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    The Forgetting Time: A Novel
    The Forgetting Time: A Novel
    The Forgetting Time: A Novel
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Forgetting Time: A Novel

    Written by Sharon Guskin

    Narrated by David Pittu and Susan Bennett

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Noah wants to go home. A seemingly easy request from most four year olds. But as Noah's single-mother, Janie, knows, nothing with Noah is ever easy. One day the pre-school office calls and says Janie needs to come in to talk about Noah, and no, not later, now - and life as she knows it stops.

    For Jerome Anderson, life as he knows it has stopped. A deadly diagnosis has made him realize he is approaching the end of his life. His first thought - I'm not finished yet. Once a shining young star in academia, a graduate of Yale and Harvard, a professor of psychology, he threw it all away because of an obsession. Anderson became the laughing stock of his peers, but he didn't care - something had to be going on beyond what anyone could see or comprehend. He spent his life searching for that something else. And with Noah, he thinks he's found it.

    Soon Noah, Janie and Anderson will find themselves knocking on the door of a mother whose son has been missing for eight years - and when that door opens, all of their questions will be answered.

    Sharon Guskin has written a captivating, thought-provoking novel that explores what we regret in the end of our lives and hope for in the beginning, and everything in between. In equal parts a mystery and a testament to the profound connection between a child and parent, THE FORGETTING TIME marks the debut of a major new talent.

    The program features an interview with the author.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Audio
    Release dateFeb 2, 2016
    ISBN9781427268174
    The Forgetting Time: A Novel
    Author

    Sharon Guskin

    SHARON GUSKIN lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two sons. The Forgetting Time is her first novel.

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    Reviews for The Forgetting Time

