I was pleasantly surprised by this book! It was a great mystery. I ready this a while ago so trying to remember this based on memory and I'm actually able to remember a lot, which is surprising. This book took place in two different time periods. One is current time when the lady is older with dimentia and so her memory isn't great. And she's trying to piece together a murder of one of her friends from years ago. Such a great idea and was really sucked into it. It was also sad on many levels because the main character couldn't remember so many things, and she was getting frustrated in certain moments and not acting like herself. Much like dementia and it was just sad. SPOILER: The mystery was good but nothing earth shattering, but still had me sucked in. The fact that it was her step-father and she knew about the murder the whole time, but just trying to pull it from her memory was so good. Very enjoyable read! ( )

Edie is suffering from dementia. One afternoon while out walking in her small village she "sees" Lucy, who has been missing since 1951. She decides this is a sign that she must find Lucy and discover what happened to her. Thus begins the story of her search. The book takes us back and forth from 1951 to present year 2018. Pieces of the puzzle come to her in bits and pieces. Her son thinks she is silly to try to remember something that happened 60 yrs ago. With the help of her granddaughter and others along te way she finally remembers what happened. It turns out that she and Lucy were set to travel to London by train to start a new life. However, Edie forgot to pack her diary that chronicled her life and her days with Lucy. Lucy had an affair with her teacher, got herself pregnant and had an abortion. Lucy could not leave without the security of knowing that the diary was secure. Because Edie had an accident that day on her bike, Lucy decided she would return to Edie's house and retrieve the diary. When Lucy did not return and the train had come and gone, Edie went back home to look for Lucy. When she arrived, she found Lucy dead on the kitchen floor and Edie's step-dad, Reg, telling her it was an accident. We learn that Edie is told to take Lucy's bike to the woods. By the time she returns home, Reg has cleaned up the kitchen and returns home after going to his former place of employment. In 2018, Edie finally remembers and tells the police. She is not arrested as she is the only surviving person who knows the story.
The book was a bit slow, but toward the end of the book the story finally comes together.
Goodreads: A mystery she can't remember. A friend she can't forget.

I kept your secret Lucy. I've kept it for more than sixty years . . .

It is 1951, and at number six Sycamore Street fifteen-year-old Edie Green is lonely. Living alone with her eccentric mother - who conducts seances for the local Ludthorpe community - she is desperate for something to shake her from her dull, isolated life.

When the popular, pretty Lucy Theddle befriends Edie, she thinks all her troubles are over. But Lucy has a secret, one Edie is not certain she should keep . . .

Then Lucy goes missing.

2018. Edie is eighty-four and still living in Ludthorpe. When one day she glimpses Lucy Theddle, still looking the same as she did at fifteen, her family write it off as one of her many mix ups. There's a lot Edie gets confused about these days. A lot she finds difficult to remember. But what she does know is this: she must find out what happened to Lucy, all those years ago . . .

So well thought out and so beautifully presented. Dear, dear Edie....sliding in and out of her stage of dementia and you, as the reader, can absolutely feel her confusion and understand completely her frustrations with things that just don't hold together....all because Critchley is excellent at somehow seeming to understand what a person with dementia is experiencing. Not sure if Critchley knows someone or several people experiencing dementia but her ability to tie it in with a mystery....almost a page turner of a story. ( )

Edie Green sees Lucy Theddle, looking exactly the same as she did in 1951. But, it is 2018, and Edie is forgetting things. Did she see Lucy, or is she trying to remember what happened all those years ago when Lucy went missing?
Edie knows that she has to find out what happened, and to let people know. Edie recounts her memories of how popular Lucy befriended her, and the secret Edie kept for her, as well as what happened the day Lucy disappeared.
Edie's family wonders how much of this is true, or is it the ramblings of someone who is suffering with dementia?
An interesting mystery, some of which was obvious-until the final scene, is that real, or also just a thought in Edie's mind? ( )

In 1951, fifteen year old Edie Green is an unpopular, lonely teen. Her mother, Nancy, is a widow, and works by day for a greengrocer , and in the evenings she conducts seances for the locals in their small town of Ludthorpe, UK. Edie is dreadfully embarrassed by her mom's work as a medium, and unhappy with her mother's unpleasant boyfriend, Reg. When popular, pretty Lucy Theddle befriends Edie, Edie is delighted. But Lucy has a secret or two that Edie is not sure she should keep. Then Lucy goes missing.

In 2018 , Edie is now 82, and suffering with early stage dementia. She is still living in Ludthorpe, in her own home, with her son Daniel and her granddaughter Amy close by. One day Edie believes she sees her lost childhood friend, Lucy. Her family dismisses this as something to do with her dementia.

The story is so touching, engaging and beautifully told. For me, the more emotional aspect was that of Lucy and her secret, rather than that of Edie and her dementia. The characters were well rounded, and the plot never lagged.

Highly recommended. ( )