The Keeper of Lost Things: winner of the Richard & Judy Readers' Award and Sunday Times bestseller

When I read the first paragraph of this book I knew I was in for a treat and I was right. Two stories with 40 years of difference. In one of them, Anthony Peardew failed his fiancee by losing the only thing she asked him to keep. Since then, he picked up whatever he found on the street to make up for his neglect, thinking that all of those trinkets might have some value for their owners. At the same time, as a writer these items inspired him to write the stories he imagined of them. Laura was his faithful assistant, on whom he entrusted a terrible responsibility. Working for him changed her life. She was drinking a lot after a disappointing divorce, and when Anthony died, she also "inherited" Sunshine who chose her as her friend, and his gardener. This trio would try to fulfill the tasks left on her. In the second story, forty years back, Eunice starts working for the Bomber, a book publisher. From the first day, they became inseparable friends. In the end, we are certain that both stories would inevitable meet. A tender, heart-warming story of love, friendship, loss, and hope.

Way too many characters and incidents tend to overload the reader's concentration but but but... All eventually comes to an understanding to reason. Quirky, somewhat irrational yet humoristic, this is certainly a "different" read, unique in its storytelling. Enjoyable but tiresome in its lack of flow.I would struggle to recommend it to an everyday logical person -- it's a zany read.

Wonderful, fun read. This is one of those books you can pick up and read when you want something sweet but not too heavy, detailed just enough to be interesting without being overwhelming. Sweet story with likable characters. It makes you think about all the “lost things” you may have picked up or passed over in your lifetime, and imagine where and from whom they came from. A fun, happy read.

I found the story and the way it is narrated very pathetic and boring, but I believe that some people might find it poetic. Plus a kind of cliché as well - young, poor woman with "a story" who miraculously ihnerits a fortune from an old rich man....the condition of the inheritance seemed promissing in the beginning, however...Personally, I found the stories of the owners of the lost things very artificially made up, unbelievable and once again pathetic. I did not finish the book.

An interesting story of a man who collects items that others have lost and documents where they were found. The book is the story of his own lost item and the passing of the torch which results in the resolution of many of the stories touched on throughout. Highly recommend

The opening paragraph hooked me in. The author writes with an original voice. Her talent for quirky ideas and zany relationships which she expresses with relateable humanity is entertaining. There are times when I need a book that's not exciting, where there is no grief nor conflict and all is well in the World. This is it. So well written that it's soothing and easy going. The characters feel like old friends whom I'd like to meet again. I miss them already!

This charming quirky book made me cry and laugh. I did not want it end. Loved it....... Reading Ruth Hogans second book The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes Ruth Hogan has not disappointed me so far.

I hate myself for even finishing this book. An interesting concept for a novel is completely lost in the ridiculous dialogue, stereotypical characters and cringe worthy, completely predictable plot. The individual vignettes and brief flashbacks that illustrate the background of the lost items are engaging but sadly not enough to make this a halfway decent novel. Don't waste your time.

If its on the Man Booker list, it's incomprehensible and dull and makes you feel stupid. If it's on the Richard and Judy bookclub list, it's usually inconsequentially light and about love, which I frankly couldn't give a monkeys about. Please, please is there a book out there that is challenging, thought-provoking, engaging, relevant and fictional? Cos I have yet to find it. And this certainly isn't it. Life is too short to waste a moment of it reading this book.

I don't like leaving a critical review of a book but I'm so flabbergasted by all the good reviews that I feel I have to. I don't know if it's Young Adult (publishers won't say so on the cover), in which case maybe it's fine for a teenager who's led a sheltered life, but it's so badly written as to insult the intelligence of the reader. All the characters are cardboard cut-outs (the only one with any credibility is Sunshine, who has Downs Syndrome) and the love story is toe-curlingly bad. If you like Mills and Boon, this might be your cup of tea.

So disappointed! Having read the reviews I was really looking forward to reading this book - even bought an extra one for my mother-in-law as it sounded so lovely. But the writing style was painfully basic (it grated on me throughout and made me really quite angry - I wanted to rewrite it!) and the storyline so predictable that I had to skip ahead paragraphs and just get to the end to make sure what so obviously would happen did. A really painful and boring read. Honestly one of the most disappointing books I’ve ever read. The idea was beautiful and could have been exceptional but the execution was shockingly poor and I cannot for the life of me understand how so many people have given it 5 stars! Truly one of my least favourite books ever - sorry as I’m sure the author is lovely.

