THE WOMAN WHO REMEMBERED YESTERDAY By Cameron Cooper

A quick, yet captivating read. Zakara has the “standard” (as we think of it) memory. Everyone else can only remember that last 48 hours. They start their day with a memodyn device, where they save those items they want to remember.

The obstacles are daunting - who people are, how to cook, what your job is… Insightful and entertaining.

Such a great concept for a story. And one of the few stories written since the greats like Heinlein, Clarke, etc that actually got me thinking and left me a bit disturbed.

From the title alone, the reader can immediately grasp the notion that Zakara, The Woman Who Remembered Yesterday, was a unique person in her society, someone who stood alone. This author, who delightfully always provokes thought in the best possible ways, describes this society seamlessly. As the story progresses and builds, layer by layer, we see how profoundly memory — or the lack thereof — informs every single moment of their lives. It is a marvelous, insightful, and deeply affecting story.

For me, this led to some self-examination of my own memory and the impact it has had on my life. (This is the introspection part.) For over fifty years, I have been involved in researching my ancestry; it is my ongoing and never-ending passion project. Ten years ago, for family members, I published a collection of stories told to me by my father’s siblings over a period of many years. I layered those stories within the historical events of their childhood and young adulthood, which spanned the Great Depression and World War II. Their young lives and mine were as different as chalk and cheese.

On one visit to see an uncle, a world-class storyteller, I asked if he’d tell me the story about A and B one more time. With a soft smile, he looked down at me and said, kindly, “Baby, you’ve mixed up two stories again.” While my interest in family history is bottomless (at that time, so was my interest in collecting the stories of family members who were still living), my memory was not up to the task — as that event makes abundantly clear — and I began taking a tape recorder when I visited family members. I am incredibly thankful that I not only recorded those stories, but also that I put them in print so they have not disappeared. If I have the yen to revisit a favorite story or two, I can go to that book and read it again, in the exact words of the person who told it to me. Priceless.

For a great many people, one of the most bitter regrets of their lives is the missed opportunity of learning more about their parents, grandparents, and (for today’s young people) great-grandparents. Don’t miss that chance. Take the time to show interest in their lives. Ask questions: what was their childhood like, how did they meet their spouse, what did they do for work, and what are their most intense memories? Answers often lead to more questions. That older person in front of you was once your age; you have the opportunity to know what they were like then. Seize this golden opportunity and do not let it slip through your fingers. One day, sooner than you realize, it will be gone forever.

This was an excellent story! Unique, moving, thought provoking, and even a bit surprising. Cameron Cooper has written an outstanding emotion-evoking story here and I think the ending is exactly right.

THE WOMAN WHO REMEMBERED YESTERDAY is smooth, well-paced, and extremely thought provoking. How much does long-term memory really matter anyway?