YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS by Sean Wilson
Not long before he died, I visited my grandfather in the high care facility he’d lived in for the better part of a year. We chatted amiably, me grateful to be in his company, him comfortable in the knowledge he recognised me even if he couldn’t quite figure out who I was. He seemed excited. Giddy, even. When I asked what was up, he told me he was getting ready for a date with a gorgeous girl he’d started seeing. It took me a moment to realise he was talking about my grandmother. It was one of the most achingly beautiful moments in what had been a very tough few years.
Sean Wilson’s You Must Remember This is essentially that experience in book form. Honest. Wistful. Oases of joy in a desert of sadness. Indeed, I can think of few novels that speak with such authenticity to the Alzheimer’s rollercoaster. Wilson’s depiction of Grace as she fades into cognitive oblivion is so tender, so loving, and yet so unsentimental that I felt I was living it in real time. Flashbacks to childhood give context, but it’s time spent with old Grace that really sings.
Read it. Experience it. Bring tissues.
You Must Remember This by Sean Wilson
Affirm Press, 2025
169 pages
Beautiful. My dad couldn't remember my mother's name or that she'd died, but he danced with her in his memories, with that same excitement. I'll have to read You Must Remember This. X