(Jlit Review) Memory of Glass by Akiyoshi Rikako

Paperback 360 pages

Published by Penerbit Haru, December 2019

Rating 5/5

For some reason, when reading this novel, I have a lot of memories that flashed at a glance when my mother was still alive. In addition, I also suddenly felt afraid of my future. Not only once or twice have I watched a movie about dementia or Alzheimer's, but only this time I read a novel about someone who has dementia and was taken from her perspective.

It's so heart-rending.

Mayuko Kashihara, the main accused of the murder of Gouda 20 years ago, reported herself to the police after murdering someone in her house. For someone who has short memories in a matter of minutes, this is very possible.

For 20 years, Mayuko only has memories before she was traumatized when a mass murder occurred that claimed her parents. After that, Mayuko's life was limited to memories when she was before 19 years old. When she was in the detention center after she committed a murder, she often only remembered that she was still in school or in college. This kind of state often confused the police as well as the detectives. to help her remember, she put some notes on her body and the wall of the detention room. Before the murder, she wrote some notes in the form of e-mails that she sent to herself, each time the email sent, it made her feel shocked when she realized that her parents were gone.

Why did I get scared at the beginning of this review? I had seen my mother forget the small things when she was sick. Maybe it's because of her illness that she no longer remembered days, dates or even hours. In fact, all her life, my mother was like a memory walk that remembered things that I don't think need to be remembered. Like when I bought her new clothes, this relative was related to that relatives, and so on. I often say that my mother's memory is the strongest ever among my family members. However, towards the end of her life, my mother often raved. At a glance, I, honestly, once thought like Detective Yuka felt, that the presence of someone with dementia was troublesome, and should just disappear. (FYI, my mother didn’t suffer from dementia, but her illnesses caused her forget things).

Dementia, according to the halodoc website, does indeed attack women more. Genetic factors do affect a person with dementia. In addition, menopause in women also increases the risk of women suffering from dementia compared to men. This is caused by estrogen in the female body before menopause and after it will decrease, while in men it tends to be stable. This estrogen is a hormone that protects the walls of blood vessels. When the level decreases, the protective power of the walls of blood vessels in the brain also decreases.

This book takes two points of view which change in each chapter. One point of view was taken from detective Yuka, who has a mother with complaints that is almost similar to Mayuko. And the second viewpoint was taken from Mayuko herself. I was amazed at how the writer understood someone with such a short memory that sometimes it made confused. Is it really that bad? How patient Mayuko's husband has been by her side for 20 years. But is he that sincere? Doesn’t he have his own life, dream  and career despite caring Mayuko?

As usual, the characteristics of the book by Akiyoshi Rikako sensei always give a new perspective on something that was previously very uncommon to me. Adopting the theme of dementia, whether due to age or due to trauma, it all leads to the family / relatives around him. Yuka, who is busy, feels guilty that she cannot take care of her mother, feels that this is a shared responsibility with her siblings, but in fact everything is buried on her shoulder. Feelings of guilt coupled with the sincerity of Mitsuharu, Mayuko's husband in caring for his beloved wife, even though his presence never left an impression in his wife's memory, is like a slap on the face of this senior detective. Feelings of fatigue and hopelessness of the people around her are felt by those who care for her. Quite often the desire to end the burden often comes to mind. I could say that my sisters and I were fortunate enough to be a good team throughout my mother's illness. When compared to detectives Yuka and Mitsuharu, my burden was not as heavy as theirs.

Finally, this book successfully stirred my feelings while adding new insights about dementia. Recommended! 

Have you heard about Akiyoshi Rikako sensei? Have you read some of her works? Some of them have been released into live action. The first work was Girls in The Dark (2017) with Marie Iitoyo as the main lead. The second work went into live action drama was Absolute Justice or Justice Monster (Zettai Seigi) in 2019. Sayaka Yamaguchi was the main lead in the 8-episode-drama. 

Akiyoshi Rikako sensei

Speaking about the writer, I have been her loyal reader since her first work, Girls in The Dark. I love how she described things and characters and then twisted at the end. The most twusted ending, for me, was Holy Mother, but I don't think it would be good to be made into live action. If you have read the novel, I think you know what I mean. 

Now, let's imagine that this book would have a live action drama or movie. I think about some casts while I'm wiriting this post. 

The main lead is Mayuko Kashihara, the one who got traumatized and had a short memory. She is about 41 years old. I guess the cats can be Nanako Matsushima. I saw her as Natsu's step mother in Natsuzora. I'm sure the role suits her well. As the senior detective, Yuko Kiritani, I'm thinking about Keiko Kitagawa. I love her acting in Tantei no Tantei. As Yuko's junior, Nomura's role might be good for Tadayoshi Okura. He was cast as a police officer in Ms. Sadistic Detective together with Mikako Tabe. Another cast is Mitsuharu Kashihara as Mayuko's husband. Tetto Sugimoto might suit the role, perhaps with some more fats. And the last cast that actually is like a side role but it seems that it turned to be an important role is Mayuko's ex neighbor, that is Yonemori Hisae. For this cast, I guess Yumi Asou could be suitable for the role. 

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