Customer Reviews

Toward Amnesia

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A young marine biologist is rattled by the break up with her lover of 5 years. In a state of confusion and disbelief about how they now feel about each other, she finds herself driving by her former lover's new home, wondering what her new life is like. She finally realizes that this is not going to help her situation, and after reading an article about a woman who disappeared for three weeks only to reappear in Florida, hundreds of miles from her home, she decides to disappear also, to remove every trace of her former life and to discover her true self.

This novel traces her path along the roads and highways of eastern North America, starting in North Carolina and settling on a remote island off the coast of Canada. Along the way, she discovers herslef through musings about relationships, her missing-in-action father, animals and nature -- especially about the mysterious catamount, a large mountain cat, which is on the verge of extinction and rekindles feelings about her own life's path.

It's a very moving story about self-discovery. Sarah Van Arsdale's style is poetic, very clear and detailed, making it quite enjoyable to read. I really liked the main character and how she handled herself in very realistic terms.

After reading this book, almost two years ago, I was so moved by the poetry of Ms. Van Arsdale's words that still I have a vivid picture in my mind of each chapter. It is true that this book delves deep into heartbreak, and that in itself can be quite depressing, however it also delves deep into taking charge of ones brokeness. Reading this book could possibly change you... and there lies the beauty and power of literature. Bravo Sarah.

Wow! This book is for anyone who's ever been dumped by anybody. Ms. Van Arsdale writes beautifully. This story is filled with clear imagery and a deep understanding of loneliness and loss.

1996 Lambda Literary Awards Finalist in Lesbian Fiction

"It was on Memorial Day that I decided to achieve amnesia." Thus starts Sarah Van Arsdale's first novel "Toward Amnesia", a story of lost love, pain, depression and pursuit of oblivion, self-discovery and, ultimately, about what makes us want to keep on living: "[...] the catamount had battled back from the edge of extinction, just as I had propelled myself back from the cusp of amnesia. My god, I'd nearly obliterated myself, that untamable nature."

After reading an article about a woman who disappeared for three weeks only to reappear in Florida, the nameless narrator runs away in desperation, trying to built a new life to escape the memories of her five-year relationship with Libby, her confusion over the end of the relationship and her still ongoing obsession with Libby who has taken a new lover while blaming her for the break up. Finding a medical textbook with a reference on how people become amnesiac, she tries to induce amnesia on herself by immersing herself in the cold deep water in the island where she settles. The book style is poetic, with an unerring clarity and detailed view of emotions and nature, and the first-person narrative is effective in establishing the emotional tone of the book. Also, considering that this is not a plot-driven book, it is a sign of Sarah Van Arsdale's talent as a writer, the way that her book keeps us riveted until the end. A highly recommended book and a fine example of high quality lesbian fiction.

I don't usually like love stories, romance, etc, but this isn't a love story in the truest sense of the word. It's about loss, identity and reinventing yourself. Van Arsdale is also a poet and includes sensous and in-depth details.

I enjoyed this book. It was very easy to read and I got caught up in what the main character was trying to do- leave her loss and old life behind and create a new life (one without her old lover). In the process, she heals herself and finds herself again.

I love this book, and am on my 3rd time reading it. I pick it up whenever I get too stressed out and need an "amnesia experiment" of my own. The imagary in this book is fantastic! By the time I'm done reading one page I feel de-stressed. Van Arsdale takes me with her on her literary journey to that little island near Canada. I feel as if I'm there. If you ever need a book that will help take you away from it all, this is the one! I can't wait to read her next book!

"Toward Amnesia" reminded me of Anne Tyler's "Ladder of Years." Sometimes, a woman reaches a point in her life, by her own or by others making, when she needs to change. But she's not sure to what. The best way to achieve that is to run away because in that aimlessness she eventually runs toward something. The poetic style that Van Arsdale uses in "Toward Amnesia" is effective in setting the emotional tone of the book, though it's sometimes monotonous in this first-person narrative. Our main character, the narrator, has lost her lover, Libby. She is obsessive, depressed and, honestly, needs more than a weekly visit with her psychiatrist. I don't think Van Arsdale realizes this (the summaries above do not), but this running away is a sad story that fails to come full circle. In her effort to achieve "amnesia," the narrator eases the pain of a lost love but she also loses herself. She fails to see how Libby has been cruel, by taking another lover and how Libby has blamed the separation on her. I'm not convinced that the narrator has or is going to make it back to herself.