THE FORGETTING by Hannah Beckerman

(Lake Union £8.99, 331 pp)

LIvvy is a happily married young mother living in Bristol, whose peaceful life is shattered by the arrival of her husband’s estranged mother. Meanwhile, unknowingly, she has a connection with anna, another traumatised woman lying in a hospital bed 100 miles away, who is suffering from memory loss.

anna and Livvy’s stories are told in alternate chapters, which helps keep up the pace, although anna is probably the more sympathetic of the two characters.

Beckerman, who withholds the mystery of what actually connects the two women until late on in the story, writes best around the memory loss theme.

although the characters are well drawn, the story won’t have enough surprises for some thriller readers. I’m afraid I guessed the twist far too early on to make the book an all-round satisfying read.