I don't think I was prepared for the beautiful ending of this glorious book. A story of love and loss, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, and sisters - it was utterly beautiful! Having spent so long being apart from family I think I felt the tug of familial relationships in this beautiful book all the more. Paris so perfectly writes the difficulties that come with families; my sister and I have certainly rubbed each other the wrong way in the past, but she also shows how special those ties are, and how family will always have your back. I definitely recommend this glorious debut, due out in April. Thank you @netgalley and @doubledaybooks @penguinukbooks for the arc.

Dot Watson works in a Lost Property office, but while working amongst the lost items, she realises that it’s herself that’s actually lost. When a customer comes in looking for his lost bag that contains something very important to him, Dot makes it her mission to reunite the bag with its owner, but along the way she realises that maybe she needs to find out where she belongs.

This book really has me torn. It definitely wasn’t exactly what I was expecting; I thought it would be a little more light-hearted, especially after reading the blurb. That being said, I didn’t not enjoy it, and it does have some funny moments. However, I also did find it difficult at times due to the issues it focuses on such as dementia, missed opportunities and grief. Having my own personal connections to dementia, I found that quite hard to read and feel that some others might also struggle, especially if they don’t know what they’re getting in to.

I liked the cast of quirky characters and enjoyed reading it for the most part, but it contained a bit too much waffle in places and had too much description at times. It made the story stagnate a little because sometimes the author used too many words when they weren’t needed which made sentences overly long and tad dull.

The character of Dot felt a little muddled, and I wasn’t quite sure how I was supposed to feel about her. I think she was quite difficult to pin down and therefore it was hard to really grow attached. Her actions weren’t always too believable and felt the author was trying too hard to create an Eleanor Oliphant type character.

There was a lot of heart in this book though, and it did make me think about my own life and experiences. I could see the author’s intentions and appreciate a lot of what was written, if only it could have been streamlined a little.

At the minute there seems to be a lot of books that follow this similar idea of an unconventional person’s journey (The Seven Rules of Elvira Carr, The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, The Lost Letters of William Woolf, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, Where’d You Go Bernadette etc). Lost Property fits easily into that genre, and is more enjoyable than many of the others, just not the top pick.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Emotions, memories, property. An evocative thoughtful book which drew me straight in to its heart. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book.

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
My true rating for this would be 3.75 stars.

This is the story of Dot who works in a Lost Property department. Dot takes her job of reuniting lost items with their owners very seriously. As the book goes on we learn that Dot is lost herself.

This book is primarily about family, loss & grief. It is quite slow to start with and I did wonder if there was going to be much more to the story than reading about Dot doing her job. As we go on we start to learn a lot more about Dot’s family life and the tragedy her and her family went through. I really enjoyed Dots character and I really want her to get her life together. I felt that the story lost its way a little bit towards the end of the book. I really don’t like endings that tie everything in a nice little bow.

This is a charming novel which is both quirky and poignant. The heroine, Dot, works for the London Underground lost property department and is also a bit of a lost soul herself, after a significant event in her past has led her to retreat into herself and seek invisibility. The theme of loss is a thread through every storyline, whether it is an item of lost property, a lost memory, a loss of purpose or a lost memory and they are all expertly woven together in this wonderfully warm hearted and uplifting story. After loss, there is also discovery and self-awareness and the opportunity to move on. There were some quirks that didn’t quite work for me, like the “lost property label” at the start of a chapter and the hallucinatory absinthe scenes, which seemed out of character for Dot. That said, it’s a great book club read with plenty of charm, warmth and topics for further discussion and I would highly recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy and an opportunity to comment honestly.

This book was enjoyable but wasn’t as lighthearted as I first envisaged! A lady helping a man looking for his wife’s purse.... it delves deeper into Dots emotions and struggles and left me feeling more sad than happy... a tiny ray of happiness at the end.

Initially it was the cover that caught my attention, but after reading the synopsis of this book, I really wanted to read it. Let’s face it, who doesn’t want to be uplifted at the moment. Thank you to @TransworldBooks and Helen Paris for this advanced copy of Lost Property in return for an honest review. Lost Property is due to be published on 13th May 2021 and you can get a copy here.

Description 🔖

Dot Watson is as lost as the property that she handles at work. She takes pride in her job at the lost property office and considers it a public service to reunite people with their belongings. This hasn’t hasn’t always been her life though. At one point she was living in Paris, making a career for herself and travelling Europe. But when tragedy strikes her family, she is forced to return home and it is then that she loses her way.

It is one particular customer at work that pulls on Dot’s heartstrings and she embarks on a journey to reunite him with his much loved item. Little does Dot know, this journey may be what helps her find her way home too.

General Thoughts 🤔

This book definitely gave me all of the feels. It was so heart warming but also really quite sad at times. When I first started reading, I did think to myself that surely this entire book couldn’t be based on different items in lost property. However as soon as Dot’s story started to weave into the items and stories from the lost property office, I was hooked.

