The Secret of Lost Things [Audio CD]

Sheridan Hay (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2007

A missing manuscript, a young woman's voyage of discovery, and the curious bookshop where it all begins . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hay's debut has all the elements of a literary thriller, but they don't quite come together. Arriving in New York from Tasmania with $300, her mother's ashes and a love of reading, 18-year-old Rosemary Savage finds work in the Arcade Bookshop, a huge, labyrinthine place that features everything from overstock to rare books. In its physicality, the store greatly resembles New York's Strand (where Hay worked), and its requisite assortment of intriguing bookish oddballs includes autocratic owner George Pike and his albino assistant, Walter Geist. Rosemary is suspicious and worried when Walter enlists Rosemary's help to respond to an anonymous request to sell a hand-written version of Herman Melville's lost Isle of the Cross (a novel that in fact existed but disappeared after Melville's publisher rejected it). She confides in Oscar (the attractive, emotionally unavailable nonfiction specialist), which only hastens the deal's momentum toward disaster. Hay does a good job with innocent, intelligent Rosemary's attempts to deal with sinister doings, and methodically imagines the evolution and content of Melville's novel (which features a woman abandoned much like Rosemary's mother). Hay also ably captures Rosemary's nostalgic memories of Tasmania. The three narratives—intrigue, Melville, Tasmania—prove so different, however, that recurring themes of loss and abandonment fail to tie them together. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Bookmarks Magazine

The Secret of Lost Things is many things at once: a mystery, a coming-of-age novel, and an inquiry into literary obsession. While critics noted that the novel aspires to such heights as A. S. Byatt's Possession and Martha Cooley's The Archivist, they generally agreed it reaches neither in scope or depth. Still, the characters, if sometimes caricatured, are vivid (except for Melville, whom we see only in letters); 1970s New York comes alive in its grit and anonymity; and the intriguing plot kept most reviewers on their toes. In sum, better literature about literary quests exists, but The Secret of Lost Things will please diehard fans of the popular bookstore genre.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio Inc.; Unabridged edition (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786160799
• ISBN-13: 978-0786160792
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,898,547 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sheridan Hay was born in Sydney, Australia and moved permanently to New York at the age of 27. Sheridan worked for many years in the publishing industry and is now a full time writer and teacher of literature. She is married with two children.
The Secret of Lost Things is Sheridan's first novel and was a Booksense Pick, A Barnes and Noble Discover selection and was shortlisted for the Border's Original Voices Fiction Prize. The novel was a San Francisco Chronicle bestseller, A New York Times Editor's Choice and rights to the novel have been sold to thirteen countries. Sheridan is at work on her next book.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful "Secret" World of Books, March 11, 2007

By 

Ina Saltz (New York City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secret of Lost Things: A Novel (Hardcover)

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...

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A "booky" book, March 13, 2007

By 

Colorado Reader - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Secret of Lost Things: A Novel (Hardcover)

I devoured this book and loved MOST of it.

It's a warm story of a young girl finding her way from Australia to the US. She finds a job in a used book store, which is a wonderful setting for any real book-lover. The people she meets inside the store are quirky and interesting.

Rosemary ends up on a quest for a lost Herman Melville transcript. The story line provides mystery and intrigue.

My only complaint is that (as another review mentioned) the characters are not well enough developed. Also, I didn't feel at all satisfied with the conclusion regarding Oscar, Rosemary's infatuation. I never felt that he was fully explained to the reader.

All in all, it was an enjoyable read and I recommend it to anyone who loves books and bookstores!

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book About Books, March 11, 2007

By 

O.A. (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Secret of Lost Things: A Novel (Hardcover)

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.