Dot is a seemingly mundane character who turns out to be very intriguing. The book draws you in early on and is an enjoyable and easy read.

Lost Property by Helen Paris, is the authors debut novel.
The heartwarming story of self discovery for Dot Watson hidden away behind the counter at transport for lost property office.

What a charming little book this was, full of emotion and witty lines I loved it a lot and was the exact read I’ve been looking for in the cooler months.
The humour is outstanding Dot and Anita’s interactions are priceless including Anita convince Dot to go dancing with her.
I found Dot’s understanding of the lost and found so fascinating, the way they were all more than just lost items to her was really sweet. The detail of the book and how detail Dot is in her job “no, it’s not yellow, it’s golden syrup coloured.”
The emotional toll this novel take focusing on Dots mother losing her memory, oh man it’s too real and made me tear up at a few points.
I enjoyed the description of how the London Underground smelled, reminds me of exactly how the melbourne metro tunnel smells like. “Fast food and repressed devastation.”
Dot’s relationship with her family was painful at point and so impactful. The guilt she feel, so real for so many of us.
A very needed read on my part.
Gail Watson is sure to strike a cord in the many who will come to discover this book, to help us understand what’s important.
It will make you laugh and cry and you’ll be damn glad you read it.
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the (e)ARC
5 stars.

This is a wonderful, beautifully written book and I loved it.

I really wasn't sure what to expect, certainly not to be as hooked from page one as I was in this delightful, funny, thought provoking, emotional rollercoaster. It's such a fabulous read.

Dot works in lost property and she's perfectly suited to ensuring her beloved items are returned to their rightful owners. However, she's also lonely and still grieving for her father. The writing is incredibly rich and there were passages I had to read over as they were so beautiful.
Dot also has a Sister she doesn't feel close to and a mother who is in a care home with dementia and as someone whose own beloved mum died of this crippling, heartbreaking disease, it was all the more moving.

It's a book that had me laughing out loud, sobbing loudly and speaking to the characters! None of which are my usual reading habits and at one point my husband came into a room to ask 'are you sure you're OK'? my response? 'just enjoying this amazing book' which he struggled to understand as I reached for yet another tissue!

Prior to this book, I finished a number of OK or Good Reads, but, was losing confidence that a true gem was within my grasp. How wrong I was and I wish this book every success as it's so deserving of it's many garnered 5* reviews.

Congratulations and thanks so much to NetGalley, Random House UK / Transworld Doubleday and the amazing author, Helen Paris. Wonderful!

This is a brilliant, emotional, life- affirming read and I loved it. Joining Dot on her journey of self discovery was wonderful and I loved her interactions with the other characters. This is a story of how Dot rediscovers some self confidence and learns to give herself a little slack. It made me laugh and cry but above all made me think about the people around me and love them that little bit more.

Bittersweet, camp, humourous, emotional and entertaining. I've not come across this author before but she has a deft touch. Very enjoyable.

What a lovely book. A story of love, loss and grief. A story about finding yourself when life seems to have slipped from your control.

What a great story!

Helen's writing is so clever. Dot works at the Lost Property office of TFL. And it is quite fitting since everything in her life seems to revolve around loss.

The loss of her father, the loss of her mother's mind due to dementia, the absence of her sister in her life, to name a few.

When Mr Appleby shows up wanting to find his wife's bag, Dot makes it her mission to find it, provoking an existential search at the same time.

You get to follow Dot through her personal journey, which is a beautiful but emotional experience, that I strongly recommend!

Thank you NetGalley and Doubleday for the opportunity to read and review

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This story centres around Dot, who works in Lost Property on Baker Street, which takes in property lost in London, whether via the tube, or bus networks, or taxis, they take it all. They tag it, and put on the system for the owner to reclaim. Dot’s life is focused on her work, which she is completely committed to. Straightaway, the is a sadness to Dot, as she’s still grieving her father, who passed away unexpectedly. Her mum suffers with Dementia and now lives in a care home, and she also has a sister, who is the polar opposite of her. She makes a connection with an old guy who comes in looking for his lost bag that contains his late wife’s purse. Dot makes it her personal mission to find the bag, and it’s this mission that leads her to question her own life and where she wants to be, and where she wants to go.

