Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve
Lisa Kenway’s debut thriller is a worthy addition to the genre. She is an anaesthetist so has studied the brain, consciousness and memory as part of her qualification. Her depth of knowledge in this area gives a vivid authenticity to the behaviour of the chief character in her novel.
Dr. Clare Carpenter has been seriously injured in a car crash that resulted in her acquiring a brain injury with diminished memory, particularly of around the time of the accident. Her trauma is worsened by the news of the death of her husband, Ray, who was with her in the car. They have been married for close to two years after falling passionately in love and deciding to do this after a very brief relationship. This naturally generates questions as Clare is plagued by her limited experience in truly knowing her husband.
In the days following the accident she gradually learns fragments of the puzzle surrounding him. She imagines she loved him but the links binding them are superficial. Although they both enjoyed watching Rom Coms, and she admired his cooking skills, there were long silences which perturbed her. Ray had the unusual pastime of medieval combat, engaging with other males in combat in a remote bush setting. Clare is intrigued and attracted to this and her attempts to delve into these activities provide another twist.
There is the police investigation into the crash which casts more doubts into Clare’s already confused mental state.
In order to return to her work as an anaesthetist at the Sydney Hospital, she undergoes consultations with a psychologist and she uses this as an opportunity to try to recall the details of the days close to her accident.
Facts emerge of the puzzling presence of blood on Ray – not his nor Clare’s.
Other characters, a menacing pair of brothers, Troy and Brent, add a threat that living alone in a bush land setting ensures sleepless nights and anxiety bordering on paranoia.
However, there is much reason for her to sink into this state. Bring passion, jealousy, drugs, the arms trade, undercover police, and distant crime families into the plot and her terror is credible.
Some of Clare’s behaviours are erratic and disturbing. Her one-night stand is risky and careless. Was this a woman discarding the rigours of a demanding profession or the result of her brain damage?
Lisa Kenway nicely balances the frightening steps Clare takes to regain her recent memory. The presence of the two elderly neighbours, kind and supportive, bring slight relief, while a cat, Lance, wanders through the plot. The descriptions of the beauty of the Blue Mountains environment gives an air of normalcy as she becomes more desperate and confronts reality.
One of the biggest challenges in writing a successful thriller is arriving at a conclusion that is convincing and satisfactorily flows from the buildup of tension.
In her first attempt to do this, Lisa Kenway has succeeded with a deft and remarkable skill. It makes the enigma of the title, an invitation of sorts, one that will not disappoint.
All You Took From Me
[2024]
by Lisa Kenway
Transit Lounge Publishing
ISBN: 978 192302 312 3
$32.99; 336pp