Forget You Know Me: A Novel

Author Jessica Strawser knows how to grab readers' attention immediately. As Forget You Know Me opens, two long-time friends, Molly and Liza, have finally carved out time for a "girls' night" while Molly's husband, David, is away on a business trip. But since Liza lives in Chicago, and Molly resides in Cincinnati, they are getting together via a video call, When Molly leaves the room to check on one of her children, the call captures a shocking and frightening incident that no one was supposed to see. And the ramifications forever change the lives of both women, whose friendship has been strained the past couple of years following Liza's move. Molly's marriage has also become strained almost to the point of breaking. Molly has ensured a series of physical ailments, and instead of those challenges bringing them closer, the emotional distance between has continued to grow.

In light of what she sees on the video call, Liza drives all night to be at Molly's side, only to be rebuffed when she arrives. She returns to Chicago convinced that their long friendship is really over. However, when she gets home, she is shocked to find that she has narrowly escaped calamity herself and that only exacerbates Liza's long battle with anxiety.

Female friendships are complicated during the best of times. But secrets and lies can signal their death knell, no matter how close and enduring the relationship has been up to that juncture. In Forget You Know Me, neither Liza nor Molly wants their strong bond and shared history to evaporate, but neither of them is sure whether they can regain the closeness they have enjoyed for so many years. What is clear is that they will never be able to carry on unless they are honest with each other.

Molly and David have secrets of their own. In Molly's case, her desperate search for healing and wellness has led her to try various alternative modalities that are costly and not covered by insurance. Rather than tell David the truth, she has attempted to negotiate a deal to pay off the bills she has amassed. A deal that has put her and her family in grave danger. David, meanwhile, has not been honest with Molly about his whereabouts, but he has confided in her about the financial malfeasance he has discovered in his workplace. And he has to decide whether he has the courage to stand up and do the right thing, even as he devises ways to save his marriage. David is worried that Molly has launched an extramarital affair with their neighbor, Rick, a widower raising a troubled young daughter with whom Molly and their daughter, Nori, have been spending a lot of time.

Forget You Know Me is a contemporary tale of best friends, spouses, and a mother who has become increasingly isolated by pain and her own unwise choices. Strawser has given her characters multiple challenges and complications with which to deal, but expertly pulls the various unpredictable threads of her story lines together in a cohesive, plausible manner. That video call sets in motion a series of actions that, at long last, mean secrets must come to light and relationships must be explored. The characters have each -- in his/her own way -- reached a crisis point individually and collectively. Strawser's portrait of three lead characters under immense pressure unfolds from each one's unique perspective.

The result is a compelling and emotionally rich story about the ways in which neglect, indifference, and harbored resentments eat away at relationships. Strawser demonstrates, through her characters' actions, how fear -- of judgment, of consequences, of abandonment -- feeds that erosion. She also illustrates how truth and honesty can heal. Each of Strawser's characters is endearing in his/her own right, but deeply flawed in ways with which readers will readily empathize.

Ultimately, Forget You Know Me is entertaining, thought-provoking, and will leave readers feeling hopeful and resolute.

Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Readers' Copy of the book.