Liane Moriarty's "What Alice Forgot"

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Liane Moriarty is the author of three novels: Three Wishes, The Last Anniversary and most recently, What Alice Forgot (Amy Einhorn/Putnam). What Alice Forgot is the story of a woman who loses ten years of her memory. She thinks she’s 29, pregnant with her first child and blissfully in love with her husband. In fact, she’s 39, the mother of three children, and she’s in the middle of a bitter divorce. Publishers Weekly described it as "moving, well-paced and thoroughly pleasurable." Book clubs love it because it gives everyone a chance to reflect on how their lives have changed over the past decade and what their younger selves would think of the people they’ve become. Moriarty is also the author of the Nicola Berry series for children, and all her books have been published around the world. She lives in Sydney, Australia with her husband and two small children.

Moriarty, on casting the big screen adaptation of What Alice Forgot:

I have sold the movie rights to What Alice Forgot and the producers were talking about someone like Jennifer Aniston or Reese Witherspoon for the role of Alice. I also think Sandra Bullock would be wonderful. Alice is a whimsical, feminine character and she’s found herself in a completely confusing situation (losing ten years of her memory) but she’s not a fool, so the challenge would be to make her endearing and sympathetic, without making her just plain dippy and idiotic. I’d love to see someone like Toni Collette play the role of Alice’s sister Elisabeth, a woman who has had to endure years of battling infertility and miscarriages. I think she could perfectly convey this character’s fragility and brittleness, without making her too bitter. I’d cast Brad Pitt for the role of Nick. He’d be entirely unsuitable, far too good-looking, but I think we’d all learn to live with that.

Learn more about the book and author at Liane Moriarty's website.

The Page 69 Test: What Alice Forgot.

Writers Read: Liane Moriarty.

--Marshal Zeringue