Review: Lost Property

Title: Lost Property

Author: Helen Paris

Publisher: 13th May 2021 by Random House UK,Transworld Publishers, Doubleday

Pages: 384 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: contemporary, fiction

My Rating: 3.5 cups

Synopsis:

Dot Watson has lost her way.

Twelve years ago her life veered off course, and the guilt over what happened still haunts her. Before then she was living in Paris, forging an exciting career; now her time is spent visiting her mother's care home, fielding interfering calls from her sister and working at the London Transport Lost Property office, diligently cataloguing items as misplaced as herself.

But when elderly Mr Appleby arrives in search of his late wife's purse, his grief stirs something in Dot. Determined to help, she sets off on a mission - one that could start to heal Dot's own loss and let her find where she belongs once more...

My Thoughts

‘All the things I could have done, people I could have met, places I could have gone. I gaze around and see - nobody. No one. Just me and a pile of lost things. All abandoned, left, forgotten.’

Lost Property follows Dot who’s life hasn’t quite gone as planned and she is working through some very distressing feelings of loss. The structure and routine from her work in lost property provide the order and comfort she seeks. That is ... until one particular incident forces her to reevaluate everything she thought to be true. 

‘Nothing matters nowadays, does it? It’s all disposable, meaningless. Lost something you care about? Just get another! Get two! Replace it and move on!’ 

I have to state from the outset, this was not the book I was expecting. At some point it lost me a little but then came home strongly in the end. The thing is, this book deals with some really dark and heart wrenching topics that I had not been prepared for. This is no light, fun read regarding lost items with a little romance thrown in. At times, I found it difficult to read faced with topics of grief, suicide, dementia, sibling rivlay, depression, loss, regret - that is a lot to take in. You have to sign on to take the journey with Dot as she tries to come to terms and reclaim her life. At times it is slow going, at times it is downright dark and depressing, but ultimately you crave to see Dot come out the other side. 

‘I guess I don’t think it’s about right and wrong - just that we need to be a bit more fluid. Sometimes it can help to step into the world they are in, rather than always forcing them into ours.’

This book is like being on a rollercoaster with its peaks and troughs. Yet with a great cast of secondary characters it offers a story of the importance of the people in our lives, those that shape us and the shared memories that come to mean so much. In that loss we hold on - sometimes too tightly - to an object that provides a portal to the past, so that they and all we shared are never lost and nor should we become so. 

‘Life gives us so much,’ Mr Appleby says, ‘chance, excitement and hope. But woven through it all is loss. If you try to pull out that thread, the whole thing unravels. Loss is the price we pay for love.’ 

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.