The Keeper of Lost Things: The feel-good novel of the year

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Personally, I am a reader who likes to think (imagine that). When I thought of The Keeper of Lost Things, I had in mind the imagination of Neil Gaiman, almost a fantasy point of view, where I could dream up a story for each of the lost items, go on an adventure with the characters. Instead, the reader is presented with a story right away about each item. Ugh. This novel was very unexpected- I not only mean the novel itself— but my enjoyment of absolutely EVERYTHING ABOUT IT. I consider myself to be a modern woman —- I rarely tap into an appreciation for people’s sentimental tchotchkes. I ‘did’ ......tap into my appreciation for the smallest ‘lost things’. Silly me! Darn....where is that hair clip I lost- which I use to love? Would one of you please return it to Westgate Ave. in San Jose? Thank you, kindly! There is a compelling, magical appeal to this story, not in the literal sense, but it added a pleasant ambiance of imaginative goodness.

There are two plot-timelines. Both were engaging—-but there was also a ‘third’ treat: stories within the storytelling. They were good! Afterall the Gentleman- Anthony Peardew, “Keeper of Lost Things”, was a writer! I really appreciated the meanings and morals behind this story. This is a multi-perspective, multi-timeline read with all the feels!What I liked about this unique writing style was the several short stories that were attached to the list items. Each short story has its own unique moral and it’s woven into the main story effortlessly. I could see how it might be an issue for some as it took me the first two to get the hang of it, but then I really enjoyed it. This book was such a wonderful, delightful, quiet and heartwarming tale that I wish I would have loved a little bit more. My mind wandered quite a bit while reading this one and I had a hard time staying focused on this story but, I absolutely loved the ending & the premise of this story though! I was so drawn to the premise of this book -- a man mourning the loss of the love of his life collects lost objects, hoping to reunite them with their owners, meanwhile writing short stories about each object. So much potential there.

Well, this is one of those books. An enchanting debut novel from Ruth Hogan about love, friendship and passion, life and afterlife, acceptance and endurance. I’ll always wonder when I look down and see little lost objects that we sometimes run across, about the person who lost it . When I was young my parents would take us on “Sunday drives,” which frequently meant we’d end up at some previously unexplored Antique Shop in some small town that had seemingly gone undiscovered for years, if I could judge by the dust. I used to imagine stories about the previous owners (and the ones before that, and so on) of these objects that ended up in our home. Imagine these objects in their hands, their homes. How did it come to be in a shop being sold by a stranger?

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Laura, a young woman who is working for this Keeper of Lost Things since the day she spotted the want ad that Anthony Peardew had placed. She was once lost, herself, but Anthony helped her to reunite with her true self, and not the one others had tried to form her to be. He knows too well the pain of losing something dear, and knows the value in having something to hold onto. Hogan’s whimsical first novel weaves together the stories of two British assistants, one of whom works for a publisher in the 1970s and the other who, in the present day, works for an unusual elderly gentleman who has dedicated himself to assembling a room full of “a sad salmagundi” of 40 years’ worth of detritus lost or abandoned by its owners. The Keeper of Lost Things is an enchanting story about love, loss, friendship, and healing. A wonderful cast of endearing, quirky characters made this book a pleasure to read!

The Keeper of Lost Things has an interesting premise, Mr. Anthony Peardew, has a collection of lost items. The blurb is longgggg....and explains the book. I'm just adding the first introductory paragraph here: For instance, The Keeper of Lost Things turns out to be an old man who collects lost things he finds and then writes down where and when he found them. One thing I did like about this part, though, was that he’s a writer who writes cute and imaginative stories to go along with these lost things.Objects spread among red roses, each of them enclosing a beautiful sad story -- roses with thorns -- fictions grazing anonymous truths -- episodes of someone’s real life. There's a gorgeous cover to this book too which is becoming quite a trademark of this author, bright and colourful with little pictures of some of the 'lost' items dotted around the roses which they themselves are symbolic to the story. Anthony Peardew is the keeper of lost things. Forty years ago, he carelessly lost a keepsake from his beloved fiancée, Therese. That very same day, she died unexpectedly. Brokenhearted, Anthony sought consolation in rescuing lost objects—the things others have dropped, misplaced, or accidentally left behind—and writing stories about them. Now, in the twilight of his life, Anthony worries that he has not fully discharged his duty to reconcile all the lost things with their owners. As the end nears, he bequeaths his secret life’s mission to his unsuspecting assistant, Laura, leaving her his house and all its lost treasures, including an irritable ghost.