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    • 4/5
      Finished book today and i really did enjoy it I stayed up far to late last night reading it!I liked the storyline and the characters Although i am open minded, its not necessarily my belief however it still was a page turner and the right length i would recommend it with out giving anything away i thought the ending well thought out and fitting.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This was a story so interesting I would give it more stars if I could. I don’t believe in reincarnation but this is certainly a story that makes you think about it...
    • 4/5
      Author Sharon Guskin has created an engaging story that juxtaposes two very different people - an elderly, widowed professor suffering from a form of aphasia that will eventually rob him of his ability to understand language and a five year old child haunted by vivid and disturbing memories of a prior life. A man who will soon be unable to remember and a child who is unable to forget.This book is not at all the sort of thing I normally gravitate towards. I've never read Jodi Picoult or Nicholas Sparks nor, for that matter, any other bestselling author targeted to a female audience. And as an atheist, I make a point of completely avoiding Judeo-Christian propagandist clap-trap like Heaven is Real. And yet, something in the description of The Forgetting Time spoke to me, maybe it was the vaguely fantastic element of reincarnation [which is a huge part of the story]. For whatever reason, I decided to give it a go and was rewarded with a tight, well constructed story and a bunch of very believable and relatable characters.Psychiatrist and researcher Jerome Anderson is in a race against time after receiving a dire diagnosis. Marginalized by the scientific community for his years of research into reincarnation, he must find a current American case study in order to convince an editor to publish his life’s work on the subject. This quest ultimately leads him to two very different families. Jane Zimmerman, a middle-aged single mother in Brooklyn is struggling to help her young son Noah, who is exhibiting disturbing behavioral issues, including an intense fear of water, apparent delusions and night terrors. And in Ohio, Denise Crawford is trying to come to terms with the fact that her beloved youngest son Tommy, who disappeared ten months earlier, may never return. Fate brings them all together and enables them to answer seemingly unanswerable questions, resolve their issues and heal their wounds.Through the various characters, Guskin illustrate the basic human need for connection, whether it be a mother's overwhelming love for her child, the constant, tacit negotiations between a husband and wife or, on a larger scale, the professor's burning need to communicate his message to the world before it's too late. In addition to all that, it's also a sly murder mystery, which imbues the book with a page-turning urgency. For me, the most enjoyable thing about this was the author's obvious affection for all of her characters. Nearly everyone has their chance at the forefront of the story so we fully understand their points of view. The reader is even given the opportunity to see through the eyes of the ostensible "antagonist" of the piece, so that he becomes a fully realized human being and not some caricature of evil. Perhaps I'm a bad person (or is it just that I'm not a mother?) because I admit I was mostly annoyed by Noah, the little boy who acts extremely bratty and fears water to the extent that he won't even wash his hands, let alone bathe. The semi-frequent references to his "sour" smell due to the never washing as well as his wholesale destruction of his mother's social life tested my patience to the max, but in the fullness of time, I found sympathy for him. Even despite that, I really enjoyed this book.I would say it definitely has bestseller written all over it. And next? Maybe Hollywood.
    • 4/5
      The Forgetting Time: A Novel by Sharon Guskin; (4*)This debut novel was fascinating to me. The characters were clearly drawn and they behaved as they 'should', being that particular character. I found it so interesting; this 'study' of children with memories from another life which they had inhabited. How uncertain their young lives must have seemed and how very difficult it must have been for their parents and families to attempt to help them.This is the harrowing story of little Noah and his mother Janey. Although I don't believe the story specifically states it, I had the distinct impression that Noah was the result of a one night stand. Two lonely persons meeting at the beach, one named Jane and the other Jeff, walking along the beach, talking through the night and having a sexual encounter. This image stuck with me through out the novel and when we met up with a Dr. Jerome, not Jeff, Anderson, I was still convinced. I suppose it is the romantic in me that continued to search this book for that revelation as I read. Though I am not a believer of reincarnation, I found this a lovely read and look forward to something new to come along from Sharon Guskin.
    • 4/5
      Sharon Guskin delivers a spellbinding debut THE FORGETTING TIME —a reincarnated spirit of a murdered child –A psychological mystery, with a paranormal/literary twist-- can a piece of us be carried inside someone else? Janie Zimmerman, finds herself pregnant after a brief encounter (one-night stand) with a stranger, and now, Noah is four-years-old, and begins to experience bizarre behavior, even though highly intelligent. The pre-school and Jane are both concerned. He becomes difficult, and is kicked out of school. He is not crazy. He does not like baths and is afraid of water. He speaks of another mother—he wants to go home to his mother? Does he have love within him from another person?She attempts to address this situation by visiting psychiatrists and specialists resulting in draining Janie’s savings and in a tentative diagnosis of early-onset schizophrenia. She is overwhelmed and frustrated. She begins researching specialists, with alternative, scientific, or more "out of the box" thinking. Dr. Jerome Anderson, a psychologist - has been studying young children who seem to recall details from previous lives. Dr. Anderson has his own problems with aphasia, a form of dementia that involves the gradual loss of language. He has written a book, and needs another case for more history to complete. However, he may not have a lot of time left. Soon Noah, Janie, and Anderson will find themselves on a journey--knocking on the door of a mother whose son has been missing for eight years - and when that door opens, all of their questions will be answered. Denise Crawford lost her nine-year-old son six years ago. Her life has been torn apart, as well as her marriage. Another bond between a mother and son. How do the two connect? Quotes and references to: Life Before Life: Children's Memories of Previous Lives by Jim B. Tucker (Author), Ian Stevenson (Foreword) presents the cases in a straightforward way and explores the possibility that consciousness may continue after the brain dies. A provocative and fascinating book that can challenge and ultimately change readers' understandings about life and death. Was reminded a little of Eight Minutes by Lori Reisenbichler, The Other Life by Ellen Meister, The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson. —Reincarnation with a different twist. The belief in past lives and the use of perceptions and knowledge of these to help with one's current life is central to the New Age movement. Sometimes you have to make the best of what you have. You will fall in love with Noah and the desperate need of Dr. Anderson. From despair, sorrow to hope, and love—a mother who wants desperately to understand. Two families drawn together by higher forces for an intriguing twist of paranormal. When lines are blurred between two worlds. Memories, meditation, forgetting, connections, and letting go. Strong bonds between mothers and sons. “Focus on the Love.”I listened to the audiobook —the presentation was mesmerizing and almost hypnotic, performed by Susan Bennett and David Pittu. The novel proposes many thoughts. What happens to us after death is perhaps the greatest mystery of life. One belief is that we reincarnate; that there is life, after life.Beautifully written. Look forward to more from this new author!
    • 4/5
      Quite an amazing undertaking as a topic for a novel. The author has decided to tackle the topic of reincarnation. On top of that, she adds murder, loss, parental separation, child behaviour problems and degenerative aphasia. All of these topics affect one or more of the main characters in her novel. I listened to the audiobook and felt the depth of the emotional trauma experienced by the families of the main characters. The narration is well done. The author has also weaved “true cases” from the novel “Life before Life: Children’s Memories of Previous Lives ” by Doctor Jim Tucker M.D. into her novel which certainly does make the reader question the possibility of reincarnation regardless of prior beliefs. This novel will make you think long after you finish reading/listening.
    • 5/5
      If I could give this book six stars (our of five) I totally would. How's this for a teaser:Noah is four and wants to go home. The only trouble is he's already home.The Forgetting Time by Sharon Guskin is the story of Noah and his Mum Janie. Noah has nightmares, begs Janie for his real mother and keeps asking when he can go home. Nobody can tell Janie what's wrong with her son despite visiting a whole host of specialists.This novel covers themes of identity, death, mental illness, the possibility of re-incarnation and children who may (or may not) remember their previous life as well as an overarching theme of a mother's love for her son.This topic is right up my alley (having read Children Who Have Lived Before: Reincarnation Today by Trutz Hardo last year), and exploring the themes through this novel was a absolute thrill for me. At times I felt The Forgetting Time was written especially for me!Sharon Guskin has clearly done her research and I knew I was in expert hands. I can't believe this is her debut novel; wow, what a way to burst onto the scene! Her writing is polished, and I admire her for extending the ending beyond what I was expecting. I got so much more out of The Forgetting Time than I thought possible.I can't wait to see what she writes next and I have no doubt she'll be my favourite debut author of 2016.Awesome, amazing, I loved loved loved it!* Copy courtesy of Pan Macmillan Australia *
    • 5/5
      so different... really good. I had a hard time putting it down.
    • 4/5
      The Forgetting Time delves into the issue that is reincarnation. Focusing on many different characters, we get to see how these memories from one of the character's past life affect everyone around them and keeps you questioning if you, yourself, believe in rebirth. This book was definitely a page turner for me. I recall crying due to some things that happened in the book - especially that ending - and laughing because Noah was the cutest at times. Going into this book, I did not know what I was expecting, but it was a very enjoyable read and I would for sure re-read it sometime soon.
    • 3/5
