- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Anchor Canada; 1st Edition edition (Jun 3 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 038566589X
- ISBN-13: 978-0385665896
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 14.5 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 295 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #93,363 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Starred 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)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Review
"Skewers our consumer society in all its absurdity and terrible sadness, while deftly interweaving a tender and heartbreaking personal narrative. A great debut novel from an awesomely talented writer."
—Jonathan Coe
"An exceptional, polyphonic novel of urban disaffection, written with humour and pathos. Kate’s deceptively jaunty diary reveals a consumer-driven society choking on its own loneliness; a ghost story; and an examination of unspeakable loss."
—Guardian (UK)
"An enthralling tale of a little girl lost, wrapped in a portrait of a changing community over two decades. What binds it all together so impressively is O’Flynn’s emotional articulacy, which captures life’s sad, strange absurdities and glosses them with a kind of nobility."
—Observer (UK)
—Jonathan Coe
"An exceptional, polyphonic novel of urban disaffection, written with humour and pathos. Kate’s deceptively jaunty diary reveals a consumer-driven society choking on its own loneliness; a ghost story; and an examination of unspeakable loss."
—Guardian (UK)
"An enthralling tale of a little girl lost, wrapped in a portrait of a changing community over two decades. What binds it all together so impressively is O’Flynn’s emotional articulacy, which captures life’s sad, strange absurdities and glosses them with a kind of nobility."
—Observer (UK)
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Most helpful customer reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unusual but fantastic read,
By L Greene "Lynsay" (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: What Was Lost (Paperback)
What Was LostThis is a very unusual subject matter - initially you'd think "What the hell..." because it's about a little girl who goes missing after starting up her own detective agency. It's set in the UK and the dialogue is absolutely spot on. Character knowledge is wonderful ... I LOVED this novel. I couldn't put it down ... totally captivated me. The writing style is very fluid, clear and unpretentious ... but then I could identify with the era, music, characters and Birmingham ... wish I'd written it :) Can't wait to read more from Catherine O'Flynn.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
What was Lost,
By
This review is from: What Was Lost (Paperback)
Kate Meaney is a ten year old girl who lives a solitary life; she fills her life with surveillance of banks and keeping notes in her detective's journal. Her pursuit in life is to prevent a bank robbery and to become a famous detective. She is pretty much left to herself and she wanders the streets and mall freely. Kate does befriend one girl at school in a distant sort of way and in the end Kate leaves this friend a priceless gift...the gift to escape her abusive life through education.This young ten year old detective one day disappears and her body is never found. An adult friend is taken in and questioned and blamed for the murder, but no proof is ever found, so no charges are ever laid. The book jumps back and forth from 1984, 2003 and 2004. The first part of the book has us following Kate around town with her stuffed monkey performing detective work; it is quite charming and heart breaking, because she is so isolated from real childhood. Kate disappears and then the book follows characters that were affected or involved in some way with her disappearance. I found myself laughing at some of the retail experiences in the book, they could only have been written by someone who has experienced the retail world first hand, and it turns out that Catherine O'Flynn at one time was a record store clerk. "What Was Lost" does have a depressing look out on regular everyday life and it seems to portray the idea that we all generally live in drudgery; hopefully we do find more joy in life than this book portrays. All in all it was a great story and it made me ponder about my life and the life of others and it has inspired me to "carpe diem".
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Page-turner with great characters,
By
This review is from: What Was Lost (Paperback)
I'm no literary expert. I read to be entertained and this book held me to the end. The characters are real, especially our little Kate Meaney. She made me laugh. You are drawn into a world of sadness and hopelessness and yet the human spirit prevails. I couldn't put this book down and I can't wait for her next novel. Really one of the best stories I've read!
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