Feel the isolation of remote New Zealand. Live vicariously in the foggy mountains with their treacherous slopes. Follow the angst of two secluded families united in their grief from the disappearance of a young woman 25 years ago. What secrets lurk in the shadowy mountain trails and steep cliff faces?

Welcome to Kiwi Noir. Dark, mysterious, dangerous. REMEMBER ME  is a well-crafted love story within a mystery-suspense-thriller. The protagonist is a New Zealand children’s book illustrator who lives in London. She returns to her remote village across the world because her father has dementia. A doctor, he understands what is happening to him and desperately tries to conceal his condition. Yet his daughter senses he is hiding something else. Was he involved in the disappearance of their young beautiful neighbour?

This is a dark novel filled with distressed characters who, nonetheless, finally exhibit great humanity. Without giving too much away, by the end they all understand the reason for the woman’s disappearance, accept the reason, and forgive.

It is a sad but uplifting page-turner that ends with a truth that relieves the community of its great sadness. The ending is beautiful. The descriptions of remote New Zealand are beautiful. The characters are beautiful in their sadness.

Charity Norman was born in Uganda, raised in Yorkshire, became a barrister and then retreated to New Zealand where she wrote Remember Me, Freeing Grace and the multi-award winning The Secrets of Strangers.

Remember Me by Charity Norman

Published by Allen & Unwin Australia, March 2022

ISBN: 978 1 75106 517 7

$16 from some online outlets

$30 from retailers

Review by Carol Dance