The Marble Collector

Really struggled to connect and get in to this book. Almost didn't finish

Just so you know. Any rude comments by phantom users who haven't read a single book and haven't written any reviews will be promptly dealt with. They will be deleted, flagged and the ‘‘users'' will receive an epic rant. Go mess with the likes of you the trolls who have no life. Don't presume that I will waste my time on people who think this is bloody Facebook. If you don't like what you read then stop reading! It's that simple!

‘'When it comes to my memory there are three categories: things I want to forget, things I can't forget, and things I forgot I'd forgotten until I remember them.''

I've always believed that Memory is what makes us individuals, it shapes our personality, it has the power to change our emotional state in the blink of eye.Many of us are haunted by memories that we'd give everything to erase and all of us have memories we turn to when we need to go back to those moments when we were truly happy. And while there are experiences we want to keep for ourselves, memories are made to be shared. Being unable to retrieve these special moments must be harrowing.

Fergus suffered a stroke that has influenced his memory severely. It comes and goes like the waves of the Irish sea. His daughter, Sabrina, is a young woman with a special job and three boys to look after, When she receives a box full of marbles that belonged to her father, she starts a quest to uncover the mystery of their existence in Fergus' life but discovers so much more in the process.She has one day to find her answers, but this isn't an ordinary day, not at all. There is a solar eclipse and a full moon, the elements of nature will play tricks on humans, on their hearts and on their minds.

When I was a little girl, I used to collect marbles. They would come in packages of 10 pieces each, representing a special collection. Planets, animals, minerals, everything you can imagine. I rarely played with them, I wanted them for their beauty. I used to put them in line and just stare at them for hours. I never thought that marbles could be something valuable or that somewhere there might actually be a World Championships. Ahern does a wonderful job in depicting the deep love of the collectors and the way this passion can cause a significant damage in their lives, especially when they are surrounded by people who show little understanding to anything beyond their own ‘'safe'' lives.

Ahern brings the issues of fatherhood and family ties into focus. Can you consider yourself a proper parent if you have kept all your life a sealed secret from your child? Can we, as children, claim that we know our parents as well as they know us? Memory is a central theme too, good and bad moments creating deep marks in our lives. We also come to see the changes in Irish society during the 60s and the 70s, the influence of the Church, the plague of alcoholism. I was fascinated by the symbolisms of the influence of the solar eclipse and the full moon. It gave an aura of mystery to the story, a fairy-tale touch.

The main characters are Fergus and Sabrina and they are interesting, sympathetic people with all the weaknesses, hopes, fears and disappointments. They share the spotlight of the narration equally, each one complimenting the other. Fergus' chapters have titles concerning marbles while Sabrina's chapters start with pool rules, symbolising all the rules that govern her life and make her feel suffocated. The other characters are equally approachable. I especially liked Fergus' mother, Cat and his friends and fellow marble aficionados. On the other hand, Sabrina's mother is a terribly irritating woman, self-centered, stupid, thinking of noone but herself. Aidan, Sabrina's husband, is not really much better. He is unable to understand his wife's needs and problems and he constantly accuses her of silence. I mean, she has noone to talk to, him least of all, how can she not keep silent? I couldn't see how a clever young woman like Sabrina could fall in love with that thick-head, but anyway...

This was my first attempt to the world of Cecelia Ahern's books and I was completely satisfied. I loved the way she communicates the inner thoughts of the characters without becoming repetitive or melodramatic and the plethora of themes that were skilfully woven in the story. And this book is proof that you can have deeply moving novel without resorting to silly romantic plot. If you love marbles, full moons, solar eclipses, Ireland, and even diving, then you're going to enjoy The Marble Collector as much as I did.