TLC Book Tour: The Keeper of Lost Things

Ruth Hogan's The Keeper of Lost Things is a carefully crafted novel.  She has managed to create parallel stories that cleverly converge at novel's end, leaving me with plenty to think about.

A few weeks before I began reading this novel, my friend, Kristin, read it. She talked about it briefly, noting that the more she got into it, the more she was enjoying it.  I would have to agree with that.  

At first, this novel has a lot going on that isn't explained.  Stick with it.  The payoff is in the ending.  

Anthony, an elderly gentleman has been collecting "lost things" - items he finds on the ground, lying around.  He places these items in a room in his house for safekeeping.  This all began after the death of his wife, the love of his life.  

Laura has been hired as Anthony's assistant. She's never seen his collection of lost things, and little does she know she will be asked to look after all of Anthony's things and find the owners of these items.

The story moves from Laura and Anthony to Eunice and Bomber and also so to snippets of stories scattered throughout as various lost items are given a story as to where they came from and how they became lost.  By book's end Hogan manages to tie all of this up rather remarkably.

This is a novel that will stick with me. I've thought about it far more after I finished it than many other books I have read.  Hogan's ability to wrap things up was done so cleverly that it is something I will think about for a while.  

Book clubs will find this novel interesting as well. It is a story that appeals to a wide audience with plenty to discuss.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for providing a copy of this novel for my review.  All opinions expressed are, as always, my own.

For more information about The Keeper of Lost Things, visit the HarperCollins website.