Remember Me and Love Me

About the Book

And suddenly she is gone. That is the central event in this account of a suicide, but the story lies in what precedes and follows it. This memoir has the common elements of most such stories, the increasing mental anguish of a victim and a survivor’s grief. It is the unique aspects of this particular tale that set it apart and make it absorbing.

First, there are trying cultural differences between Mulan, the Chinese victim and her much older American husband, Pete. Their marriage is an arranged one that they arranged themselves, she seeking a protector and he seeking someone to protect. They struggle to become the lovers and best friends that they both want to be. Both individuals have virtues but also flaws.

Then there are unsolved mysteries. Did Pete exacerbate his wife’s mental illness by his actions or inaction? Had his former wife really stalked Mulan, as she believed, contributing to her delusions? Were the origins of her suicide rooted in heredity, or in events endured by Mulan during the Chinese Cultural Revolution? Could her mental illness have been cured and her death avoided?

The ending is uplifting but unanticipated. Pete, after trying other remedies unsuccessfully to work his way out of grief, finally finds major relief when a new responsibility is thrust upon him. He becomes a caregiver to the suspect former wife, who has been ravaged by a stroke.

The presentation of the author’s story is unusual, too. Chapters alternate between the events preceding the suicide and those that succeed it. All but the final chapter of this memoir is told in the third person. The reader won’t find a dedication in the front of the book. It is placed at the end of the last chapter, where it provides a poignant endnote.

About the Author

Pierre “Pete”. Richards was born in 1935 and grew up in New Jersey. He graduated from Colgate University in 1957 where he majored in English. He taught at a prep school for a year before entering his lifelong career as a trust officer and department manager for banks in New York, Hartford, Denver and Philadelphia. The Connecticut Bar Association published his first book, The Trustee’s Guide in 2003. He currently devotes his time to writing novels, brushing up on several languages he never mastered, tinkering with old BMW motorcycles, and enjoying time spent with his descendents.