Bupper: What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

Kristin picked What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty. I had never heard of the author before but loved the idea of finding a new favorite to add to my growing list and Liane did not disappoint! It was a romantic comedy that reminded me a lot of Sophie Kinsella’s style of writing. What if you couldn’t remember the last 10 years of your life? You completely forgot about marriages and pregnancies, births and deaths, friends and enemies, arguments and celebrations. Alice Love wakes up on the gym floor (she hates the gym) and thinks she is 29 and pregnant with her first child. Unfortunately for her it is actually 2008, she is 39, and in the process of getting a divorce from the man of her dreams. What the heck has happened to her beautiful life? The story follows Alice as she tries to remember bits and pieces of life and put everything back together. Her 29-year-old self and 39-year-old self do not see eye-to-eye. Ultimately, Alice has to decide whether forgetting her memory was a blessing or a curse. She has been given the gift of forgetting all the bad times but can she truly start over until she remembers everything? I don’t want to include any spoilers but hopefully I’ve intrigued you enough to go grab a copy!

Meal:

As you know, part of bupper club rules state that you have to make a meal to go along with your book. (As president I strictly enforce this.) What Alice Forgot has many meals to choose from but Kristin, our host, decided on pizza. In the first part of the book when Alice is in the hospital with a concussion, her sister volunteers to watch her 3 kids for the night. Elizabeth and her husband Ben order pizza for the kids for dinner. When the book gave us an opportunity to have pizza for dinner…we ran with it! We decided to dine at Antico in Atlanta and if you have not been there, stop what you are doing and go. Now. The pizza was incredible! We will definitely follow-up with a restaurant review. For dessert, Kristin made us lemon bars. It was her spin on lemon meringue pie. You’ve got to read the book and find out the importance of lemon meringue pie. It plays a big role. And last but not least our hostess with the mostess sent us home with banana nut bread! In the story you find out Alice is famous for her banana nut muffins.

Discussion Questions for What Alice Forgot

We had such a fun time discussing these questions over dinner. It is always fun to share favorite parts and different takes on the book. It is so funny to me how we can all read the same book and view it 5 different ways. If you have been thinking about starting up a bupper club with your group of friends, you must do it. This time with my friends is the highlight of my week.

• Did you like younger Alice best? Or did you relate more to the older Alice?
• What would your younger self of ten years ago think of the person you are today?
• What would surprise your younger self most about the life you’re currently leading? What would disappoint you?
• How did you feel about the sections written from the perspective of Elisabeth and Frannie? Did they add to your enjoyment of the book, or would you have preferred to have it written entirely from Alice’s point of view?
• It’s not only Alice who changed over the last decade, Elisabeth changed too. Do you think she would have been so accepting of the new Alice at the end if she herself didn’t get pregnant?
• Out of all the characters in the book, who do you think had changed the most over the past decade and why?
• The film rights to the book have been sold to Fox 2000- who do you think would be good in the lead roles? (Eek! So excited about this!)
• If you were to write a letter to your future self to be opened in ten years, what would you say?

[Discussion questions were pulled from the Readers Guide on What Alice Forgot]

Did anyone read What Alice Forgot with us? Or better yet, hold your own bupper club? Make sure if you start up a group you Instagram pics and hashtag #bupperclub so we can join in on your discussions! If you read the book and want to discuss leave a comment, I would love to chat!