What Alice Forgot

On Tuesday, I posted the first paragraph of the book that I hadn't begun yet. I finished What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty yesterday and truly enjoyed it -- maybe, because I haven't had time to do much reading this summer or maybe because the concept really made me think.
The book focused on Alice who wakes up lying on the gym floor. She passed out during spinning class. When she wakes up she has lost her memory. As far as she knows, she's a 29-year-old pregnant with her first baby and deeply in love with her husband. In truth, she's 39 years old, mother of three children and divorcing her husband. Because she doesn't remember the 10 years that have passed, she tries to figure out how she became this 39-year-old person. She discovers that she changed quite a bit, some for the better, but she also gained many personality traits that the 29-year-old Alice would not have approved of.
Of course, I've been thinking about paths a lot lately as Grace decides where she'll attend college in the fall and I celebrated 21 years of marriage. It's funny to consider where other paths might have taken me.
Some parts of the book are jarring -- the idea that dozens of petty actions by her husband led to divorce, but it's true that those things build up. The 29-year-old Alice is also surprised the way her friends talk about the other mothers -- so catty. And that's an easy trait to fall into as well.
So, although the book is a breezy read, it is thought provoking and fun. I already passed it along to a friend at 7:45 this morning when I dropped Spencer off to catch the bus for a day of basketball.

First Paragraph Tuesday

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading.
Here's the first paragraph of the book that is sitting beside me as I drive 16 hours today from Florida to Ohio. If I take a driving break to let Grace drive, I may even read some of it.
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

She was floating, arms outspread, water lapping her body, breathing in a summery fragrance of salt and coconut. There was a pleasantly satisfied breakfast taste in her mouth of bacon and coffee and possibly croissants. She lifted her chin and the morning sun shone so brightly on the water, she had to squint through spangles of light to see her feet in front of her. Her toenails were each painted a different color. Red. Gold. Purple. Funny. The nail polish hadn't been applied very well. Blobby and messy. Someone else was floating in the water right next to her. Someone she liked a lot, who made her laugh, with her toenails painted the same way. The other person waggled multicolored toes at her companionably, and she was filled with sleep contentment. Somewhere in the distance, a man's voice shouted, "Marco?" and a chorus of children's voices cried back. "Polo!" The man called out again. "Marco, Marco, Marco?" and the voices answered, "Polo, Polo, Polo!" A child laughed; a long gurgling giggle, like a stream of soap bubbles. A voice said quietly and insistently in her ear, "Alice?" and she tipped back her head and let the cool water slide silently over her face.

I like this beginning because I can imagine my friend Sheila saying, "Funny" which she frequently says. I like the peaceful feeling it evokes, even though I know this will end up being a dream because I believe the book does not begin well.
What I don't like about typing out the first paragraph is that I notice little details that I might have glossed over, like the fact that "bacon and coffee and possibly croissants" should have gone near the words breakfast or taste, rather than her mouth. That's just the picky writer in me though.
This book description says 29-year-old Alice is married and expecting her first child when she wakes up on the gym floor as a 39-year-old with three children. She can't remember those intervening 10 years to figure out how her life got to this point.
What do you think? Would you keep reading?