The Keeper of Lost Things

Interlacing plots join this cozy, clever, contemporary English story, unveiling the layers of four lives brought together by the discovery of a biscuit tin full of human ashes found on a train. Laura, an unhappy 35-year-old divorcée, answers an ad for a writer's assistant. Years earlier, Eunice responds to a similar advertisement for a publisher's assistant. Enter Anthony Peardew, the writer, and Bomber, the publisher, who both have their own complicated romantic and family histories. The story involves Anthony's collection of lost items he catalogs and stores in the locked study at Padua, the Victorian villa where he lives and writes. He acquires items he finds in gutters, parks, and trains: jigsaw puzzle pieces, hair ribbons, umbrellas, etc. The novel includes short tales with the narratives behind each lost item. Laura decides to create a website to find the owners of the artifacts, including the human ashes.