This book tackled many subjects, from sibling rivalry and suicide, to Dementia, and realising your parents aren’t exactly who you thought they were. I really liked Dot’s character, but often wanted to shake her. I liked the fact that she wasn’t a popular girl growing up, and she always felt different, as many girls growing up feel exactly like this. Aside from London, the book also had settings in Kent, and the authors description of the hop smells are spot on, I grew up living just up the road from Shepherd Neame Brewery in Kent, and the smell of hops are ingrained in my DNA, and it was nostalgic to read about it and remember my own childhood of Kent, and growing up around Hop Festivals, and all smells brewery. I also enjoyed the other characters, and the way they are described, for example Big Jim who has lots of tattoos, but comes across as such a soft man. I really liked Anita, who was also facing her own battles in life. This book is a real reminder that whatever you’re feeling, it’s perfectly okay, and everyone has felt this way in their life at some point, it makes you feel not alone. Overall, I felt an actual connection with this book, from the Kent roots, to having a parent who is terminally unwell. It’s a beautiful book, and reminds you to just Always Choose Life.

A little gem of a book with a big heart. Beautifully written, it manages to reflect on love, loss and redemption through believable characters without becoming cliched or sentimental. I look forward to reading more from this author.
Thank you to netgalley and random house for an advance copy of this book

Lost Property by Helen Paris

Dot works in the Lost Property Office of Transport for London, yet has lost her own way in life. After work she escapes her mundane life by reading unclaimed travel guides, yet she studied languages at university and lived in France until 12 years ago. Grief and guilt have made Dot a shadow of her former self but in this story we follow her as she gradually learns to live again. Along the way we meet lots of interesting characters and share some funny and some very sad moments with Dot and her family.

What a lovely story! The author has a wonderful writing style and the funny and poignant parts of the book are equally compelling. I loved the premise of the book and cheered Dot on throughout. Very highly recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Dot Watson likes her job in the TfL Lost Property Office. There is nothing better than re-uniting someone with something they have lost. She enjoys imagining who the lost items that come into her care belong to and how they came to be there.
However Dot’s private life isn’t quite as straightforward as her work. Her mum has moved into a care home and her sister is constantly trying to organise Dot’s life for her.
When an elderly gentleman comes in looking for a Leather holdall containing his late wife’s purse, something in Dot is stirred and she decides that she will do everything she can to reunite him with his treasured possession. Her quest will take her out of her comfort zone but may well be the key to unlocking the Dot’s future.
I liked the character of Dot and the setting was unusual but interesting.

Lost Property follows Dot who works for TFL in the Lost Property department, where she carefully sorts out and looks after items that have been lost by their owners. Dot, is a woman who cares deeply for everyone and everything she comes across.

This started of quite slow and really thought that I wouldn’t enjoy it but about a third way through things shifted in the story and I ended up really enjoying it much more and turned out to be a witty and fun read with a beautiful story behind it.

I have to admit I wasn’t a fan of Dot’s character when we first met her but as we learn more about her personal life my views of her changed. She became more interesting and by the end of the book I found her quite an inspiring character. I liked her attitude towards life and how she turned her feelings of grief and guilt into something hopeful in life. The side character were also an interesting bunch who kept the book fun and light.

Despite the initial slow start, I really ended up enjoying this book and would recommend to anyone who is a fan of contemporary fiction.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers Random House for my eARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

I found this book both heartbreaking and heartwarming. It is a story about love and loss. I found it quite slow paced, especially at the beginning, but overall I really enjoyed it.

This is highly emotional book that I loved and was sad that it had to end. Dot Watson starts off spending her life doubting her ability and always being an outsider. Her uniform idea is absolutely a hoot just imaging the felt outfit!
It is a poignant journey for Dot with her trying to find herself and understand the past. It deals so sensitively on topics that are not easy to write about - mental health issues, dementia, suicide, abuse and the difficulty of being a sexual non conformist. It is a story full of love and its impact on everybody.
The descriptions of all the items in the lost property were so well described and certainly made me wonder how the heck someone could lose some of the things and not notice there loss. I canimagineher trying to sort out the Baker Street Basement and compared her to the jigsaw that kept being mentioned as she was trying so hard to find the right places for all the pieces. The book is full of little bits of information about places all around the world that she has gleaned from her collection of travel guides, all that had been in lost property and that Big Jim saved for her.
Not only does she find everything about her past that had been haunting her but she sets off to live her life, starting with the fantastic idea that she had for the care home that her mother was in.
.
A great story that I highly recommend.

