A book to completely lose yourself in, this is a wonderful quirky little gem. Set in Australia, Millie, Agatha and Karl begin a journey of discovery and along the way contemplate death, love, forgiveness and understanding. Speech isn’t separated from the story, instead it appears in italics, which actually creates a slight feeling of separation from the characters, while maintaining a dreamlike quality. Brooke Davis captures both older and younger thoughts and feelings quite beautifully, she encourages a different perspective on age and death to flutter free from the pages. Lost & Found has the ability to be sad, touching and amusing all in the same breath, and while creatively imaginative, it is very much grounded in and liberates an essence of life and what it is to be human. ~ Liz Robinson
It was all play: books and childhood I grew up on ten acres in a quiet bush town called Bellbrae. It was pretty idyllic: the air smelled of eucalyptus, we were friends with all our neighbours, and we had the space and time to play and imagine. I have lovely flashes of book-related memories that I sometimes catch as they float by: being read to by my parents, reading on long car trips and trying not to give into car sickness, being told off by Mum for reading in the dark. I look at all my childhood books now and I can feel the magic of that time. I can’t remember not feeling like books were important. I don’t think this is something I could have explained as a kid—now I can attach language to the feeling, and suggest that it was something to do with the way reading tapped into my imagination and my love of learning and the need I might have felt to develop an understanding for the way people are. But as a kid, it felt natural and I loved it and I didn’t know why. It was just something I thought everyone did, like the way we all did colouring-in, and played the recorder, and dressed up in Mum’s old bridesmaid dress and glittery shoes. It was all play to me. ~ Brooke Davis
This is the heart-warming, moving and joyful story of three lost people needing to be found.
Millie Bird is a seven-year-old girl who always wears red wellington boots to match her red, curly hair. But one day, Millie's mum leaves her alone beneath the Ginormous Women's underwear rack in a department store, and doesn't come back. Agatha Pantha is an eighty-two-year-old woman who hasn't left her home since her husband died. Instead, she fills the silence by yelling at passers-by, watching loud static on TV, and maintaining a strict daily schedule. Until the day Agatha spies a little girl across the street. Karl the Touch Typist is eighty-seven years old and once typed love letters with his fingers on to his wife's skin. He sits in a nursing home, knowing that somehow he must find a way for life to begin again. In a moment of clarity and joy, he escapes. Together, Millie, Agatha and Karl set out to find Millie's mum. Along the way, they will discover that the young can be wise, that old age is not the same as death, and that breaking the rules once in a while might just be the key to a happy life. Lost & Found will be adored by fans of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry; The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared; and The Rosie Project.
'Uproarious and affecting... eccentric and sympathetic... Lost & Found could be ginormous' Independent
'Offbeat and funny... painfully, tenderly observant... [as] three lonely grief-stricken misfits find one another' The Times
'The same feel-good word of mouth as last year's bestseller, The Rosie Project.' Sydney Morning Herald
'Both hilarious and devastating. This is a story of loss and hope with one of the most vivid casts of characters I've come across. In particular, it is red wellied, seven-year-old Millie our heart weeps and soars for. A great read with ballsy, brilliant writing. A joy.' -- Matt Haig, author of The Humans
'Here is a mercurial talent... completely authentic and real... Seven-year-old Millie doesn't just tug at the heart strings, she rips them right out... A rich and distinctive debut' We Love This Book
Author
About Brooke Davis
Brooke Davis grew up in Bellbrae, Australia, and now lives in Perth, where she works as a bookseller. She is a graduate of the University of Canberra and Curtin University, and has won numerous awards for her writing. Lost & Found is her first novel and will be published in over twenty-five countries.
