With my Review TBR pile teetering on the brink, I decided to call in a favour from Mr Gums, and handed him Lisa Kenway’s debut novel, All you took from me, thinking it might be up his alley.
Now, a word about Mr Gums. He is an engineer by training, and not the world’s biggest reader. When he does read – in the past at least – his go-to has been Jane Austen (whose books he has read multiple times, including more than once in German) and other classics. However, with more time at his disposal since retirement, he has started reading a little more broadly. He likes to be “entertained”, not overly challenged in his reading. (Apparently, reading Mansfield Park in German is not challenging!) Life is challenging enough, he says. So, crime fiction seemed to be a good fit, and he’s been trying out several authors with varying success. Chris Hammer is a big hit. Garry Disher goes down pretty well too. Peter Temple not so much. He has also read non-Australian crime writers – English, and others, including, recently, a Japanese author (thanks to JacquiWine). As you can tell from his Austen love, he is more than happy to read women writers, and has crime by Dervla McTiernan and Shelley Burr, and recently, Dinuka McKenzie’s first novel. So, why not Lisa Kenway?
So, Lisa Kenway. According to the media release that came with my review copy, she is an Australian writer and anaesthetist. This debut novel, All you took from me, was “inspired by her longstanding fascination with memory and consciousness”. An earlier manuscript version was longlisted for Hachette’s Richell Prize for Emerging Writers in 2020 (out of over 800 submissions). That must have given her confidence to keep working on it, because here it is, published by Transit Lounge in 2024.
Anyhow, the novel is set in two places – the Blue Mountains (which I love) and Sydney. The protagonist, Clare Carpenter, is an anaesthetist – write what you know! – whose husband has died in a single-vehicle car accident which also caused her to lose her memory. Soon after, she senses she is being followed by a stranger. Why? Finding the answer becomes her mission, but it is hampered by her loss of memory. Can she reverse that? Of course nothing is simple, and the risks and threats mount. This novel is not Mr Gums’ (nor my) preferred type of crime, which is the police procedural. It is, instead, as the blurbs say, a psychological thriller.
Mr Gums was intrigued by this debut, but he had reservations. He particularly liked the set up – the protagonist as anaesthetist. It was different, and an interesting idea. He enjoyed reading the technical details about anaesthesia, and liked the attention paid to details in those parts of the story. (Like me, he enjoys it when novels teach him about a world he doesn’t know much about.) However, this is also where his main reservation came, because, scientifically trained himself, he found Clare’s behaviour hard to believe. The risks she took, her foray into unscientific ideas, lost him. Mr Gums, though, has not been in the position Clare found herself in. Perhaps, in the same desperate circumstances, he might try anything too?
All you took from me is told first person, and the voice rings true. Clare is articulate and intelligent, and honest, as she starts to uncover less pleasant things about herself. The novel opens in the hospital a month after the accident, with Clare starting to return to her – new – consciousness. From here, the plot picks up, becoming increasing dramatic and sensational, as you’d expect for its genre, with Clare’s shaky memory, and her attempts to recover it, underpinning much of the intrigue. There are the usual red herrings and misleading threads, which kept Mr Gums challenged as he tried to work out what was true and what wasn’t.
Overall, Kenway’s novel is not Mr Gums’ preferred crime genre. He prefers more dogged analysis in his crime to the stress and tension of a thriller. However, he did conclude that All you took from me was “strangely entertaining”, which suggests to me that Kenway’s debut should not be the last novel she writes. I’d love to know if anyone else has read it?
Lisa Kenway
All you took from me
Melbourne: Transit Lounge, 2024
328pp.
ISBN: 9781923023123
[Review copy courtesy Transit Lounge (via Scott Eathorne of Quikmark Media)]
Whispering Gums 
I’ll stick with the Gums (like chewy !!) on crime – police procedural or detective.
I wondered what you’d say MR. I know you like police procedurals but wondered what else you might like. Now I know?
Well, other than my coldly ignoring your mention of you-know-who(m), you do. 🙂
Haha, I noticed thatI (But don’t blame me, I’ve read two of his novels, I liked them!)
Actually, you know, I do not insist everyone be mad about my personal tastes; but I do like to have a go, de temps en temps.
And why not, when you are passionate about something. I like knowing your enthisiasms.
I had a review copy of this but it didn’t appeal so only this week I sent it to my sister who loves crime and psychological thrillers. I wonder if her thoughts will align with Mr Gums…
How funny kimbofo. I’d love to know what she thinks, if she reads it soon and you remember to tell me!
I love that Mr Gums is getting in on the book reviews! Not a book I would read, but I did enjoy the review!
Haha, thanks Stefanie… I hope that encourages him to accept another commission in future!
It was this sentence here that made me realize something: “From here, the plot picks up, becoming increasing dramatic and sensational…” The crime thriller series I started during my internship. Well….when is the main character paid for anything??? She just keeps volunteering to help people! Ha. Oh, well.
Would Mr. Gums like older mysteries, like the Dashiell Hammett kind?
Love your realisation Melanie!
And yes, he might. I’ll add Dashiell Hammett to my list. Thanks.
I read plenty of fiction that could be characterised as page turners. They fill in the time. And having an author with a bit of inside expertise adds to the overall experience I think, as long as the writing is readable. Thanks Mr Gums (perhaps that’s why I failed Engineering, I read too much).
Thanks Bill … and yes, I and clearly Mr Gums agree about inside experience. It can make most things interesting I think. I love learning new things. (And, haha re engineering. Mr Gums really didn’t read much back then. A bit more now, but not as dedicatedly as I do. I’m enjoying finding books for him.
Mr Books reads a lot of the crime books for me too – it’s handy at work to be able to say that my husband really enjoyed this because….
I’ve recently got him hooked on some the Robert Harris books that I found a in a little street library – the Cicero trilogy – Mr Gums might enjoy them too.
Thanks Brona… are they crime or historical fiction? Don’t worry I can look that up for myself of course!!
That’s okay – they are a bit of both, although mostly historical.
I’ll look out but they are probably not likely to be his thing, but you never know!
Say what?!?! Y’all recruit your significant others and family members to read books you were sent for review? Since when is this a Thing? lol Are these books you requested or agreed to receive, or are they books which have been sent without checking with you? I’m not likely to do this-Mr BIP has his own books stacked up-but it’s interesting to hear about how other people manage sprawling stacks and dwindling hours.
Haha Marcie … it was sent to me without checking. If I have specifically asked for or agreed to post on a book, I would not outsource but as this was not the case and as Mr Gums is starting to read Aussie (in particular) crime I thought it was a fair thing. Son Gums did it once many years ago too but it’s not a big habit of mine!