Small Forgotten Moments by Annalisa Crawford

Is Zenna a muse, a sleep-deprived apparition, or something much more sinister?

Suffering long-term amnesia, artist Jo Mckye is ready to start a fresh, new project after the success of her debut exhibition. But the fictional subject of the collection, Zenna, won’t let go so easily. Infiltrating Jo’s dreams—and increasingly, her waking hours—Zenna is fast becoming a dangerous obsession.

Jo is confident the answers lie at her childhood home, an idyllic Cornish village on the south-east coast; she just doesn’t know why. Only when she walks into the sea and almost drowns does the past start to unravel.

Haunting and melodic, fans of Daphne du Maurier and Daisy Johnson will adore this.

About the author

Annalisa Crawford lives in Cornwall, UK, with a good supply of moorland and beaches to keep her inspired. She lives with her husband, two sons, and canine writing partner, Artoo. She is the author of four short story collections, and two novels.

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Website :  https://www.annalisacrawford.com/

Review

This was a chillingly haunting book that looked at loss, love and how memory can manipulate and torture one’s inner mind.

This is the story of Jo, an artist in London who has amensia and can't remember anything about her childhood. Jo is about to do an art exhibition that is centred on her ‘muse’ a fictional character Zenna. But now she can only paint Zenna and Zenna is becoming an obsession that is taking over her life. To get answers, she returns home to Cornwall and that's when things begin to unravel.

Now amnesia in fiction is not a new trope but the author manages to give it a new twist to keep it relevant a fresh. I do wish we had got to explore a bit more of that section of her story but that just means I was hooked on the character!

Once the book relocates to Cornwall it really kick up a gear and I think it was to do with the moodiness of the location what with the mist blocking off views of the beach etc. Great description by the author there.

I enjoyed reading this one. Let me know what you think.