The Keeper of Lost Things

Product Information

Once in-awhile a book comes along that feels a little lacy, dressy, decorous, cultivated, rosy, sweet, courteous, cordial, romantic, a little mysterious, quirky, touching, sad, humorous, warm, cozy, and loving. AND YOU’RE UP FOR THE TASK!

Sigh. I didn't like this book. It's one of those cute, sweet, Hallmark-movie type stories that I wish I did like, but the simpleness and sweetness and the obvious way that everything wraps up perfectly is so implausible that it made me groan in frustration. 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.The Keep of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan tells the story of Laura, a woman who works for Anthony, an author, who leaves Laura his estate on one condition. Laura must try to reunite as many people with their lost items as she is able to. Anthony also wants to be reunited with his fiancée Therese who was killed in an accident years earlier. Eunice loses Bomber’s ashes on the train to Bristol, which Anthony finds. Eunice visits Laura and is reunited with Bomber’s ashes. Eunice also gives Laura Therese’s communion medal, which Eunice found the day of her interview with Bomber, which was the same day that Therese was killed in an accident. The only promise that Therese had ever asked of him, and he had failed her. And so he had started to gather the things that other people lost. It was his only chance for atonement.” All set out on a tray with a tray cloth. Pure white, lace –edged linen. The tray cloth was definitive. Padua was clearly a house where all these things, including the tray cloth, were part of every day life”. The Keeper of Lost Things has an interesting premise, Mr. Anthony Peardew, has a collection of lost items.

Anthony Peardew has learned, through experience, the pain and heartbreak that can come through loss. An object isn’t always just itself; it can be attached to someone’s memories - of a person, an event, and a time of happiness. A time of sadness, even. When he finds items left behind, lost, he brings them home in the hopes that he may reunite them with the person who is missing them. He catalogs each item, and records the place and time he found them, hoping that someday they will return to their home. Anthony Peardew is The Keeper of Lost Things. Talk about Sunshine, who describes herself as a "dancing drome." Did you appreciate her clairvoyance and connection with the irascible ghost? What do Freddy and Sunshine represent to Laura? Hogan also overly explains things. For example, the sister would act horribly and just to clarify, the author would further write something along the lines of, "the horrible sister." He gives these *things* a home, and respects their history. He catalogues the exact place and moment he found them in hopes to one day reunite even one of them with their rightful owner.

Summary

A very enjoyable read. It is a gentle tale and you feel a genuine interest in and affection for the main characters. 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 accidently 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 and all its lost treasures, including an irritable ghost. 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 accidently 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 and all its lost treasures, including an irritable ghost.