Book 35: What Was Lost

What Was Lost by Catherine O’Flynn.

This won some prizes, and rightly so. HIGHLY recommended.

The first part is focused on a little girl, Kate, who fancies herself a detective. I use the word “fancies” because it’s a British novel, and the British say things like, “fancies.”

It’s kind of a modern Harriet the Spy, which was a childhood favorite of mine. Like Harriet, Kate keeps a journal detailing her investigations. O’Flynn gets the voice just right. Spot on.

One day, Kate disappears.

The second part is 20 years later, and now we read the perspective of a woman whose brother had been friends with Kate, and that of a man who works as a security guard in the mall. They both live kind of disappointed lives, but finally meet and see how life might be a little better.

The third part is about Kate's childhood girlfriend. Even 20 years later, this friend is still affected by Kate's brief participation in her life. Some people have a long-lasting impact.

Some of my favorite bits of writing:

On working in a music store:
“’Save me looking’ was something she heard several times a day, and she couldn’t understand what the big effort was in visual reception. She was unsure if it was acute laziness that led someone to ask someone else to use their eyes for them, or some belief that vision was a finite resource they didn’t want to wear out.”

Thinking about buying a nice, bourgeois apartment:
“Lisa stood out on the small balcony looking down at a suitcase floating on the oily surface of the canal. It was unspeakably sinister.”