Forever Today

Deborah Wearing tells her own account of her husband Clive, an English musician whose memory was wiped out by amnesia. Clive is among the most widely studied and severe cases of memory loss on record. In 1985, at the peak of his career as a conductor and music producer for the BBC, a viral infection, herpes simplex encephalitis, destroyed the parts of his brain that hold memory. He was left unable to hold onto any moment, each one feeling like he had just come round from a decade-long coma. For seven years he remained on a general ward in a London hospital while Deborah pressed for better care and looked in vain for a treatment.

Clive's musical ability survived the damage, and so did his deep affection for his wife. When it became clear that she could not restore him, Deborah left for America to rebuild her own life. Over long-distance calls she began to hear signs that Clive was regaining some of his memory, and that drew her back to England. He still lives in a care home, yet the couple now feel closer than they ever have.

Part memoir, part search for understanding, the book looks at what this condition reveals about being human and at a woman's struggle to make sense of, manage, and break free from a nightmare. It also explores a bond that seems to reach beyond conscious thought.