Amnesia Made Her Forget a Decade — Now She Has a Second Chance at Love and Life

Pictures of You by Emma Grey

"For those who believe in true love, second chances, magic and miracles, this is a gem of a book for you."

Australian author and journalist Emma Grey’s debut adult novel The Last Love Note alternately broke and uplifted hearts with its moving story about a grieving widow’s struggles to cope after the death of her barely middle-aged husband from early onset dementia while juggling a challenging career and raising their toddler. Her loving husband made it clear from his copious love notes she needed to embrace life, “Don’t Stop Living Just Because I Do” and she duly prepared to follow his final advice. It was strikingly original, compelling, praise-worthy and award-winning; selected as an Indie Next Pick and a Book of the Month selection among other honors and became a worldwide best-seller. 

Pictures of You is equally as full of surprises from the first paragraph to the last sentence and does not disappoint in this unpredictable second-chance romantic comedy-drama that is also part mystery. It clearly demonstrates Emma Grey’s formidable talent and is already on its way to becoming a runaway best-seller! 

An Unsettling Case of Amnesia

 Humor, heartbreak and sweet redemption go hand-in-hand when Evie Hudson narrowly escapes almost certain death when the speeding luxury automobile she is riding in fails to negotiate a steep curve, plunges down a cliff and crashes into a tree which stops it from plummeting farther. The driver, her husband Oliver Roche, is killed instantly. Her injuries, while serious, are not life-threatening and she will recover; however, the resulting psychological trauma leaves her confounded.  

Evie is shocked upon awakening in a hospital tethered to tubes and beeping monitors, she insists she is a 16-year-old schoolgirl from a working-class family who lives at home in Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia. The year is 2011 and she recently watched Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding on television with her best friend Breanna better known as Bree. She confusedly wonders if she had been at a party she cannot recall at which the students got into their parents’ drink cabinet and had there been an accident returning home that might have killed one of the boys or worse yet, Bree? 

When the hospital’s psychiatrist is summoned after the ICU nurse is unable to convince her of the truth, she can’t believe her driver’s license (not the learner’s permit she recalls having) and medical records confirm she really is 29 years old and the year is 2024. It is harder still for Evie to grasp widowhood when she can’t conceive of being married nor summon an image of the dead man who had been in the driver’s seat. 

When the nurse hands her a mirror, she is stunned to discover the face is not that of a studious teenager but reflects back a slightly nearsighted adult woman. Why would she be wearing ridiculously posh Prada prescription glasses? This face has fine facial lines but no freckles and her body clad in a hospital gown is decidedly curvier than the flat-chested teenager she remembers.  The diagnosis is “dissociative amnesia”, a memory loss that she is informed is “usually temporary”.  

An Unfamiliar Life Becomes a Mystery to Solve

The mystery deepens when one week later she is seated in a pew at the Mary Immaculate Catholic Church in Waverley, a suburb of Sydney, over 100 miles from the only home she is able to recall. A string quartet plays while a celebration of life slideshow documents Oliver’s storied life with the lovely Evelyn Hudson Roche by his side. The presentation shows they have been together since high school and their storybook marriage occurred five years ago. The disapproved-of nickname “Evie” had been abandoned long before the massive pear-cut diamond and matching wedding band appeared on her ring finger along with an extensive wardrobe of designer clothing. 

From the photographs, slides and videos, Oliver Roche had been a drop-dead gorgeous superstar athlete and prince of a man. This golden boy was an exceptionally successful commercial lawyer, investor and philanthropist who lived an extravagant and full-blown life that met every expectation except that the former Evie Hudson was struggling to remember how she got there. It all feels wrong to her but she doesn’t know why. One thing has been obvious since she woke up in the hospital is that his cold-as-ice wealthy and powerful parents Anderson and Gwendolyn barely tolerate her and have been vocal in their resentment that she survived when their precious son didn’t.

The opulent funeral attended by the who’s who of Sydney society was akin to a royal wedding except for the presence of the ornate flower-draped coffin at the altar. A lavish reception was soon to follow but these were all Oliver’s people leaving Evie feeling trapped and stifled. Where were her mum and dad and friends?  It was overwhelming, oppressive and sufficient to panic the young widow into summoning an Uber during The Lord’s Prayer and bolt from the church during the lineup for communion.

Broke, Bereft and Searching for Answers

Past charges full-tilt into present as the church’s heavy doors close behind her revealing a phalanx of journalists, photographers and curious onlookers jostling for position as they glimpse her. She spots the Uber driver leaning against a large black vehicle. He is tall, clad in dark jeans, white t-shirt and brown leather jacket with a handsome face obscured by what looks like three-day stubble and not the pensioner driver augmenting his retirement one normally expects. Evie exhorts him to speed off as the crowd turns and charges towards her. She soon discovers her in-laws have canceled her credit cards and that while she is clad in high-end Versace mourning attire, her bank balance is under $200. That will have to be dealt with later. In addition to her husband’s trust fund and high income, Evie has her own earnings from her popular podcasts about true crime.

She suddenly realizes that the driver is not Uber-contracted but is a photojournalist named Drew Kennedy who swears he was not present to take tabloid photographs. Drew is flabbergasted to learn that the brilliant, kind girl he has loved since he was fourteen not only has no idea who he is nor does she have any memory of her past. She was his only friend during the most challenging time of his life when his valiant single mom was dying of cancer and he was juggling working full-time to care for her while attending high school. 

Evie was his light and his love until she crushed him as she pushed aside family and friends in her growing involvement with master manipulator Oliver who lied as easily as he breathed.  Drew also had experienced a complicated relationship with Oliver and his father. Despite his reluctance and fear of being hurt again, he begins a journey of recovery and steadfastly will do whatever it takes to help Evie get her memory and her life back on track. This whirlwind of a story is now launched in earnest and you’d best make yourself comfortable as you probably will not be able to put Pictures of You down once you begin reading it.

Emma Grey has achieved a contemporary masterpiece with this unforgettable work of fiction that is a sterling example of the very best in rom-com writing. It all but clamors to be made into a film. For those who believe in true love, second chances, magic and miracles, this is a gem of a book for you. Readers who enjoy Jenny Colgan, Monica Wood, Sarah Nisha Adams, Emily Henry and other fine authors who knowledgeably mix just the right proportions of quirky rom-com and high drama into their arresting tales will take great pleasure in reading Pictures of You.