      The blurbist on the front of this book is Jodi Picoult, so that was promising. And in Picoult fashion, the author has found a fascinating topic to weave a tale around: childhood memories of previous lifetimes. She even includes excerpts from a nonfiction study on the subject alternated with her fictional characters. Just learning about the existence of this subject made reading the book worthwhile. Janie Zimmerman is a single mom of Noah, who is a difficult child to say the least. At four, he is recalcitrant, has night terrors, an irrational fear of water (and bathing) and a precociousness that makes it hard for him to fit in socially with his peers. He is dismissed from multiple daycares and preschools and scares off scores of nannies and now various mental health professionals, and Janie, who runs her own remodeling firm in Brooklyn is at the end of her rope. Noah's typical lament is that he wants to "go home" and he wants "his mama", despite Janie's reassurances that she is his mother and 99% of the time they are home because he is so difficult to take out in public. Nothing soothes him (except TV). While online researching an anti-psychotic drug prescribed for Noah she stumbles upon the work of Dr. Jerome Anderson who has devoted his life's work to investigating children's former lives. This is really a thing and for some reason (cultural, mainly) is predominant in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and India, ("In India, they understood that life unfolded the way it unfolded, whether you liked it or not...One life ended, a new one began, maybe it was better than the last one, maybe it wasn't...they accepted this the way they accepted the monsoons or the heat, with a resignation that was like simple good sense.") with a few isolated cases in America. ("Americans couldn't help but cling tightly to the life they were living like clutching a spindly branch that was sure to break...") First Janie has to wrap her head around this concept, then she has to trust Dr. Anderson that pursuing this will actually help Noah. An interesting contrast is that Anderson is suffering from terminal aphasia, so while his work is uncovering and delving into Noah's memory, he is methodically losing his own. From Janie's point of view "memory can be a curse." but for Anderson it is grace. How Noah and Janie's lives collide with the family Noah claims to remember and belong to is another interesting twist and leap of faith. Despite this wealth of material, the writing was a bit clunky and didn't always ring true, and the characters trended toward one-dimensional, so really this was more of a 2.5.
    • 5/5
      I had NO IDEA what this book was about - I read it for my book discussion group and LOVED IT! Fascinating - of course, I do believe in "life before life" or reincarnation - and I liked the way the story flowed and the characters were people you could care about - GREAT, quick read!!
    • 5/5
      I listened to this book on audio disc, I did not realize that it was abridged until later. In many of the reviews that I have read, the readers got bored and gave up. But I was fascinated all through the story. Maybe boring books should be abridged.The child psychiatrist in this had an ongoing research study about child who may have had the reincarnation of someone in the past who died with a violent death. His credentials of his educational background were great but when the more he studied reincarnation, the more ridiculed his publications became. Dr. Jerome Anderson acquired a terrifying disability later in life. He had Primary Progressive Aphasia. As time goes on he was his ability to communicate. There is no cure or any treatment that can slow it down. It is very rare and few people are aware of it.I am interested because I have Mild Cognitive Impairment and know frustrating it is to think of a word but forget the name of it! The experience is scary for me so it must very disturbing for a person with the much worse diagnosis.The mother of the child in this story, Janie, has a little boy named Noah who had fiercenightmares of drowning. When he is upset he says that he wants to go home and see his mother, not Janie who he calls Mommy Mom. When Janie reaches a stage of desperation when she is told that her child might be schizophrenic. she contacts Dr. Anderson. Could her son be the reincarnation of another child?I highly recommend listening to the abridged version of this story. It will give you so much to think about.
    • 4/5
      Although the book is a work of fiction, the reincarnation story is interesting. I enjoyed the mystery involved. The author did a great job creating characters the readers care about.
    • 4/5
      Fascinating book. Every mother thinks their child is unique. But when Janie's four year old son, Noah, starts talking about a previous life, she knows this is way beyond unique. I really connected with the characters, mostly because I have a son around the same age as Tommy and Noah. I've never read anything quite like this. Even though I don't believe in reincarnation, it was fun to imagine the possibility.
    • 3/5
      The Forgetting Time by Sharon Guskin is a quick read and one I should have loved but found just average. I was a bit worn out with the child’s antics, but perhaps not having children myself (except fur babies) made me less tolerant of his behaviours. I felt this novel tried hard to have a deep psychologically driven storyline, but in the end, while unique, I know it won’t stay long with me....a problem I sometimes encounter with modern fiction.
    • 4/5
      I can’t begin to imagine how it would feel to have your child remember another mother. Not only to remember her but to pine for her and constantly ask when she is coming. This is Noah’s story. A child who remembers his past life, a child who wants to go home. This book was at times heartbreaking and at times full of joy but always it was fascinating. A great read. 👍
    • 5/5
