The Keeper of Lost Things

 As I often do, I looked for something to break up the series I was listening to and found a gem.

Apparently, this book was a big hit when it was published at the end of 2017. I believe that I may have even seen it on my local library’s “New Release” shelves at the time, but I overlooked it. Actually, I am surprised that now I didn’t feel that it sounded rather sappy.

I wanted something different and sweet, and I was not disappointed. After a short time, I wondered if we weren’t in for something of a supernatural tale, as here we had an older man collecting objects he found on the streets. How he hoped to unite them with the people who dropped them seemed to be an impossible feat.

 I was almost disappointed to find that there appeared to be nothing other-worldly about the story, so I just continued to enjoy it.

I wrote long ago here of how much I enjoyed most of Cecelia Ahearn’s earliest books, including “There’s No Place Like Here”, another story about lost objects and in that case, a place where they, (and lost people), go, which is perhaps why I was expecting something supernatural.

Getting into it all I found out that the man was a writer, and used the objects as the basis for stories that he published and those which were not published, which is part of the overall tale.

This is not a story for everyone because although it is quite ‘clean’, (with the exception of some ‘P.C.’ inclusions), there are several storylines that switch back and forth. We see the protagonist’s story slowly unfold as to why he collects objects,

 but is he actually the principal protagonist, or is it another, as there is another complete storyline with other lives. We also see the writer’s assistant’s life, and a teenager with Down’s Syndrome who knows more than most average folk; she easily allows herself to believe and pick up knowledge with her spiritual senses, but no one understands her.

So, then it was back to the anticipated supernatural elements with her and with what the assistant hears, sees, and senses in the old home of the writer.

We also see the stories behind some of the lost-and-found objects, which were my favorite parts. 

As with Ahern’s book, most of the lost objects do not find their way back to their original owners, and we only have ‘closure’ with a few. However, some of those intertwine to bring peace, healing, and growth to all of the main characters in the book.

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Ruth Hogan’s “Keeper of Lost Things” and I highly recommend it.

I’d like to add one personal, and hopefully amusing, note.

There is a running theme with a song,  just the beginning of the song, “The Very Thought of You” through much of this book. I had those few words running through my mind with either Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin singing them whenever the song showed up within the story, even though in the book an “Al Bowlly” was mentioned as the singer who made the song famous. Since “Keeper of Lost Things” is based in England, I assumed he was the native singer who made it famous on that Side of the Pond, since many, many singers covered the song that I assumed it to be, (including a great version by Ella Fitzgerald). When I finally had some quiet time, I allowed Frank’s version to play fully in my head and realized that I had been thinking of the wrong song, which was actually “My One and Only Love”. It begins with the words,
“The very thought of you
[makes my heart sing
like an April breeze on the wings of Spring”].

 I had to look up the one made famous by Mr. Bowlly which goes,
“The very thought of you
[and I forget to do
the little ordinary things that everyone ought to do”].

(I bet you can guess which one I prefer. The first one is just better poetry.)

Here are the different songs, if you are curious.

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