a Clean Slate

From Booklist Caldwell's follow-up to Burning the Map [BKL N 15 02] introduces Kelly McGraw, who discovers that she has inexplicably forgotten five months of her life, during which her boyfriend dumped her and she was fired from her job. Something else happened, too, something that sent Kelly spiraling into depression, but she told none of her friends, so no one can fill her in. Kelly looks at the memory loss as a chance to start over and gets herself a new job working as a photographer's assistant to the mercurial Cole, who is trying to break back into the industry after a fall from grace. At first Cole is difficult, and Kelly fears she is wasting her time, but then he softens and gives her a chance to shoot some pictures herself. As Kelly grows comfortable in her new life, flashes of the forgotten five months haunt her, and she fears that if her memories return, they could derail her newfound happiness. Weightier than the usual fare, Caldwell's winning second novel puts an appealing heroine in a tough situation and relays her struggles with empathy. Kristine Huntley Copyright В© American Library Association. All rights reserved Review "Caldwell is the new Chick-Lit champ. Her prose is sharp, witty and thought-provoking . . ." -- Jerry Cleaver, author of Immediate Fiction and creator of the Writer's Loft. A Clean Slate chronicles the days of Kelly McGraw, a Chicago woman who suddenly can't remember the last five months of her life, a time when she was dumped by her soon-to-be fiance and laid off by the company she thought would make her partner. Overwhelmed and confused but otherwise feeling wonderful, she begins to realize that she has a clean slate in life. She can do anything she wants, go anywhere she wants, be anything she wants. But what, exactly, does she want?Follow Kelly on a journey that includes her search to discover what caused her memory loss, an internship with a bad-boy British photographer, a Caribbean photo shoot, her boyfriend's desire to come crawling back and, eventually, a brutal discovery that will cause her to reevaluate both her old and new lives. A Chicago woman suddenly can't remember the past five months of her life and begins to realize she has a clean slate. She can do anything she wants, but what does she want?