The Forgotten Locket by Lisa Mangum

Published in 2011. 368 pages.

The world is full of impossibilities - some beautiful, some terrible - but sometimes, when you least expect it, they can become possible.

~ Abby

The Forgotten Locket is a satisfying ending to The Hourglass Door trilogy. I was bothered by some of the same things as in the previous books, but overall - as before - my inner teenage geek had a good time with it! (My initial response to The Hourglass Door is here, with my thoughts on The Golden Spiral here.)

I re-read The Hourglass Door last fall for my Teaching Through Literature Discussions workshop. I found that I enjoyed the book more on the second read - perhaps partly because I wasn't trying so much to figure things out. I also found that I appreciated the book more having heard the author talk about it and the writing process. Among the interesting things she said are these:

• The idea for the river in the novels came from the metaphor "time is a river" and the saying "you can never step in the same river twice."


• The stage kiss scene in The Hourglass Door actually happened to her! (If you don't know what I'm taking about, it's probably worth reading The Hourglass Door just to contemplate the yuckiness of that experience!)


• "Believe in your voice. Everyone has a story to tell."

One thing that bugged me while I was reading was looking at the beautiful gold locket on the cover and seeing in my mind's eye the beautiful silver locket described in the narrative. In the end, I understand the point of the cover picture - but for most of the book I was thinking that the cover designer hadn't even read it!

Here is a favorite passage from The Forgotten Locket, one that I think deserves some contemplation:

"What kinds of things did you wish for?

Orlando turned his attention to the fire, avoiding my gaze. "Oh, I never made a wish myself."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. Maybe it was because I didn't want to look at my life and see what was missing. Once you identify what you lack, then it's all you see anymore. Wanting something I couldn't have would only lead to unhappiness, so I tried to be content with what I had."

"That's terrible," I said. "It misses the whole point of wishing. It's not to focus on what you don't have; it's to show you what could be. Once you know what you want, then you know what to reach for, what to dream about. It's how you change things."

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