How To Be Remembered

Author: Michael Thompson
Published: 2023
Target audience: Adults (Appropriate ages 15+)

Tommy had never intended to spend his last night at the old house sweating through three shirts and four pairs of underwear. But that was because he'd never really had a plan before. At least, not one like this.

Tommy Llewellyn can't be remembered. Every year, on his birthday, all evidence of his existence vanishes. Photographs, hospital records, his birth certificate, and every memory people have of him are wiped away, or attributed to someone else. On the morning of his first birthday, his parents wake to discover a baby they don't recall having crying in their lounge room, and call the police.

Tommy is brought to an orphanage, where he grows up reintroducing himself every year to the same people he was raised with, remaking the same friendships, and being the new kid again and again at the same school he has always attended. With no answers to be found as to why this happens to him, Tommy can only do his best to stay positive and get on with things. But then, something entirely ordinary happens: Tommy Llewellyn falls in love.

Forced to realise how unobtainable normalcy may be for him, Tommy sets out on a mission to make a life for himself, to trick the annual reset, and finally be remembered.

Excerpt:

Tommy was a boy who made friends easily, which was lucky, as he had to remake them on 5 January every year. At first he'd tried to convince the other kids they knew him - after all, he knew who they were, so why were they looking at him so strangely? But every year he was greeted by the same blank expressions, and by the time he was ten he realised he could avoid a couple of hours of funny looks and whispers about the weird new boy if he just introduced himself and did his best to slot back in. He still had questions - so many questions, mostly around why - but Miss Michelle hadn't been able to help him (in fact, she hadn't really understood what he was asking)...

Review:

'How To Be Remembered' is a powerful story of creating your own purpose in life and holding on to what is precious to keep moving forward. For Tommy, it's the friendship he strikes up with a boy called Jack after the two of them meet in hospital, as well as Tommy's hope of one day reuniting with Carey Price; a girl he fell in love with and has been searching for ever since. But as Tommy is repeatedly forgotten, and the years send them all in different directions, will he ever find Carey or Jack again?

The core strength of this novel lies in Tommy's relatability. In contrast to the fantastical circumstances of his annual resets, Tommy is a grounded, believable character searching for a sense of belonging, stability, lasting connections, and something permanent to hold on to - even if it is just one true friend, and a dream of love. He battles loneliness and uncertainty, and time and time again witnesses his hard-won triumphs and joys be stripped away, or given to someone else. However, despite his many setbacks, Tommy's journey is one of dogged optimism in the face of enforced helplessness. Even when his lack of worldly experience after leaving the orphanage lands him in misfortune, it is his determination that enables him to carve out new opportunities for himself as an adult, when it would be too easy to slip into apathy or despair. Combined with his proactive ingenuity in seeking loopholes to his situation, Tommy is an engaging, sympathetic character that readers will immediately want to root for.

In addition to having a relatable main character, 'How To Be Remembered' is enhanced by its simple, almost conversational narrative style. The everyday language and straightforward plot makes for a gripping, accessible read, and enables the story's themes of hope, belonging, and legacy to resonate clearly with readers. The novel skillfully balances its protagonist's personal growth across multiple decades, locations, and characters without ever feeling narratively excessive or emotionally bereft. It is also a genuinely affecting story, where Tommy's successes and breakthroughs are always shadowed by an underlying fear that asks, how long can this small happiness last? The final chapters are truly nerve-wracking, and I honestly had no idea how the book was going to end.

Published in 2023, 'How To Be Remembered' is the debut novel of Australian journalist, podcaster, and author Michael Thompson, and it is an absolutely phenomenal read. I cannot recommend it enough!