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“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.”
The Keeper of Lost Things deals with different kinds of love, as well as two types of loss: the loss of love, and the loss of individual items. The little back stories of the lost items are brilliantly written, succinct and emotionally compact as well as totally convincing.
The aptly-named character of Sunshine comes across as very real, and provides lots of humour as well as more thought-provoking views on life. As well as sadness, there are many laugh-out-loud moments from the three main characters.
This is the author’s first book, and we felt she may have tried a little too hard with the fantasy ghost elements and some overly-sentimental sections, which detract from the story somewhat. However, these are offset by some excellent pieces of writing which we thoroughly enjoyed.
The Keeper of Lost Things is a charming and enjoyable book. It is a quick and easy read, making it very suitable for a book group.