Sharon Guskin’s captivating debut novel, “The Forgetting Time,” a story about a 4-year-old who remembers a past life, is provoking conversations about how much we really understand life after death.
Guskin held a book signing at the Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena Thursday February 18th.
“It is both a relentlessly paced page-turner and a profound meditation on the meaning of life,” New York Times Best-Selling Author Christina Baker Kline said.
Inspired by the overwhelming topic about whether or not there is more after death, Guskin studied cases where children remember their past lives.
About 3,000 such cases have been reported with the number growing daily.
Often times researchers found these children’s “past life,” and took children to the location of the previous person’s death. Children were able to identify people and places even though, in this life, they had never been there before.
Guskin described this phenomenon and its cases as “fantastically interesting” while speaking to a packed room full of readers who were hanging on to her every word at Vroman’s bookstore in Pasadena this past Thursday night.
“I really started focusing on how much our children really are our children, and how they got to be the way they are,” Guskin said.
While discussing her novel with the audience, she recalled her favorite part of this whole experience.
“By far the most fun part of writing this book is people have told me their stories. Just about a quarter of the people I talk to have something to say about it,” Guskin said.
Guskin shared with the audience several cases in which people in attendance at previous stops along her book tour had similar “past life” experiences with their own children.
After giving the audience the backstory to her novel, she read a chilling passage about Janie being called into the principal’s office after her son Noah began making some eyebrow raising claims at school. She commanded the room’s attention as she read a few pages, leaving everyone wanting more.
She then took questions from the eager audience. When asked if she actually believed in this herself, she responded that she wasn’t too convinced when she started writing. Guskin went in to the process with an open mind and by the time she completed her novel, she believes it is a real occurrence.
“You don’t have to believe in any of this to enjoy the book, it’s really just a story,” Guskin said.
One audience member, Rhya Turovsky, shared her own personal experience about meeting a lady who ran a bed and breakfast in the Czech Republic. Turovsky felt as if she had known her in a past life.
“I can’t forget the feeling actually; I’ve never felt like this before. I felt stronger about her than my own sister. This stranger that I had met at the airport,” Turovsky said. “I didn’t tell her. I didn’t even tell my husband. I didn’t think anyone would believe me.”
Since the incident, the two have gone on to become very good friends, and still keep in touch over 40 years later.
When the Q&A portion of the night concluded, Guskin stayed and met with those seeking an autograph, greeting everyone with a smile and thanking them for coming out and supporting her.
Guskin’s debut novel, “The Forgetting Time,” is available for purchase online and in stores, selling in over 15 countries.
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