Reviewer: Amy Lignor
Title: Me Again
Author: Keith Cronin
Publisher: Gale/Five Star
ISBN-13: 978-1-4328-2503-4
Release Date: August 2011
Genre/Sub-genre: General Fiction
Year/Setting: Present day/Illinois
Overall Rating: 4.0
Sexual Content Rating: None/Subtle
Language (Profanity/Slang) Content Rating: None/Mild
Violent Content Rating: None/Minimal
Keith's Website/Blog: www.keithcronin.com
Dear Readers:
Keith Cronin is not only an author, he is also a musician who has recorded and/or performed with everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Davy Jones of The Monkees. This is one author who has a great deal of artistic experience and, thankfully, he shows a great deal of that in this, his debut novel.
Jonathan Hooper is our main character and boy, does he have a rough start the minute he opens his eyes and finds himself in a hospital room surrounded by people he doesn’t even know.
You see, six years ago, Jonathan suffered a stroke and has literally been in a coma for all that time. Here he now is, a thirty-four-year-old man who recognizes no one around him, and is being heralded as a true miracle by his family, doctors - everyone!
However, one of the worst things about his ‘magical’ recovery is the fact that…when you are literally gone for six years, and no one expects you to ever come back, the rest of the world has already left you behind and gone along without you. The people surrounding him, his family and friends, have already accepted the fact that Jonathan was never going to come back to them, so they went on with their daily lives and have already coped with Jonathan’s demise. Therefore, when his eyes open and his memory remains lost, he becomes almost a burden to his family, friends, and society in general.
Rebecca Chase is a woman who is also in the hospital struggling with her days in the long-term recovery unit. She is also going through the aftereffects of a stroke, but hers is a bit different. Rebecca wasn’t in a coma for the last few years, she is simply a woman who is having to deal with the fact that because of her illness, her mind and personality have become drastically different. And it doesn’t help that she was once a go-getter who was literally her husband’s "trophy wife," who is now dark, nervous, timid, and weak - something her husband cannot bear.
The hilarity ensues as Rebecca and Jonathan spend more time together, and Jonathan suddenly begins remembering the fact that he wasn’t all that nice of a guy before the stroke. Every part of this book is filled with kindness, laughter, and fun, as well as strong emotions of fear, frustration, and the attempt at trying to find how to like yourself once again. A great debut!
Until next time,
Amy
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