I don’t suppose I’ve ever really thought much about lost property but this book made me think hard about how people’s belongings all being in one place like that could be quite eery and romantic all at the same time. I don’t think it’s a job I could do, I’d get so caught up in stories behind items and I think I’d become too invested. Learning more about Dot throughout the book, the penny dropped for me and I realised why Dot clung so hard onto this job.

Characters 👬👭👫

What an endearing character Dot was. I felt like I went through her highs and her lows with her throughout this book. I’m sure all of us can think of a time when we have felt like Dot did. Lost without a meaningful purpose and feeling like you’re just bobbing along in life. I was rooting for her the whole way and I really wanted her to let go of her guilt and live her life as she had always planned to.

Dot’s sister Philippa was a really interesting character to me and I have a family member that I swear she could have been based upon. Philippa seemed quite hard faced and clinical for the majority but then towards the end, her guard was let down and I learnt a lot about her (as did Dot). I find relationships between sisters really interesting and I loved seeing their relationship play out in the book.

Writing Style ✍️

This is going to sound quite silly, but I imagine that Helen Paris is quite a sensitive soul. Reading this book was like reading the words of someone with such a soft, loving and caring aura about them. Her writing was beautiful and delicate and was perfect for the story.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖️

I would probably say that I enjoyed this book much more than I expected to. I thought that it would be quite an easy breezy light hearted read, but it turned out to be really very heart warming and emotional. I felt so uplifted by the end of this story and it’s most definitely left a smile on my face. If you need to be cheered up but don’t mind a few bumps along the way, definitely give this book a go.

Thanks to Netgalley for this book. It was a good book that discusses heavy subjects. I have recently lost a friend to suicide so I found this book very upsetting as Dots dad had died by suicide also. I felt it should come with a,warning as it's really upsetting

I'm not sure what I was expecting from this book, but it wasn't what it was.
Maybe I expected a more light-hearted story, but it ended up being more about grief, loss, and being lost.
Dot works in the lost property section of the TfL department and takes her role of taking in lost items, logging them, and reuniting them with their owners very seriously.
I initially found it quite hard to get into this book, enjoying the quirky characters who frequented the Lost Property department, and Dot's colleagues, but the point of the story didn't quite get me until quite far into the book.
Dot is lost, herself. A sad character. But it took me a long time to build that empathy for her.
And the tiny smidgen of romance at the end? Well, to be honest, I wish I'd been able to read a bit more of that, to be honest.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you, Random House Transworld, digital for a copy of Lost Property by Helen Paris. Lost Property is the story of Dot Watson who works at the Lost property office for Transport for London. The office is very organised, and Dot loves her job reuniting lost items with there owners. Except everything else in Dot’s life is unorganised. Her life is in Limbo after she left France to go back to her family when her father committed suicide and she is trying to come to terms as recently her mother has been put in a home. As she is suffering from Dementia. Her sister is trying to sell the family home under Dot’s feet.
Lost Property is not what I was expecting at all. I thought this book was going to be a funny comedy which is far cry than what it is. I am afraid this book wasn’t for me. I found the main character unlikeable and with everything going on in her life she compared it to her life before in France. Which became quite repetitive and tedious This book also had some heavy subjects of loss, suicide, dementia, and depression. This for me was a depressing book that didn’t interest me at all that I couldn’t finish it. Sorry.

Woah...this was emotional!!! 😭

Not what I expected to be honest. On the surface, I thought it was going to be about Dot solving the mysteries of the lost property found on London transport. Like a modern day Miss Marple or something. 😂 You know, quite jolly and light hearted. I mean, this does happen in this book, but there is so much more to this story and Dot herself. The writing is very thought provoking and poignant (see TW for a heads up.) The characters and plot took time to develop so it was a slow start, but it did pick up the pace. I wasn’t sure about Dot. 🤔 I struggled to connect with her and I couldn’t understand why she seemed so guarded and lost. As the story unfolded, it clicked. 💡 Dot was going on a journey of self discovery and once I understood her past trauma, I was rooting for her to embrace life and the future. I did warm to Dot and empathised with her story, which took many twists and turns that I didn’t expect. AT ALL! I won’t say any spoilers. 🤫 I actually sobbed at one point. Proper sobbing people! 🥺 I know this is not a shock to some. 😅 Overall, I enjoyed LOST PROPERTY and the ending left me feeling hopeful. ☺️ Just be prepared to go on an emotional rollercoaster. For fans of SAVING MISSY and THE AUTHENTICITY PROJECT.

“We all need to keep moving forward, don’t we? Always choose life”.

