A Ballantine Books Trade Paperback Original | New York Times bestseller | Target Emerging Authors Pick
In Emily Colin’s exquisite debut novel, perfect for the fans of Kristin Hannah, one man’s vow to his wife sparks a remarkable journey that tests the pull of memory and reaffirms the bonds of love.
Before Madeleine Kimble's mountaineer husband, Aidan, climbs Mount McKinley's south face, he makes her a solemn vow: I will come back to you. But late one night, Maddie gets the devastating news that Aidan has died in an avalanche, leaving her to care for their son-a small boy with a very big secret. The call comes from J.C., Aidan's best friend and fellow climber, whose grief is seasoned with survivor's guilt . . . and something more. J.C. has loved Maddie for years, but he never wanted his chance with her to come at so terrible a cost.
Across the country, Nicholas Sullivan wakes from a motorcycle crash with his memory wiped clean. Yet his dreams are haunted by visions of a mysterious woman and a young boy, neither of whom he has ever met. Convinced that these strangers hold the answers he seeks, Nicholas leaves everything behind to find them. What he discovers will require a leap of faith that will change all of their lives forever.
"This absorbing first effort brings to mind the mountaineers of a Jon Krakauer read, the tenderness of a Nicholas Sparks novel, and the enduring love story of Charles Martin's The Mountain between Us, all sprinkled with a heady dose of passion. Colin is an author to watch and savor." —Booklist
"Dazzlingly original and as haunting as a dream, Emily Colin's mesmerizing debut explores the way memory, love, and great loss bind our lives together in ways we might never expect. From its audacious opening to its knockout last pages, I was enthralled."
—Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You
"In The Memory Thief, love itself is a character, able to transcend all natural boundaries to find its way home...or learn to let go. Colin writes with heartbreaking conviction about loss, and yet there is a knowing sweetness at the core of this richly emotional tale. A lovely, self assured debut from a writer to watch." —Joshilyn Jackson, author of A Grownup Kind of Pretty and Gods in Alabama