#FridayBookShare – The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan

I saw this on Shelley Wilson’s website and thought it was a great idea.

Anyone can have a go – all you need to do is answer the following questions about a book you enjoyed reading (old or new), use the hashtag #FridayBookShare and tag @shelleywilson72.

First line of the book.

Recruit fans by adding the book blurb.

Introduce the main character using only three words.

Delightful design (add the cover image of the book).

Audience appeal (who would enjoy reading this book?)

Your favourite line/scene.


Today I’m choosing a book I’m currently reading, The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan. I’m nearing the end now and it’s been a lovely read.  Look out for my review coming very soon.

First line of the book (well, the first sentence actually as just the first line wouldn’t make much sense):

Charles Bramwell Brockley was travelling alone and without a ticket on the 14.42 from London Bridge to Brighton.

Recruit fans by adding the book blurb:

MEET THE ‘KEEPER OF LOST THINGS’…
Once a celebrated author of short stories now in his twilight years, Anthony Peardew has spent half his life lovingly collecting lost objects, trying to atone for a promise broken many years before.
Realising he is running out of time, he leaves his house and all its lost treasures to his assistant Laura, the one person he can trust to fulfil his legacy and reunite the thousands of objects with their rightful owners.
But the final wishes of the Keeper of Lost Things have unforeseen repercussions which trigger a most serendipitous series of encounters…

With an unforgettable cast of characters that includes young girls with special powers, handsome gardeners, irritable ghosts and an array of irresistible four-legged friends, The Keeper of Lost Things is a debut novel of endless possibilities and joyful discoveries that will leave you bereft once you’ve finished reading.
WE’RE ALL JUST WAITING TO BE FOUND…

Introduce the character using only three words:

Laura is prickly, damaged and kind.

Delightful design:

I have a proof copy and the cover, which is based on an illustration by Diana Beltran Herrera, is beautiful but I understand the final version is to be even more lovely, featuring three-dimensional paper sculptures and some of the lost objects featured in the story.

keeper

Audience appeal (who would enjoy reading this book?):

Anybody who enjoys books where there is a puzzle to be solved, quirky characters and wonderfully descriptive writing.

Your favourite line/scene:

Well, this is tough.  I’ve marked several passages which I think are clever so I’m going to cheat slightly and choose two.

(By way of background, Sunshine is a young lady with Down’s Syndrome and Robert is a solicitor.)

‘I’m delighted to meet you, young lady.  I’m Robert Quinlan, and who are you?’

 

‘I’m Sunshine, the new friend for Laura.  People sometimes call me Sunny for short’.

 

He smiled.  ‘Which do you prefer?’

 

‘Sunshine.  Do people ever call you Robber?’

 

‘It’s an occupational hazard, I’m afraid.’

She had a terrible feeling that there was, if not a spectre, then an uninvited guest at her feast.  A soup spoon was missing; one of the table legs was too short; one of the champagne cocktails was flat; one of the second violins was sharp.  A sliver of disharmony jangled Padua and Laura had no idea what she should do to restore peace.

The Keeper of Lost Things is published by Two Roads on 26th January 2017.

*The #FridayBookShare graphic is reproduced with the kind permission of Shelley Wilson.

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