Started well but far too sickly sweet and formulaic. Characters were either too good to be true or complete jerks, no in between. The nice cup of tea should have been edited out, it was so annoying. Did persevere with it though having fought off the urge to bin it early on. Not an entirely bad read if you want something shallow to pass some time on a short flight. 2.5 stars.

As a reader who generally gives a wide berth to any novel described as ‘charming’ or ‘heartwarming” I was pleasantly surprised by this quirky and mildly entertaining novel full of idiosyncratic turns of phrase and occasional moments of wisdom. Although I was unsure what to expect the intriguing opening chapters captured my attention and together with the original premise compelled me to read further. A dual narrative, one current and another beginning forty years earlier in 1974 follows, with the promise of seeing just how they marry up adding an element of mystery to proceedings as despite both being connected to the literary world their connection is far from self-evident..Since the demise of his much loved wife, Therese, short story novelist and panama wearing gent, Anthony Peardew, has spent his life seeking redemption for his broken promise when he lost the communion medallion that he promised his wife he would never be parted from. Since that day Anthony has gathered the lost things of others as a reminder and his only chance of atoning for his error. Home to his collection which has spanned forty years is a locked study where the items are labelled and stored within Padua, his splendid Victorian villa with a rose garden planted in memory of his wife. For Anthony, every object has a value far greater than money and that is a story and a memory and having parted from his publisher his short stories are woven from his collection of lost items and appear throughout the narrative. I was concerned that they might break up the overarching plot of the novel and make for disjointed reading however this proved unfounded as the pithy and increasing dark delights of just two to three pages were brilliant examples of flash fiction.Knowing his own demise is in sight has, however, given Anthony a purpose and his thirty-five-year-old divorced housekeeper of nearly six years, Laura, is the woman he chooses to fulfil it. Laura is floundering and desperately miserable after her cocksure and flashy older husband’s affair and her unfulfilled desire to have a child. Riddled with self-doubt and burdened by the misery of having failed to live up to her parents expectations Anthony and Padua provide her with hope and a much needed reason to live. Whilst the fear of failure has crushed her spirit in the past Anthony is leaving her a legacy and a mission to reunite just one rightful owner with their lost treasure and in doing make someone very happy. Weighed down by the enormity of the task and feeling unworthy of even attempting to fulfil his final wish she is aided by a cheeky house gardener, Freddy, and a lonely and innocent young Down’s Syndrome neighbour, Sunshine, with a psychic talent for knowing just where the items originally belonged! Soon a virtual lost property department online is born... But can Laura, Freddy and Sunshine resolve Anthony’s own loss of the medallion and in doing so bring the eerie goings at Padua to an end?In a second narrative beginning forty years previously, spirited and independent assistant to a movie obsessed and good-humoured publisher called Bomber follows twenty-one-year-old Eunice. As the course of their relationship progresses from employee and boss to an enduring friendship that each values immensely and survives the dire literary efforts of Bomber’s odious sister and the deaths of both his parents. Whilst Laura’s narrative and quest drive the story, the hijinks, warmth and mutual adoration of Eunice and Bomber means their story sits quietly in the background despite it often being the most droll and touching of the two strands.Parts of the novel were hit and miss for me with the romantic involvement of Laura and Freddy an unnecessary dose of chick-lit but but there were other pleasant surprises such as some lyrical turns of phrase full of wit and occasional moments of insight on the defining moments in every individual’s life. Whilst the portrayal of Alzheimer’s disease in one narrative was sympathetically treated, I was far less in favour of how Ruth Hogan addressed that of Down’s Syndrome and the comic character of Sunshine left me cringing as I felt she was deliberately designed to amuse, particularly with her frequent malapropism’s such as “dancing drome”. Bomber’s sister, Portia, is a little offensively over the top too and it is the characters of Laura, Eunice and Bomber that make a meaningful impression and are fleshed out in more rewarding detail. I was also left rather unmoved by Bomber’s canine companions and their ability to understand human conversations, which added nothing to the overall story.At three hundred pages The Keeper of Lost Things contains some moments of real predictability (Laura and Freddy’s romance and the happy ending), and so I was surprised that my attention never wandered despite the slow pace of the novel. Curiously entertaining, largely inoffensive and truly original, this is a tame and gently moving take of friendships, love, loss and the path to redemption. Whilst the lack of substance means I feel in no hurry to repeat the reading experience the novel stops short of becoming farcical and treads a fine line in an engaging and quirky story of relationships and a lifetime spent pondering on just what might have been.