<\/h2>\n

Cricket Campbell embodies a particular kind of millennial malaise\u2014she\u2019s spent years drifting through wellness jobs and geographical locations, unable to root herself anywhere since a tragedy upended her teenage years. Her return to Catwood Pond isn\u2019t just about caregiving; it\u2019s about confronting the ghosts she\u2019s been running from for nearly a decade. The novel\u2019s genius lies in how it positions Arthur\u2019s memory loss not as pure tragedy, but as an unexpected liberation for both father and daughter.<\/p>\n

Hoen writes with remarkable emotional intelligence about the paradoxes of dementia. Arthur may not remember Cricket\u2019s name, but he retains something deeper\u2014an intuitive wisdom that seems sharpened rather than dulled by his condition. When he begins offering prophetic insights to desperate visitors who make pilgrimages to their remote property, the novel shifts into its most enchanting register. These aren\u2019t parlor tricks or feel-good platitudes; Arthur\u2019s prophecies carry genuine weight, helping people reframe their traumas and envision new futures.<\/p>\n

The oracle project that Cricket and her father develop together\u2014complete with bibliomancy, cold plunges in the frozen pond, and ceremonial elixirs\u2014walks a delicate line between whimsy and profundity. Hoen resists the temptation to explain away the magic; instead, she lets it exist as both metaphor and genuine mystery.<\/p>\n

A Daughter\u2019s Journey from Hollow to Whole<\/h2>\n

Cricket\u2019s character arc forms the emotional spine of the novel. She arrives at Catwood Pond depleted, stuck, and ashamed\u2014qualities that feel authentically rendered rather than manufactured for narrative convenience. Her decade-long estrangement from her father and from this place stems from a New Year\u2019s Eve accident that killed her first love, Seth Atwater. The guilt she\u2019s carried has calcified into a kind of paralysis, leaving her unable to move forward or to believe she deserves happiness.<\/p>\n

Cricket\u2019s transformation unfolds through:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reconnecting with the natural world and the rhythms of the seasons
\nBuilding unexpected community with locals like Carl and Paula
\nRediscovering childhood dreams of becoming a veterinarian
\nLearning to be present with her father without the burden of who he used to be
\nFinding romance with Max, Paula\u2019s nephew, that feels earned rather than convenient<\/p>\n

What makes Cricket\u2019s journey compelling is its messiness. She doesn\u2019t heal in a linear fashion; she backslides, makes questionable financial decisions, and struggles with her controlling mother and overachieving sister Nina. Hoen resists easy redemption narratives, instead showing how healing happens in spirals\u2014returning to painful moments from new angles until they finally begin to shift.<\/p>\n

The Alchemy of Memory and Forgetting<\/h2>\n

Hoen\u2019s treatment of Alzheimer\u2019s is both heartbreaking and surprisingly hopeful without veering into sentimentality. She captures the daily indignities and sorrows\u2014Arthur forgetting his daughter\u2019s identity, repeating questions, getting confused about basic tasks\u2014while also exploring what might remain when explicit memory fades. The novel suggests that beneath our conscious recollections lies something more essential: the imprint of love, the residue of who we\u2019ve been to each other.<\/p>\n

The magical realism element serves this thematic exploration beautifully. Arthur\u2019s prophetic abilities emerge as his conventional memory dissolves, suggesting that perhaps our rational minds sometimes obstruct deeper forms of knowing. When he predicts a woman\u2019s career change or helps a grieving father process trauma, he\u2019s not performing miracles\u2014he\u2019s accessing a kind of unfiltered empathy that his deteriorating filters allow.<\/p>\n

This philosophical approach extends to the novel\u2019s treatment of grief. Cricket\u2019s unresolved mourning for Seth becomes a lens through which Hoen examines how we carry the dead with us, how trauma can freeze us in time, and how true healing requires integration rather than forgetting. The eventual appearance of Seth\u2019s mother, Jill, provides one of the novel\u2019s most moving sequences\u2014a scene of mutual grace that offers Cricket something better than closure: understanding.<\/p>\n

Where the Novel Loses Its Footing<\/h2>\n

Despite its considerable strengths, Before I Forget<\/em> occasionally stumbles under the weight of its own ambitions. The pacing can feel uneven, particularly in the middle section where the oracle project gains momentum. Some readers may find the transition from intimate family drama to quasi-public phenomenon happens too quickly, straining credulity even within the novel\u2019s magical realist framework.<\/p>\n

