Remember Me Like This

It has a fascinating fictional premise: a missing child who comes back and a changed family who have to get used to the idea. - Observer (Best Summer Reads 2014)

Johnston's excellent debut is primarily a literary novel, with old-fashioned virtues such as rich characterisation, strong structure and impeccable control of tone. Although it is reminiscent of John Updike, the mixture of summer heat and melancholy feels peculiarly Texan - The Sunday Times

[an] extraordinary first novel... In his debut, [Johnston] offers an achingly beautiful and psychologically insightful portrait of a family rebuilding after a traumatic event. - Boston Globe

it powerfully takes hold... a gripping read and powerful psychological study. - Adelaide Advertiser

It is as a writer that I admire the architecture of Remember Me Like This, the novel's flawless storytelling. It is as the father of three sons that I vouch for the psychological authenticity of this depiction of any parents' worst fears. Emotionally, I am with this family as they try to move ahead - embracing 'the half-known and desperate history' that they share. I love this novel. - John Irving, author of A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY and IN ONE PERSON

You could say that this book is ripped from the headlines, but that wouldn't be fair. Bret Anthony Johnston's riveting novel picks up where the tabloids leave off, and takes us places even the best journalism can't go. Remember Me Like This is a wise, moving, and troubling novel about family and identity, and a clear-eyed inventory of loss and redemption. - Tom Perrotta, author of LITTLE CHILDREN and THE LEFTOVERS

In this deeply nuanced portrait of an American family, Bret Anthony Johnston fearlessly explores the truth behind a mythic happy ending. In Remember Me Like This, Johnston presents an incisive dismantling of an all too comforting fallacy: that in being found we are no longer lost. - Alice Sebold, author of THE LOVELY BONES