Cape Town, the near future.

The memory clinic cannot cure Alma Konachek’s dementia, but it can slow it down and give her some of her memories back, captured on a series of cartridges and then retrieved on a device called a ‘remote memory simulator'.

At home, Alma has a memory wall covered with these cartridges, along with hand-written notes and a photograph of her late husband, Harold, who was a keen fossil-hunter.

But Alma’s memories are not just of interest to her.

Episode One
Alma’s dementia may be getting worse, but she is convinced she has seen a tall, strange man in her yard.

Anthony Doerr is an American author of novels and short stories. He gained widespread recognition for his 2014 novel All The Light We Cannot See which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Memory Wall is the title story from his 2010 collection.

Writer: Anthony Doerr
Reader: Rakie Ayola
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4 Show less