The Secret of Lost Things

The Secret of Lost Things is a wonderful book. And I mean it as a great compliment that it rather reminds me of some of Barbara Pym's work: it seems like it should be a rather light coming of age novel, but then takes a look at some darker twists in human nature. Our protagonist, Rosemary (for remembrance), leaves her home in Tasmania just after turning 18. She is cut adrift, as an orphan, and goes to New York where she gets a job with a bookstore filled with eccentric characters (I wondered how it is so easy to get a job with a tourist visa, but this isn't the place to ask, I guess). At this point, I thought the book would be a sweet, humorous romp through eccentricity. The story darkens with the obsessions of book collectors, Herman Melville, and a man who obsesses about Rosemary. I don't really want to say too much more, because I don't want to spoil this wonderful book that delights in supplying the most interesting details about each character. I recommend it absolutely, and look forward to reading all of Ms. Hay's future books.

It's 1982, and Rosemary Savage has been given the chance to fill up the gaps in her life. After her mother's passing, a family friend gifts the recently turned eighteen year old with a plane ticket to New York with implicit instructions to embark on an adventure away from the isolation of her native Tasmania. Rosemary, the narrator of the story, is immediately likable for both her vulnerability and her optimism. Without a game plan, Rosemary arrives at a run down hotel for women where she attempts to befriend Lillian, the front desk attendant. Fate leads Rosemary to the Arcade, an unusual bookstore that deals in rare books and used trade copies. From the quirky George Pike to the elitist Oscar Jarno, Rosemary meets and forms relationships with the employees of the Arcade, as she learns the book trade along the way. Weaving throughout the story are themes of loss, longing, and isolation. Collectors visit the store in search of books, their desire as palpable as the desire Lillian has to locate her missing son and that Pearl has to become a woman. We witness Rosemary forming an unhealthy attraction for a fellow employee, as another employee targets Rosemary for his own disturbing purpose. In the midst of all this is the quest to confirm and locate a lost manuscript written by Herman Melville. It's this allusion to Melville, author of Moby-Dick, that highlights the theme of obsession. Has there ever been a better poster child for obsession than Captain Ahab? This novel is so breathtakingly beautiful and well written. It's open and honest and displays the fine line between longing and coveting. It's a keeper on my bookshelf.

Sheridan Hay's intriguing first novel, The Secret of Lost Things, is a powerful read and filled with vivid, well-rounded characters that will remain with you long after you have finished reading the book. In this coming-of age-story, Rosemary Savage leaves Tasmania for New York City. Young and naïve, Rosemary is a fish out of water and we follow her as she navigates her way through the intricacies and loneliness of the city. She finds herself a job at a used bookstore, The Arcade, and from there begins a series of compelling events that revolve around a suspenseful search for a lost manuscript. Hay's prose crackles with vivid images and moments you'd imagine could not be put into words. She effectively creates the atmosphere of a used bookstore as well as the landscape of the city and her eclectic assortment of characters is very entertaining and well portrayed. This book will be appeal especially to those who love books, bookstores, those with an affinity for Herman Melville and/or Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Secret of Lost Things is a wonderful book and is highly recommended by this reviewer!

This fabulous, coming-of-age novel about a young herione named Rosemary is really a book about books. Literary references scatter the pages along with humor and wonderful characters. Rosemary is an 18 year-old girl who comes over to America from Australia and finds herself working in a bookstore with an array of odd people. She soon discovers a missing manuscript written by Herman Mellvile (which, in actuality, was written but never published). The world of books and Mellvile draws her in. This is a great book for every reader who loves books. Hay gives Rosemary a wonderfully fluid narration with lovely insight to her surrondings, leading you to love the character and the author herself. The people that surrond the herione herself are just as interesting. The beauty of this novel is that there are no "weak" characters. Every side story to the main tale that is Rosemary's is just as insightful and beautifully told. The curiousity of each person is so intriging. Hay's debut is full of quirks and, in the end, is really just a great read.

I loved this novel about the goings-on inside what may sadly soon become an anachronism: a bookstore, populated by a fascinating cast of oddballs, in New York City. This old, vast, dimly lit bookstore is the sort that is a world unto itself, and the young Rosemary, freshly arrived from Tasmania, of all places, becomes absorbed in its doings when she signs on as an employee. "The Secret of Lost Things" is the sort of book that a book-lover will cherish, full of literary references and quotes, atmospheric descriptions of the world of books, and of the eccentric types who populate that world. There is action and intrigue, too, around the finding of a lost manuscript of Herman Melville (one of my favorite writers), and the author has woven her plot using actual letters from Melville; these make the events of this novel more plausible and even riveting. Reading this novel was espacially pleasurable becuse of the author's lovely way with the language; while still modern, she manages through her construction and vocabulary to capture the peculiar formailities of the classics of English literature. I look forward to her next book; the quest for another lost manuscript, perhaps? It could be an interesting motif for a series...