The Memory Collectors: A Novel

Written by Kim Neville

Narrated by Emily Woo Zeller

Perfect for fans of The Scent Keeper and The Keeper of Lost Things, an atmospheric and enchanting debut novel about two women haunted by buried secrets but bound by a shared gift and the power the past holds over our lives.

Ev has a mysterious ability, one that she feels is more a curse than a gift. She can feel the emotions people leave behind on objects and believes that most of them need to be handled extremely carefully, and—if at all possible—destroyed. The harmless ones she sells at Vancouver’s Chinatown Night Market to scrape together a living, but even that fills her with trepidation. Meanwhile, in another part of town, Harriet hoards thousands of these treasures and is starting to make her neighbors sick as the overabundance of heightened emotions start seeping through her apartment walls.

When the two women meet, Harriet knows that Ev is the only person who can help her make something truly spectacular of her collection. A museum of memory that not only feels warm and inviting but can heal the emotional wounds many people unknowingly carry around. They only know of one other person like them, and they fear the dark effects these objects had on him. Together, they help each other to develop and control their gift, so that what happened to him never happens again. But unbeknownst to them, the same darkness is wrapping itself around another, dragging them down a path that already destroyed Ev’s family once, and threatens to annihilate what little she has left.

The Memory Collectors casts the everyday in a new light, speaking volumes to the hold that our past has over us—contained, at times, in seemingly innocuous objects—and uncovering a truth that both women have tried hard to bury with their pasts: not all magpies collect shiny things—sometimes they gather darkness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Mar 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9781797117577

Kim Neville

Kim Neville is an author and graduate of the Clarion West Writers Workshop, where she found the first shiny piece of inspiration that became The Memory Collectors. When she’s not writing she can be found heron-spotting on the seawall or practicing yoga in order to keep calm. She lives near the ocean in Vancouver, Canada, with her husband, daughter, and two cats. The Memory Collectors is her first novel.

Reviews for The Memory Collectors

[Sarah Cudney · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A very interesting concept. Imagination galore. Loved listening to this as we drove on our road trip. It kept us intrigued and the voices were very well done.

[Crystal Romero · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's a great novel, you won't be disappointed. A must read/listen.

[abc · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed it, interesting theme and idea, a lot of emotions

[Jodie Pedano · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I did not finish this book just wasn’t my jam and found the writing cumbersome for example too many instances of using the phrase “he said” and “she said”. Like ridiculously overused. Oh well, onto the next one!

[Pkerrigan1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It was a long romp that took me into another world. I loved forward to returning time after time and the end was a sad destination but satisfying.

[Hero The Bard · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Spellbinding. An easily to understand magic system bound up in a deep and complex storyline about family and hidden secrets told though the weaving of past and present events.

[Ann G Miller-Sobel · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great telling of a sad tale. Wonderful development of characters. Trader can feel their pain and long to help them find peace.

[Marlena Rustici · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Struggled to get through this. Basically a book about horders. Coupe have told the story in half the pages.

[GMunro · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this story. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes to look beneath the surface of people & their lives.

[Georgia Hadley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I don’t usually post reviews but I really enjoyed this book. It made me want to see what else the author has written.

[Elizabeth Mellen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5 stars! This was a really interesting magical realism premise. It was a little slow to start, which is not my favorite, but I can see others loving it and not minding the character driven nature of the beginning of the story. A little past the halfway mark it really grabbed me, and I read those 200 or so pages in one sitting. I have mixed feelings about the end, not that it was bad, but it was not what I was expecting at all.

If you love magical realism, characters with dark pasts and secrets, and you don’t mind waiting a bit for the action, this is a great one to pick up!

[Yan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved the realness of the characters, the story, and writing. The modern day dilemma of “stuff”, objects, flow, and perspectives of how this affects space and expression. Inspiring also touching on deep appreciations within ourselves and what surrounds us as well, what and who we surround ourselves with. :). Enjoyed! Diane Y.

[renee van Nifterik · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Hauntingly and beautifully written. I’ve always wondered about lost objects and if someone could just feel their stories!