This is a triumph of a debut novel; a beautifully written exploration of grief, bereavement and trying to find where you belong.
My slight quibble would be that, for me, it dragged slightly in the middle, but Ms Patel is definitely on my list of authors to look out for in the future.
Thank you to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book

Avani's all alone now. Its been 20 years since her husband, Elliott died. Recently, she lost her dad, her son, Nikhil, has moved away for Uni and her best friend, Maya, has become somewhat distant. Avani, is now all alone.
Nikhil wants to know about his dad, but Avani is holding back a past she refuses to share with him.

Nik has never met his father, but is baffled when every time he asks his mother about him, she brushes him off. Not wanting t bring up the past and copy her mother's mistakes, Avani does her best to understand her son and build a bond. Nik tries to fill the void with Paul, a stepfather figure, which soon after fizzles away.
After his grandad passes away, Nik finds out what the key kept locked up for many years. Nik moves away to Uni, he makes friends and is also is met with unfamiliar, racist behaviour. As the story unfolds and we go in deeper, we understand more about Avani's past, and events that took place which connect to the present.

This is such a heartbreakingly bittersweet and moving story about a mother and son, and how they cope with grief, relationships, belonging and life as we know it.
This is a wonderful debut, the writing style is easy to follow and the characters and story came across real. I particularly enjoyed the Gujarati element to this, being Gujarati myself, I felt I was able to connect with it more.

Thank you so much for granting me access to this advance copy.
If there was ever a novel I could use superlatives to describe, this would be it! It's BRILLIANT!
I like the pacing most of all, I love how layered the two main characters are, and I love what the author did with the ending. I can't wait to fully advocate for this book when it's out. This is a fantastic debut and I can't wait to read more from this author!

I really enjoyed this book, it was very heart wrenching in places, I feel like it did plod along a bit sometimes but overall it’s a fantastic book.
Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

"The Things That We Lost" is a beautifully written and keenly observed exploration of grief, loss , love, cultural manners and mores, and a changing world of diversity.

The evolving relationships, family connections, friends and past connections show complexities of multi-cultural life, and as the secrets and mysteries are explored, the central relationship between Nik and his mother fragments and reforms as hidden truths emerge.

Thoroughly absorbing and acutely depicted.

Highly recommended.

This is a well written book that has a great storyline that covers difficult themes, but all are sensitively written. Being someone who has grown up as a Gujarati, I could relate to both the storyline and characters as well as understanding some of the difficulties that the characters went through in this book.

I found the characters to be well written and developed, and loved the relationships between the main characters Avani and her son Nik.

This is definitely one of those books I’ve found difficult to review in depth as it would give away too much and also I feel this is a book that needs to be read knowing little as possible!

But I will say this it was a hard read at times but one I loved never the less, and can’t recommend it enough!!

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers Random House UK, Cornerstone and Merky Books for my eARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased thoughts.

My rating: 4.5 stars

A beautifully written book about loss, grief and family relationships. The story follows Nik and his mother Avani.
I liked the characters of Avani and Nik as I felt they were very real. The back stories and different topics were written well.
A very moving read, I look forward to more from this debut author. I would recommend this.
Thanks to #NetGallery #RandomHouseUK #Cornerstone for an arc of #TheThingsThatWeLost in exchange for an honest review.

A beautifully written book that brought me close to tears at several points! The multiple narratives are skilfully handled, and the warmth and richness of the characters is remarkable. The slow reveal of Avani and Elliot’s history together was really moving.

(Also, I grew up in Harrow and the whole thing filled me with a certain nostalgia…)

An emotive and powerful read- a very fitting title. It explores family relationships, loss and grief in such a sensitive way. I enjoyed the cultural aspects of the family and then different timelines. There were some heavy themes, but never did it feel like a chore to read.

A beautifully written book, spanning three generations of an Indian family based in Harrow London.

A really well-written debut, with a similar background to Avani’s Dad, this book was very relatable to me, all the Gujarati food made my mouth water and think of home.

This is the first book I’ve read of its kind in terms of the Gujarati Indian culture and the author captures the culture really well.

The book has themes of death, grief, sorrow, racism, and relationships between family and friends and features a lovely dog named Rani.

A beautifully written debut, thanks to NetGalley, the author Jyoti Patel and Random house UK for an e-Arc of this book.

This is beautifully written and I enjoyed it very much to start with. But then it didn't go anywhere. I began to find it a little tedious with too much introspection and, when we finally learn what really happened, it was a bit of a non-event. Reminds of Ian McEwan who tends to take a whole novel to say one thing, although the writing is a lot less stiff. I was left feeling this could have been so much better had been shorter.

