Anthony Peardow began collecting last things after his fiancée died unexpectedly. On that very day he also lost the keepsake she had given him. Bereft and alone, he began noticing things that people lost on the sidewalk, or in the park or on the subway and collected them and began to catalogue them with the date and place he had found them.

Jigsaw Puzzle pice, blue with white fleck-Found in the gutter, Copper Street, 24th September…

Red Gemstone- Found St. Peter’s churchyard, late afternoon 6th July…

Anthony Peardow was a writer and soon he began writing about the things he had found as a collection of short stories hoping that his stories might help people reconnect wit the things that they had lost.  Initially the stories had been upbeat and cheerful, but as he continued to write subsequent volumes, the stories became less cheerful and more complicated. His publisher, worried that he was going to lose his audience, refused to publish the last set of stories, saying they were too sad to publish. Now in his twilight years, Anthony is not sure that he has done everything he can to reunite people with the lost objects he has collected. Determined that the work continue he decides to bequeath his whole estate to his assistant Laura, hoping that she will find a way to continue his vision for the lost things he has collected.

Laura is herself a little lost. Recently divorced and wondering why it took her so long to escape a marriage that was so toxic, Laura moves into Anthony’s home after the funeral and takes stock of her new life. Along with the house, there is a distractingly handsome gardener, named Freddy, who comes intermittently to finish a project that Anthony commissioned before his death and a neighbor’s quirky daughter named Sunshine who latches on to Laura as if they are best friends.

When Laura reads the letter from Anthony explaining what he wants her to do with the lost things, she was expecting maybe few dozen things but when she opens up his study where he kept them with their catalogue tags she is overwhelmed by the volume and quickly enlists the help of Freddy and Sunshine to help her with this project.

What neither Anthony or Laura could have imagined is that among the lost things is the key to Anthony’s biggest regret, losing the keepsake from his fiancée and the possibility of a sense of closure.

Hogan is a new writer that I will be keeping my eyes on. This was such a lovely book, full of hope, new beginnings and redemption. Going back and forth through several different story lines, Hogan creates a tension which draws you into the book. She has not stinted on any of her many characters and they all become fully realized people that you wish you might sit down and share a cup of tea with as they do so often in the book. She intersperses stories behind many of the lost things which gives you a snapshot into the lives of different people, but these segues, rather than being distracting, seem to support the main storyline and draw us in even more. With a little bit of romance a little bit of mystery and full of fun and interesting characters this is a perfect summer beach read, or really anytime you want to  read something uplifting. Enjoy!

Brenda’s Rating: ****(4 Out Of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to: Marian, Lauren, and Sharon

Book Study Worthy? Yes!

Read in ebook format.