Forget Me Not: A Novel

A pulse-pounding new Southern thriller from the author of the runaway bestseller A Flicker in the Dark.

Twenty-two years ago, Claire Campbell’s older sister, Natalie, disappeared shortly after her eighteenth birthday. Days later, her blood was found in a car, a man was arrested, and the case was swiftly closed. In the decades since, Claire has attempted to forget her traumatic past by moving to the city and climbing the ranks as an investigative journalist... until an unexpected call from her father forces her to come back home and face it all anew.

With the entire summer now looming ahead—a summer spent with nothing to do in her childhood home, with her estranged mother—Claire decides on a whim to accept a seasonal job at Galloway Farm, a muscadine vineyard in coastal South Carolina less than an hour away from where she grew up. At first glance, Galloway is an idyllic escape for Claire. A scenic retreat full of slow-paced nostalgia, as well as a place where her sister seemed truly happy in that last summer before she vanished, it feels like the perfect plan to pass the time. However, as soon as Claire starts to settle in, she stumbles across an old diary written by one of the vineyard's owners, and what at first seems like a story of young rebellion and love turns into something much more sinister as it begins to describe details of various unsolved crimes. As the days stretch on, Claire finds herself becoming more and more secluded as she starts to obsess over the diary's contents… as well as the lingering feeling that her own sister's disappearance may be somehow tied to it all.

Galloway was supposed to be a place to help her move forward, but instead, Claire quickly finds herself immersed in her own dark and dangerous past.

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Published Aug 26, 2025

336 pages

Average rating: 7.26

225 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

What Bookclubbers are saying about this book

✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say *Forget Me Not* by Stacy Willingham delivers intense psychological suspense with emotionally complex, often dysfunctional characters and a...

ValerieRuiz
Apr 06, 2026
8/10 stars
22 years after her sister Natalie vanished, investigative journalist Claire is pulled back to her South Carolina hometown when her father calls with bad news. To pass the summer she takes a job at Galloway Farm, the same vineyard where Natalie worked and disappeared. While there, Claire uncovers a hidden diary that reveals dark ties to unresolved crimes. As she pieces together the past, Claire realizes the farm harbours secrets that may hold the truth about what really happened to Natalie. Ooooh baby. One of my bookclub girls put this on my radar and she 👏🏽 did 👏🏽 not 👏🏽 miss. I love a good missing person trope and Stacy Willingham delivered a plot that was quick and thrilly. One thing Willingham does well is give you a reason to care about the main character, Claire. Natalie’s disappearance and the way the whole family falls apart after feels a lot like The Missing Half (which is another great book) BUT it is a whole different story and it had me hooked. You cannot help but feel for Claire and totally get why she is desperate for answers. This one was a super easy, quick read. The pacing kept me engaged and I honestly had no clue where the story was heading (but also, I rarely guess the plot twists, so there's that). This one is great for when you want mystery with a dash of emotion. Trigger Warnings: violence, graphic murder, gun violence, death of a sibling, missing person, drugging/non-consensual substance use, psychological abuse, controlling relationships, incest, grief, trauma, mental illness
MaryAlice
Mar 23, 2026
Well written and suspenseful all the way to the end!
Sue Dix
Mar 14, 2026
10/10 stars
Stacy Wliilngham is an auto-buy for me. This newest novel is a perfect example of why. Two sisters, separated by so much unknown history, have similar harrowing experiences decades apart. Secrets, a hidden diary, isolation, family, kidnapping, murder, and, of course, dysfunctional characters. Cut off from everything, Claire tries to resolve her feelings about her missing sister and uncovers so much more than she bargained for.
fromlizaslibrary
Oct 13, 2025
7/10 stars
I liked this! It was a slow building thriller so it took a little bit for the action to happen but I felt the suspense building the entire time. I had an overall idea of what was going to happen but there was still enough to be shocked about which made the build up we got, worth it. Although I love a good thriller, there’s something so annoying about how stupid people can be and even though I know we wouldn’t have a story without some of those pieces, I was screaming at Claire or another character for 90% of this book. In the end, I was entertained and satisfied by the outcome we end up seeing so I’d say that was a success.
Sheryl Bagwell
Jan 25, 2026
8/10 stars
A very slow beginning which builds to an interesting twisted ending. Still not a big fan of this author's writing style. The constant use of similes kind of threw me off, but the story flowed easily and the timelines of the different events juxtaposed nicely. Overall I did enjoy this book. Not one I'd read again and again, but a nice little mystery/thriller.

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