An only child of a single mother, Nik has never known his father. And his mother won't talk about him.

One constant in his life is his grandfather. Then his grandfather dies. He leaves Nik a key.

The key opens a garage and, in it, Nik finds a car - a BMW that belonged to his father. As Nik heads off to university, he decides to restore the car and find out more about his father.

Why won't his mother talk about him? What happened to him? Why does the car make his mother so angry?

Many questions to be answered, and in this novel that moves between present-day and the years before Nik's birth, we find out some of those answers.

A compelling read, sometimes sad, sometimes hopeful.

Well worth reading.

The Things That We Lost
by Jyoti Patel

An emotive and tender story of loss and grief, home and identity, secrets and love and lengths one may go to protect the ones they love.

Avani cannot talk about her husband's death, it's a taboo subject. Abused by her mother's intractable adherence to a traditional code, estranged from her brother Chand who has morphed from his carefree youth to an obdurate traditionalist, her only sources of love are her son Nik and her soft hearted father Rohan, but then Rohan dies and Nik moves North to University.

Nik is devastated by the death of his beloved grandfather, the only reliable male in his life, but a key that Rohan tells Nik about just before he dies, may lead him to some clues about his parents' past and why his mother is so closed off about his father.

From the first page of this beautifully written novel I was intrigued. There are hints of Indian culture, family connection and the joy of young love as Avani's character unfolds. I wanted to know why a mother would deprive her son of the knowledge that he so clearly needed. I fell apart along with Nik as he spiraled into the mess that unresolved identity brings, knowing that everyone important to his mother had a different perspective and as he tried picking at the frayed threads between them all.

There are gentle references to the difference between brown culture acceptance in London as opposed to more naked racism in the unnamed small Northern town where Nik attends Uni. I love his love of London and the feeling of home it evokes in him. I love his circle of friends and how they watch out for each other and hold each other up. I love the music references, the Gujarati food and the aunties. Will Avani and Nik find a way back to each other?

For a debut novel this is a highly accomplished work and I am interested to see what this young author produces next. Highly recommend.

Publication Date: 12th January 2023
Thanks to #netgalley and #randomhouseuk for the egalley

The Things That We Lost is a beautiful read. Against the backdrop of loss and grief Nik goes in search of answers relating to his late father. His mother Avani, has woven a story, but Nik's thirst for truth and reality gets stronger when his grandfather dies. The tender exploration of his family portrait is elegantly done. Incredibly moving, Jyoti Patel excels in narrating how the characters in the book find their way back to each other. The desire to protect each other is an understandable feature of the love they share. This novel is so relatable, accessible and touching. The connections are inspiring showing how love and forgiveness can bring hope and gains twinned with, compassion and care.

I loved this book, from the first page you are enveloped in the characters and their family.
As you progress the dark shadow of grief and secrets leads you to read on hungrily in order to hear the full story.

This book deals with a lot of serious issues. Everything from mental health to racism, all within the context of a mixed race marriage. Avani finds herself pregnant after her husband Elliot died. She keeps the truth of his life and death almost a secret from their son Nik while he is growing up. When her father dies and leaves Nik, Elliot's car, her son decided he needs to know the truth. Something, due to blame and grief, she is unable to supply. I found that the characters quite 'stiff' and I did not feel empathy for any of them. There are obviously a lot of issues that need to be addressed and although the characters are very intelligent and give a lot of good advice they are not able to act on this advice for their own benefit.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book.

This book is beautifully written with difficult themes of loss, grief and family pain handled sensitively and carefully. The story builds beautifully with characters who are honest, relatable and with a depth that comes through. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and will definitely recommend it to others.

Such a beautiful story. The characters are extremely relatable and I really felt their grief and pain throughout.
I adored being on Avani and Nikhil’s journey with them.
Highly recommend.

I really liked this book and read it within a day. The characters are very well described and the storyline moves at a satisfying pace. There are chapters set in the past which explain the current situation but the reader is always left wanting to know a bit more. I enjoyed the descriptions of a modern Indian life with the contrast of multi cultural London and some unnamed university town somewhere up north which definitely isn’t multi cultural. I can’t wait to read more from this very talented author.

I related to a lot of the content in this book - the food, the family, the British-Indian straddling of cultures and lifestyles, etc. and it was a wonderful insight to a culture that is far removed from those usually found in novels.
As far as the story itself goes, the author doesn't go easy and all sorts of stories and secrets spill from the pages, some funny, some sad, some harrowing.