Gorgeous book!
I really didn't expect to like it this much.
Dot is a bright young woman that has essentially given up on life and escapes into travel guides and a mindless job to avoid the grief and guilt that plague her life. I know! Not what you expect at all, but painfully relatable.
Dot works in the London Transport (tfl) Lost Property Office where everything has its place. The lost items are catalogued in terms that they are easy to locate. There is a interesting juxtaposition with everything having a specific order and place at work when compared to Dot's personal life.
Through a series of interesting narrative events, Dot gains perspective on her past and learns to forgive herself as well as others in this poignant book that makes you laugh and cry.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story of lonely people working in the lost property office in Central London and the care taken in re-uniting treasured possessions with their owners. But of course it is the human loss which is at the centre of the story as Dot re-assesses her relationship with her father and the guilt she still feels at his death. As she comes to terms with this loss it is satisfying for us all to see her regain her joy for living.

Sweet book, loved the labels at the start of each chapter. I felt it lost it’s way in the middle (much like the Main Character!)

An interesting insight into ‘lost and found’ ... with an edit of the middle I think it would have flowed better.

I tried to read via audiobook but struggled, found it better in ebook format.

I loved this.
Honestly, it was a bit slow to start as I wondered where the story would go. So pleased I persevered.
Full of the ups and downs of real life and demonstrates the uncertainty we all face.
We never know where it will take us but we need to embrace it.
One day at a time but choose life...you only get one chance.
Recommend this one.

Many Thanks to Helen Paris and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book before being published in exchange for an honest review.

This book is about Dot and her family being her sister and her mum.
Dot was a happy student in France, but then something happened in the family and she came back and just lost it.
Since then she has been working in the Lost and Found office for Transport of London and there is where almost all her life happens.
The secondary characters are quite interesting, her mum in a care centre with dementia, not knowing them, her sister always thinking of her and her family, husband and children without realising what hard time her sister is having. The doctor who visits her mum to help her with the exercises.
It is a very enjoyable book if you are just looking for a moving, in a nice way, book.

Where do I begin...
I absolutely loved this rollercoaster of a read. It managed to take me from giggling out loud, to reflecting on family members I’ve lost.
Dot was such a loveable main character, and one I just wanted to be friends with in real life! She’s a bit odd which I found intriguing, but she has a huge heart and cares deeply, which is why she was so good at the job at Lost Property.
It’s a super charming and heartwarming book, and a story that covers some quite serious and important topics such as suicide, loss, dementia so keep that in mind if you’re thinking about picking this up.

I have always wondered what happened to lost property found on London transport that was handed in and whether or not the items are returned to their owners. This novel is an absolute wonderful read which not only gives you an insight into the world of the London Transport lost property department but comes with the most compelling and utterly moving storyline which made me smile but also one which brought sadness too. There are some very hard hitting issues dealt with in the book but I felt they were written very sensitively and skilfully. A very poignant and emotional read which really pulled at the heartstrings. I was totally immersed in the storyline, and as someone who loves to be organised. I totally enjoyed reading the very detailed descriptions of the layout of the London Transport Lost Property Office and how everything is labelled and put in its correct place. With the amount of items lost every day and handed in, you wonder how they find everything but with the meticulous Dot Watson in charge they do! Dot struggles with her past and her mental health and the order that Dot has at work, she also has in her home life and this helps her immensely and is one of her main coping mechanisms. Everyone that comes into the office Dot treats as an individual, someone who has lost something and sometimes that item is very precious. Dot will do everything she can to return the item to their owner - the relationship between Dot and the man who had lost his bag with a very very cherished and adored item in was just wonderful and the outcome was brilliant.

Dot is just the most incredible lady who despite everything she has gone through, turns her life around and is just amazing. The way Dot deals with everything in her life, her family life issues, trauma and her loss and grief, she is so brave and courageous. Dot has so much spirit which shines throughout the book and has a heart of gold. She is one very strong lady who does not realise the depth of her strength.

There are so many parts of the book I loved including the regular customers that came to the Lost Property Office! I loved the customer with the lost walking stick - and I totally would have done exactly the same thing when he came in each time.

I totally recommend you read Lost Property by Helen Paris and find out about Dot and how her journey in life has made her who she is today.

Dot works in the London Transport Lost Property Office where everything has its place and all is in order. The lost items are catalogued in terms that they are easy to locate in the office should the owner come to collect. Everything is in order at work but her home life isn't.

I enjoyed getting to know Dot and her family and friends. It's a little sad in places because her mother has dementia. But there are some lighter moments. I found it quite uplifting, funny and touching. This story will stay with me for a long time. It's my first book by this author but it won't be my last.

I found the cover and blurb of this really appealing however my expectations didn’t chime with the reality. I was expecting upbeat and quirky bit the overall tone was quite dark including serious mental health issues that should have come with a trigger warning. Dot was a confusing character, it felt as though she’d been a fixture of the lost property department for decades but I suspect she’s only in her mid 30s (12 years ago she was studying in France, her sister is 5 years older than her and her mum is not yet 65) but quite old fashioned due to her upbringing. There wasn’t much of a background story this is very much about Dot and her coming to terms with an event 12 years ago that she’s never allowed herself to process. It’s very bittersweet and ultimately heartwarming but not a frivolous read by any means.