Review: The Long Forgotten, David Whitehouse

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review:

"When the black box flight recorder of a plane that went missing 30 years ago is found at the bottom of the sea, a young man named Dove begins to remember a past that isn't his. The memories belong to a rare flower hunter in 1980s New York, whose search led him around the world and ended in tragedy. Restless and lonely in present-day London, Dove is quickly consumed by the memories, which might just hold the key to the mystery of his own identity and what happened to the passengers on that doomed flight, The Long Forgotten."

 "The Long Forgotten" takes us through the narratives of three individuals: Professor Cole, who finds a black box recorder in the belly of a whale; Peter Manyweathers, a lonely cleaner in New York who spends most of his days cleaning out the apartments of residents who died alone without being discovered for weeks, months, or even years; and Dove, a former foster child living in London who suffers from strange and acute headaches.

Dove, a complex young man with a troubled history and no idea of who his real parents are, starts remembering things that don't belong to him. However, he soon succumbs and becomes, if not addicted then intensely compelled by the memories. They belong to Peter Manyweathers, who finds a letter in a library reference book about flowers. The letter details some of the world's rarest flowers which Peter resolves to find. He teams up with a man called Hens, who troubles Peter on an instinctual level, but he's so desperate for friendship that he ignores these misgivings.

From cliff diving in Gibraltar to the depths of the jungle in Sumatra, the author paints a vivid world that non-botanist enthusiasts would otherwise be unaware of. The flowers that Peter and Hens hunt down are some of the world's rarest, strangest, and spectacular. David Whitehouse's writing throughout is vivid, engrossing, and heartbreaking. It's a page-turner that didn't necessarily appear so at first sight, but I was quickly absorbed and took the book with me everywhere just in the hopes of being able to snatch a few more pages. It has a bit of everything; romance; heart-wrenching moments; family drama; thrills; and a way of connecting characters that at first glance appear to be wholly unconnected. A brilliant read.