      Four-year-old Noah is always surprising his mother, Janie, by knowing things children his age don’t generally know; he’s never been an “ordinary” child. Janie believes he makes up stories and thinks the things of his nightmares are from his overactive imagination. But there’s his unsettling request to go home to his other mother. When Noah begins talking about shooting guns, about being underwater, held there and unable to breathe, his preschool teachers become concerned. They insist on a psychiatric evaluation for Noah and Janie’s world tumbles into disbelief.Jerome Anderson’s life comes to a screeching halt when he receives the devastating aphasia diagnosis. There are still things he wants to do, questions for which he still seeks answers. He abandoned a promising career to investigate children who remembered past lives. Despite the ridicule of his colleagues, Jerry is convinced there is something beyond what we see or comprehend and he’s spent his life searching for a case that would prove that belief. And Noah may be that case.Mesmerizing and intriguing, Janie’s quest for answers for her son will captivate readers. The riveting narrative speaks to the things that matter most as it explores connections and reveals the lengths to which mothers will go for their children. It’s a suspenseful exploration of lives marching inexorably forward. The characters, well-drawn and believable, will touch readers’ hearts as the evocative tale unfolds its thought-provoking exploration of hope, regret, and the meaning of the most important things in our lives. Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      What I enjoyed about this novel was the emotional depth that the author portrays. Dealing with an unnatural phenomenon like the one depicted in this story is emotional enough, but when you throw in a mother's love for her child? You know it's going to be powerful when that happens. And it is. Guskin weaves accounts of real cases into the story and makes the reader question everything they know about life, death, and the afterlife. If you are looking for a poignant and deep novel, then this is the one for you!
    • 4/5
      Precocious 4-year-old Noah was the result of a one night stand. Although a loving mother, Janie has had a difficult time raising Noah. Bath time is a battle usually associated with fighting, yelling and tears. He uses words to describe interests that he has never been exposed to. Recently, he has begun requesting his other mother. Janie has taken Noah to various specialists, including a psychiatrist, only to receive few answers. After watching an interview with Dr. jerome Anderson, who was discussing his research on reincarnation, she game him a call.Jerome is not without his life struggles, too. He has recently been diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia, a progressive form of dementia. He fears that time is quickly running out for him to complete a book summarizing his life's work. Can Jerome, who feels awareness slipping away, help a skeptical mother find the solutions for what is troubling her son?If you are a fan of Jodi Picoult novels, you will like Sharon Guskin's debut novel. It portrays well the anguish of a mother trying to help a troubled child and the grief of another mother grieving over a missing child. The periodic inclusion of excerpts from actual cases of children remembering previous lives added verisimilitude to this work of contemporary fiction.
    • 3/5
      Reincarnation is an idea that makes sense to me. I'm just not a YOLO girl, and karma sometimes needs more than a lifetime to get things straight. I was interested to see how this book handled it all. The historical snippets inserted in the book were interesting but broke my train of thought from the story, except for the final one, which, too late, I realized could possibly tie in. The story was good, with some great details, but I did find myself skimming some passages. Even so, I pretty much read it in a day, so it wasn't bad, just did't enthrall me the way I'd hoped.I think there are fragments of past memories of past lives that can filter through into our current one. How else to explain how as a 2 year old girl I was convinced I had a husband named Rudy and could talk about him, but he wasn't an imaginary friend. I've also visited places I've never been and had memories of them in other times in history. The world and universe is deeper than we know.
    • 5/5
      There was something about the cover of this book that drew me in, and then the story quickly grabbed me as well. This is the sort of book that makes you start to wonder and think about and to find out that there is some research in the area makes it even more so. I liked the interlocking effect between Noah (and family) and the doctor. As things progressed there were some elements that didn't feel as natural (the first family, for example), but overall the book came together in a really interesting way and what an ending. Very enjoyable.
    • 5/5
      I liked this story very much. A mystery, a psychological portrait (a good description of a troubled child and the exhaustion that runs with that), a primer on one kind of possible reincarnation, and finally, a rumination about love and the world around us. Because if someone we love, or if we ourselves, can move into another person after we die, then who's to say that the people around us couldn't be someone we loved once or will love again? That might lead us to treat others gently, which is something we could all use in today's world.
    • 5/5
