A New York investigative journalist's return to her Claxton, S.C., hometown prompts her to reinvestigate her older sister Natalie's disappearance 22 years ago in Stacy Willingham's engrossing, character-driven Forget Me Not.
Upset that she didn't receive an anticipated promotion, Claire Campbell impulsively quit her newspaper job. Eight weeks later, freelance work hasn't materialized; her morale is dwindling along with her bank account. Claire reluctantly agrees to spend a month or so in Claxton, helping her recently injured mother. But no homecoming welcome awaits; her mother, whom she hasn't seen for 15 years, is distant.
Rummaging through Natalie's preserved room, Claire finds old photographs of her sister taken at Galloway Farm, the small vineyard where 18-year-old Natalie worked before she vanished. Memories overwhelm Claire, who was 11 years old at the time. Tensions between Claire and her mother grow, leading Claire to take a job at Galloway Farm, and Willingham details the farm's sights, smells, and growth. There, Claire feels closer to Natalie. Her interest is piqued when she finds a decades-old diary written by a young woman who lived at Galloway, then hears from Natalie's former best friend that her sister became "obsessed" with the farm, and seldom left it. Claire becomes consumed with learning more about Marcia and Mitchell, the strange couple who owns Galloway, and Liam, the farm's caretaker.
Dynamics among the characters fuel the unpredictable plot. Claire doesn't understand her compulsion about uncovering the Galloway owners' history or why she is drawn to Liam yet also leery of him. Willingham's skill at uncovering her characters' emotional resolve and making connections across the years excels in Forget Me Not. --Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer