It’s not uncommon to lose things. Sometimes they’re valuable to us, while other times, we throw them away on purpose. In Ruth Hogan’s The Keeper of Lost Things, these lost things have a collector. Anthony Peardew is a grieving former writer who lost his fiance the same day he lost a valuable possession given to him by her to show her love for him.
Forty years later, Anthony passes all that he has to his friend and housekeeper, Laura, asking of her only one thing: take the lost things that he has collected, and bring them back to their owners. With the help of Sunshine, Laura’s 19-year-old neighbor with Down Syndrome, and Freddy, a man who had been Anthony’s gardener for years, Laura sets up a website with the name The Keeper of Lost Things, meant to be a space for people to reclaim their lost things.
Another story runs with this one, following Eunice: how she lived, slowly fell in love, and lost the love of her life. She collected one lost item in her life, despite not making it a common occurrence like Anthony. For Anthony and his late fiance Therese, her collection of the strange trinket means the world.
Inside the book, there are also several short stories. Anthony quit writing for the most part, but with every lost thing that he collects, he writes stories to explain where they might have come from. Some of them were left behind, signifying a new chapter of life full of freedom or too painful to wear because of trauma, while others were things people tried to find for years.
The relationship between Laura, Freddy, and Sunshine wasn’t perfect. Laura even hides from Sunshine at multiple times, claiming she couldn’t handle her questions on a certain day, but Freddy is quick to critique her for it. Sunshine wasn’t represented the best, either, and she was given abilities that were almost magical, having a sense for the lost things, what they were, and if they were wanted back. Laura and Freddy, on the other hand, developed a romance that was a little predictable and added to the cliches. Freddy’s main purpose didn’t change, however, as he continued to mainly help Laura with the site and live with her and Sunshine. The relationships in Eunice’s story were deeper and more heartfelt, which saved the story.
With a hint of magic, The Keeper of Lost Things is tidily wrapped up, with an idyllic ‘happily ever after’ in spite of the heartbreaking and occasionally traumatizing contents. Sunshine frequently repeats the suggestion of having ‘a lovely cup of tea,’ but this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Readers who don’t mind more of a fairy-tale type of book, however, might enjoy it as a heart-warming next book.
