The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan

My #FridayBookShare post yesterday talked about this book here.

It starts with a very intriguing first line and never lets up on quirky elements all the way to the end.  Anthony Peardew is an author of short stories but he also is a collector of lost things, labelling each and every item that he finds.  Laura is his assistant/housekeeper, a woman who is damaged by her past but who finds solace in her employer and friend.  When Anthony realises that he must find somebody to pass his collection onto he chooses Laura, somebody who he can trust to carry on his work.

Ruth Hogan has a wonderfully descriptive style of writing and this is a charming book.  It started quite slowly but crept up on me and drew me in, engulfing me in the story.  I really cared about the characters: Laura and Freddy, Anthony’s gardener; Sunshine, who is ‘dancing drome’ (say it out loud); and Eunice and Bomber, whose link to the story becomes clear as the book progresses.

This is the sort of book I love.  It has a mystery at its heart but it features ordinary people in an unusual situation.  I enjoyed all the little details, about the lost items and Anthony’s house, Padua.  It almost has an old-fashioned and nostalgic feel and I could easily have believed it was set in another era, but for the obvious references to the modern day.

I think this book will do really well as it’s just so appealing and evocative.

With thanks to the publishers and Amazon Vine for the review copy.  The Keeper of Lost Things is published by Two Roads on 26th January 2017.

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