I just finished Viola Davis's terrific memoir, Finding Me.

I listened to the audiobook. Anything narrated by Viola Davis--you know it's gonna be fantastic. Finding Me won the Grammy for best audiobook, the 'G' in Ms. Davis's EGOT.
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(You can listen to it free on Spotify Premium! #themoreyouknow)

There's an image from the book I can't get out of my head:

Viola and her five siblings grew up in abject poverty.

The family lived in freezing Rhode Island in a condemned apartment building. There was rarely heat, electricity, running water, or food. And their apartment was infested with rats.

Viola describes lying in bed at night and feeling the soft 'plop' of a rat landing on her bed. She'd burrow underneath her covers, pull the sheets tight around her neck, and pray to not get bitten.

Once, Viola and her sisters won a town competition by staging a skit they'd written. Their prize? A shiny red bat...

...That Viola's sister hoisted over her sleeping mother's form as a rat moved toward her mother's open mouth.

The sister killed the rat. And Viola left me with an image I'll never forget.

A powerful image coupled with strong emotion sinks into the bones of your reader.

I'll never unsee that rat on the bed. I can still feel Viola's disgust and terror.

In your writing, do you have moments like this: strong sensory detail (image, smell, feeling, sound, taste) coupled with intense emotion?

If not...where could you add them?

These moments make your book linger.

Double down on those moments

Go there with your book. Give your reader moments they'll never forget.