I am a magpie; always collecting treasures (or ‘junk’ depending on your point of view) and a huge John Betjeman fan. Sometimes, I can read a book where the ending seems to just wander off into a future and it seems natural, right, but this fell just a little short for me.

Whilst all the characters were really well portrayed and the minor characters were given enough scope to support the main characters and add to the narrative - Sunshine was something else - a beautifully written girl whose character developed through the story; every time she appeared I could see her in my mind.

The title is bold white font in the centre of the cover and Ruth’s name is in a smaller white font at the bottom of the cover. You may laugh out loud at the comedies waiting for Laura and Eunice; so don't read this book on a train. I studied English and Drama at Goldsmiths College which was brilliant, but then I came home and got a 'proper' job. Charming and endlessly endearing, Hogan’s novel of a collector of lost objects and his determined mission to reunite them with their owners is a feel-good tale about atonement, affection and doing the right thing. Portia wants her brother to publish one of her books, but with titles like “Lady Chatterley’s Chauffeur” Bomber has a real problem endorsing her plagiarised writing efforts.

As the dark cloud engulfing her lifts, Laura, accompanied by her new companions, sets out to realize Anthony’s last wish: reuniting his cherished lost objects with their owners.

Maybe with a single positive - the first three chapters were quite good, and it's a terrible shame that Anthony Peardew didn't stick around because things went decidedly downhill after he died.

However the group loved Sunshine and found her character quite sensitive and funny in an endearing way (though it was noted that it seemed a bit odd that her parents let her spend so much time with complete strangers for so long). The beginning of this novel was kind of enchanting, but as my reading progressed my interest took a turn, and by the end I read with a constant cringing of my toes. Realising he is running out of time, he leaves his house and all its lost treasures to his assistant Laura, the one person he can trust to fulfil his legacy and reunite the thousands of objects with their rightful owners.It brings lots of tears, laughs and smiles, which probably made lots of folks on the trail I walk wonder what was going on with me. The group felt that Laura in particular wasn't a very likeable character as she was quite self absorbed and self pitying. It is very easy to read and a great story, both from the point of view of the “lost things” and also from the way the lives of the characters in the book develop. But I was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, because I owned it already and was in the mood for something that sounded quite intriguing. But the burden of so many sins weighed this down for me, and what was meant to be light ended up being a drag.