Areas where the novel falters:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The subplot involving Cricket\u2019s former boss Gemma and the proposed commercialization of the oracle feels underdeveloped and somewhat predictable
\nMinor characters like Cricket\u2019s mother occasionally read as types rather than fully realized people
\nThe resolution of certain plot threads\u2014particularly around Cricket\u2019s vocational direction\u2014arrives with almost too much neatness
\nThe romantic storyline with Max, while charming, doesn\u2019t quite achieve the emotional depth of the father-daughter relationship<\/p>\n

Additionally, readers seeking a more conventional narrative about Alzheimer\u2019s may find the magical realism elements too fanciful. Hoen\u2019s approach won\u2019t resonate with everyone, particularly those who prefer their literary fiction firmly grounded in realism.<\/p>\n

A Voice That Lingers<\/h2>\n

Hoen\u2019s prose style deserves special mention. She writes with a conversational ease that belies considerable craft\u2014sentences that feel effortless but carry substantial emotional freight. Her descriptions of the Adirondack landscape are particularly vivid, capturing both its austere beauty and its capacity for transformation across seasons. The novel\u2019s structure, moving through a full year at Catwood Pond, allows Hoen to use seasonal change as both backdrop and metaphor for Cricket\u2019s internal journey.<\/p>\n

The dialogue sparkles with authenticity, particularly in exchanges between Cricket and her father. Hoen has a gift for capturing how relationships persist even when recognition fades<\/a>\u2014the cadences of affection, the muscle memory of love.<\/p>\n

Who Will Cherish This Story<\/h2>\n

Before I Forget<\/em> will resonate most powerfully with readers who:<\/p>\n

Appreciate character-driven literary fiction with gentle magical elements
\nHave experienced or are experiencing a loved one\u2019s cognitive decline
\nEnjoy coming-of-age stories that recognize adulthood as an ongoing process
\nValue novels that explore family dynamics with nuance and compassion
\nSeek stories about finding purpose through unexpected paths<\/p>\n

This is ultimately a novel about the courage required to return to the places and people we\u2019ve fled, to face our failures and grief, and to discover that redemption often looks different than we imagined. It\u2019s about the peculiar grace that can emerge when we stop trying to hold onto what\u2019s slipping away and instead open ourselves to what wants to emerge.<\/p>\n

Finding Companions on the Shelf<\/h2>\n

Readers drawn to Before I Forget<\/em> might explore:<\/p>\n

\u201cStill Life\u201d by Sarah Winman<\/strong> \u2013 Another novel blending everyday magic with themes of found family and second chances
\n\u201cThe Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry<\/a>\u201d by Rachel Joyce<\/strong> \u2013 For its tender exploration of late-life transformation and redemption
\n\u201cThe Midnight Library<\/a>\u201d by Matt Haig<\/strong> \u2013 Shares the theme of rediscovering purpose and possibility
\n\u201cRemarkably Bright Creatures<\/a>\u201d by Shelby Van Pelt<\/strong> \u2013 Features healing through unexpected connections and coastal setting
\n\u201cThe Memory Police\u201d by Yoko Ogawa<\/strong> \u2013 For readers intrigued by the philosophical dimensions of memory<\/p>\n

A Verdict Worth Remembering<\/h2>\n

Before I Forget<\/em> isn\u2019t a perfect novel, but it\u2019s an affecting one. Hoen has crafted a story that honors the complexity of caregiving, the mystery of consciousness, and the possibility of transformation at any stage of life<\/a>. While some plot elements feel formulaic and the pacing occasionally drags, the novel\u2019s emotional core remains strong. Cricket\u2019s journey from drift to direction, from guilt to grace, earns its hopeful resolution. This is a book that trusts its readers to sit with ambiguity, to find meaning in both remembering and forgetting, and to believe that even our most painful losses can become portals to new beginnings.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tory Henwood Hoen\u2019s sophomore novel arrives as an unexpected gift\u2014a story that transforms the devastating reality of Alzheimer\u2019s disease into something surprisingly luminous. Before I Forget follows twenty-six-year-old Cricket Campbell as she returns to her family\u2019s Adirondack lake house to care for her father, Arthur, whose dementia has progressed to the point where he no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5064"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5064\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}