The Memory Police

On a small island things are disappearing. At first, it's little things like perfume and ribbons, and, as the objects disappear, so do the islanders' perceptions of them. Gradually, more and more things disappear, big things, important things. Some people do not lose their memories of these things, and it is the Memory Police who are responsible for carrying these people off, too.

A young woman, a novelist, is our narrator, and she decides to save her editor, R., who retains his memories of the lost objects and is sure to be carried off by the Memory Police. R. tries to help the young woman regain her memories while he is in hiding in her home.

There is also a novel-within-a-novel, the story the novelist is writing. It's an interesting contrast to the novel itself.

The Memory Police is the sort of story I love, with odd things happening amid an odd world along with beautiful writing.