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More copies of this ISBN:This title in other formats:What Was Lostby Catherine Oflynn
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:A tender and sharply observant debut novel about a missing young girlwinner of the Costa First Novel Award and long-listed for the Booker Prize, the Orange Prize, and The Guardian First Book Award In the 1980s, Kate Meaney“Top Secret” notebook and toy monkey in towis hard at work as a junior detective. Busy trailing “suspects” and carefully observing everything around her at the newly opened Green Oaks shopping mall, she forms an unlikely friendship with Adrian, the son of a local shopkeeper. But when this curious, independent-spirited young girl disappears, Adrian falls under suspicion and is hounded out of his home by the press. Then, in 2003, Adrians sister Lisastuck in a dead-end relationshipis working as a manager at Your Music, a discount record store. Every day she tears her hair out at the outrageous behavior of her customers and colleagues. But along with a security guard, Kurt, she becomes entranced by the little girl glimpsed on the malls surveillance cameras. As their after-hours friendship intensifies, Lisa and Kurt investigate how these sightings might be connected to the unsettling history of Green Oaks itself. Written with warmth and wit, What Was Lost is a haunting debut from an incredible new talent. Review:"Stirring and beautifully crafted, this debut novel recounts how the repercussions of a girl's disappearance can last for decades. In 1984, Kate Meaney is a 10-year-old loner who solves imaginary mysteries and guesses the dark secrets of the shoppers she observes at the Green Oaks mall. Kate's unlikely circle includes her always-present stuffed monkey; 22-year-old Adrian, who works at the candy shop next door; and Kate's classmate, Teresa Stanton, who hides her intelligence behind disruptive behavior. Kate's grandmother has plans for Kate: send her to boarding school. But Kate doesn't want to go. Fast forward to 2003, where it's revealed through Lisa, Adrian's sister, that Kate disappeared nearly 20 years ago, and Adrian, blamed in her disappearance, also vanished. Lisa works at a record store in Green Oaks and is drawn to Kurt, a security guard whose surveillance-camera sightings of a little girl clutching a stuffed monkey hint that he might have ties to Kate's disappearance. Teresa, meanwhile, now a detective, has her own reasons for being haunted by Kate's disappearance. Gripping to the end, the book is both a chilling mystery and a poignant examination of the effects of loss and loneliness. (July)" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Review:“What Was Lost is a terrific, wonderful book and I loved every page of it.”Douglas Coupland, author of The Gum Thief “An off-beat quirky little mystery which punches way above its weight. Set in Birmingham in the mid-eighties, adolescent loner Kate aspires to be a great detective, spending days on stake-out at her local shopping centre. The narrative then jumps 20 years, when the ghost of a little girl starts appearing in service corridors. The authors achingly astute observations on consumerism make this far more than a generic mystery and the icing on the cake is a twist in the tail which I really didnt see coming.”Marian Keyes, author of Anybody Out There? and Angels “What Was Lost is a delight to readpoignant, suspenseful, funny and smart. . . . [It] is a moving novel, bespeaking not only the energy and inventiveness of its author but also the power of good old realism.”Jane Smiley, LA Times Sunday Book Review “The bravest and most appealing adolescent this side of The Lovely Bones, aspiring detective Kate Meaney vanishes partway through Catherine OFlynns mesmerizing debut novel, What Was Lost. . . There are many ways to feel invisible, we learn from this gentle, sharp-sighted tale of love and loneliness. And there are many ways to be found.”O, The Oprah Magazine “Engrossing. . . With a sure hand for both suspense and satire, OFlynn is a masterful writer, and her book a delicious mash-up of Nancy Drew and High Fidelityteary and tart in the right proportions.”Marie Claire "At once moving and wickedly funny, [What Was Lost] is one dazzling debut."People (four stars) About the AuthorCatherine OFlynn was born in Birmingham, England, in 1970, where she grew up in and around her parents candy store. She has been a teacher, Web editor, and mystery customerand this, her first novel, draws on her experience of working in record stores. After spending several years in Barcelona, she now lives in Birmingham. What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!
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