      Nothing is easy with Noah! He's only 4 years old but has so much fear of water, it's almost impossible to give him a bath. He has such bad nightmares, that they scare his mother, Janie as well. They're doing as well as possible until Noah's pre-school calls Janie in and tells her that he needs professional help before he can come back to school. Jerome Anderson has been a researcher for his entire life. However, he's now been diagnosed with a disease that makes desperate to finish his life's work. They need each other. I don't want to spoil anything, but this is an excellent debut novel. I will be watching for Sharon Guskin's next book! Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      This was a great, different story---yes, unique, as another reviewer commented. I'm always delighted to find a book that provides an expansion in my thinking about a topic and in this it was a view of a mother/child relationship that is quite original and really thought-provoking. Definitely an author to follow because this is only her first novel and hopefully there are many more to come. My only tiny but funny problem was that I was listening to this as a CD and when Susan Bennett, a great reader, came to the parts where Jamie is calling out for Noah, her son.....she really DOES call out and playing this CD on a speaker system almost scared me with how LOUDLY she called!!!
    • 4/5
      Janie is a single mother to Noah, an usually precocious 4 year-old with chronic nightmares of drowning. Janie is also perplexed by Noah's constant requests for his "other mama" and his desire to "go home". After telling his preschool teacher that he had a gun and was shot, the school contacts Janie and encourages her to get Noah professional help. Janie's desperation to find help for her son leads her to Dr. Anderson, a retiring psychiatrist who had spent his career studying reincarnation memories in children. Although skeptical, Janie agrees to try to track down the clues Noah had given them to find his other mother and what had happened to him in his past life. I found this to be a thought-provoking fictional account of an American child with unexplained memories of a past life. Between chapters, the author inserted real life (non-fiction) accounts from research about childhood memories of reincarnation, which added interest to the story. Although I found the last 20% of the novel to be a little tedious, as the story was basically over and it involved wrapping up loose ends, I liked the novel and found it was an excellent pick for our book club to discuss and hypothesize about death and reincarnation. I have to admit, it made me become more open to the idea that reincarnation may indeed by a possible and regular occurrence that our culture has overlooked due to skepticism and inconsistency with our Western cultural paradigms of life and death.
    • 5/5
      Janie is a single mother to 4-year-old Noah. His behaviors begin to become extreme -- he has consistent nightmares about drowning, he tells Janie he wants his "other Mommy", and he begins having frequent meltdowns. The staff at the preschool he attends basically kick him out, stating that he shouldn't return until things get under control. Janie seeks out various psychologists who don't really give her the answers she's looking for. When she discovers an online video clip featuring Dr. Jerome Anderson, who has done research on reincarnation and whose previous subjects display similar characteristics to what Noah is experiencing, she seeks out his help.I enjoyed this novel, primarily because it was unique and made me think. I'd not previously read anything -- fiction or non-fiction -- about reincarnation. Reincarnation is one of those subjects that I dismiss pretty easily. An interesting concept, but not something I'd take very seriously. Sharon Guskin manages to write a fairly believable story about "What if....". The story has several layers, with several different plot lines, but she manages to weave them together in a mostly cohesive manner. As a debut novel, it was not flawless, but impressive enough to definitely make me look forward to any future works by this author. I look forward to my next book club meeting, as it should lead to thoughtful discussion.
    • 5/5
      When it comes to reincarnation, I’m like Mulder in “The X-Files” – I want to believe. What a wonderful concept to think that we have another life ahead of us with a second chance to live a better life. Noah is a 4-year-old boy who lives with his single mom, Janie. She has always thought that he was precocious as he seemed to know about things he was never taught. But his terror of bathing is getting worse as is his longing for his “other mother” and his desire to go home, even when he’s in his own bed with Janie beside him. When the school gets involved, Janie knows that something more must be done to help her child.Jerome Anderson is a psychology professor who has been diagnosed with aphasia and is gradually losing words and his understanding of language. He longs to have enough time to finish his work researching children who have memories of previous lives. Noah may be the child whose memories can help Jerry finish his work.This is a book for everyone, no matter what your beliefs may be regarding any type of afterlife. It’s beautifully written and will touch your heart in so many ways. But be prepared to have your mind opened, if it isn’t already, to the possibility of lives other than the one you’re living at the moment. This fictional novel is very believable and contains quotes telling of actual case histories of children with memories of previous lives from the book “Life Before Life” by Dr. Jim Tucker.This is Sharon Guskin’s first novel and it’s obvious that she’ll have quite a career ahead of her. This book has so many layers to it. It’s a thought-provoking study about reincarnation. It’s a suspenseful murder mystery. It’s a story about the strong bond between a mother and child. It’s the story of a man losing both written and spoken language and facing the end of his life. It’s about the connections that humans have to each other.Highly recommended.