I adored the first half of this book, when the clinic was being created. It was just a winding narrative exploring memory and the self, very thought provoking and existential. The sudden and quite jarring flip into an EU vote to return completely to the past felt so out of place that I just couldn’t get invested in the second half. I think I just would have preferred the introspective and complex discussions of memory and philosophy to be the main focus, not how specifically entire countries turned themselves back into the past. 

Our bodies turn out to be quite merciful by nature, a little amnesia rather than anaesthesia at the end. Our memory, which is leaving us, let’s us play a bit longer, one last time in the Elysian fields of childhood. A few well-begged-for, please-just-five-more minutes, like in the old days, playing outside in the street. Before we get called home for good.