TITLE: The Secret of Lost Things
AUTHOR: Sheridan Hay
STARTED: May 10, 2011
FINISHED: May 23, 2011
PAGES: 354
GENRE: Fiction
FIRST SENTENCE: I was born before this story starts, before I dreamed of such a place as the Arcade, before I imagined men like Walter Geist existed.
SUMMARY: [From Amazon.com
] Eighteen years old and completely alone, Rosemary arrives in New York from Tasmania with little other than her love of books and an eagerness to explore the city. Taking a job at a vast, chaotic emporium of used and rare books called the Arcade, she knows she has found a home. But when Rosemary reads a letter from someone seeking to “place” a lost manuscript by Herman Melville, the bookstore erupts with simmering ambitions and rivalries. Including actual correspondence by Melville, The Secret of Lost Things is at once a literary adventure and evocative portrait of a young woman making a life for herself in the city.THOUGHTS: Not too long ago, I was sitting at the circulation desk preparing for the day when my boss arrived and tossed me this book. She said it reminded her of me and thought I might like to read it. My boss was quite right. This was a very enjoyable novel, fully of fun characters and an interesting plot.
What I enjoyed most about the book was the author's use of description. Her take on New York is raw and dirty. This is a city that breeds a sense of skepticism and physical disgust. In contrast, Hay shows The Arcade to be a warm and inviting refuge full of whimsical and strange characters. Rosemary walks successfully through both worlds, tying the bookstore to the city and the people around her. As a character study, this work is an amazing.
The plot, in comparison, is simply okay. It serves to move Hay's characters through their lives. There's nothing wrong with that, but the book was not a "perfect" read because the storyline did not live up to the realness of the characters. The mystery of this book is over an unseen manuscript. As a reader, I thought it would be a far more important and thought out work. Instead, the mystery merely serves to get the characters in motion. By the end of the story, I really didn't care about the plot or why people fought over the manuscript. I just wanted to spend time with this characters, no matter what they were up to.
Also, I was reading this book when I traveled to NYC for my brother's college graduation. Clearly, I was required to make a visit to The Strand, the bookstore on which The Arcade is not so loosely based. I considered the trip a good move. Now, however, I long to visit far more used and independent bookstores than I usually do.
RATING: 7/10 [Very Good]
Comments