This book follows Dot Watson who's life is stuck and she is still working in a job that was meant to be temporary ten years ago in a Lost Property Office and she follows a simple routine. When Dot meets Mr Appleby, she is determined to help him find his late wife's purse.

This is a heart-warming story with some great character development. The plot is told from Dot's point of view and I felt this was important in order for the reader to understand her thought processes and actions. I found Dot difficult to connect with at times but did want her to become more assertive and help Mr Appleby. The plot also changes from past to present, detailing important events that have taken place in Dot's life. I enjoyed this element as it added depth to the story but I did find it hard to follow at times.

Paris includes some difficult topics in this book including dementia, suicide, mental health and abuse. In my opinion these topics were portrayed well, raising awareness as well as being sensitive.

For me this book reminded me a little of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Away With The Penguins and A Man Called Ove. If you have read these books and enjoyed them I would definitely recommend Lost Property.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unedited review.

When I started the book I wasn’t sure it was for me, but I loved it. It is so well written with a beautiful use of the English Language. The main character is heart warming and poignant. I was both happy and sad to finish the book.

Dot works in the lost property department for transport for London, reuniting items with their rightful owners. Dot knows all about loss, she knows that loss is the price that you pay for love. Dot is lost, and knows that the only way to find herself is to put the Jigsaw pieces of her life together, but what if she can't find the straight edges? Who can help her to reunite?..
An interesting tale of loss and grief and a Woman losing control of her life.

Compelling reading of love, loss and love.
Dot Watson has rather lost her way in life. Working in tfl lost property in Baker Street London, she is as lost as the items she carefully logs and files. When Mr John Appleby comes in search of a bag, it sparks her own journey of loss, and finding love she never believed she had.
Thoroughly compelling and addictive reading, could not put this down. Totally fascinating descriptions of lost items and the relation to life. Brilliant immersive view of mental health and family relationships. A must read for better understanding of the human soul.
Thanks for the early read, it was very moving.

Helen Is a new author for me.

I really enjoyed this read. Dot is a fascinating character - I still don't know her age but I loved seeing her find her way out of a somewhat tortured existence. I'd definitely read more from this author.

Recommend this book to anyone who likes a good read which isn't afraid to tackle some difficult subjects.

As a young woman Dot Watson had a bright and exciting future ahead of her, living in Paris, in love and with plans to travel the world.  After a family tragedy she loses her way, and before she realises 12 years have passed.  She works at the London Transport Lost Property office, visits her mum in a care home and avoiding her sister's phone calls.  When a customer arrives looking for a lost holdall Dot connects with him in a surprising way, and is determined to find his missing items.

There was a few things I really liked about this book, and a few things that I wasn't such a big fan of.  All in all it came together for a 3🌟 rating.

Let's start with the good stuff.  The biggest highlight for me is the way that Paris explores differing types of loss.  She looks at loss due to death, losing a person to dementia, and loss of a person's hopes or dreams.  These are all types of loss and things that we do grieve for, however quite often we don't consider things such as a loved one suffering dementia as a loss until they are physically gone.  I thought Paris tackled this concept with empathy and care, and this was what kept me reading.

The thing that put me off, and if I'm being totally honest almost had me give up the book, was that things got really really odd in places.  It felt like Paris was aiming for Dot to be unique and quirky, and it worked to a point.  There's a section where Dot essentially moves in to her work place, and that's where it just got a bit too weird for me.  There was also a couple of scenes with a Dr at her mother's care home that were just bizarre.

The ending of the book was very touching, and struck a raw note in me.  I thought Paris did a brilliant job of changing my perspective on a character too (Phillipa).

I'd consider reading another one by this author, I do wonder if part of the reason I didn't enjoy this as much as I expected is that I've read a few books of a similar style recently and just need something different.  It's definitely worth a read, but be prepared for it to get you emotional.

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House UK and Transworld Publishers for an arc in exchange for an honest review.