Review: Best Forgotten by Paula Vince

A young man wakes up in hospital remembering nothing about who he is or how he came to be running through the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night, into the path of an oncoming car. The police soon identify him as Courtney Lockwood, return him home and reunite him with his family, but there Courtney finds that the person he feels he is inside doesn't have anything in common with the person he appears to have forgotten, and whose bedroom and life he is now inhabiting. As Courtney begins to explore his life with the help of his girlfriend, Jasmine, he uncovers old issues about his relationship with his father and raises more questions when the police find his best friend has disappeared. Where is Joel? Who is after Courtney, and why?

Best Forgotten explores the question of how much our backgrounds have made us who we are. If you could remember nothing about your past, if you could start afresh, would you be the same person? Vince shows us convincingly how our past is a vital component of the people we have become - but that we do have the ability to change if change is what we want. (And you don't have to have a near-death experience and a case of amnesia.)

I have always enjoyed amnesia stories - the idea is one that captures my imagination, and this is one of the most thought-provoking I have read. It also has an intriguing plot with elements of suspense and romance, strong characters and an underlying Christian theme (without being at all 'preachy'). Best Forgotten is  a book I will enjoy reading again (as I have enjoyed all the Paula Vince books I have read), and a book I can certainly recommend.

Paula Vince lives with her husband and three children in the Adelaide Hills, the setting for her four adult novels.  She has also written the Quenarden trilogy for younger readers.