Lost & Found by Brooke Davis

Pages: 289

Intended Audience: Adult

Genre: Real life drama

Notes for Parents: Contains some coarse language, sexual content, and mature themes

The Back Cover

Millie Bird, seven years old and ever hopeful, always wears red gumboots to match her curly hair. Her struggling mother, grieving the death of Millie’s father, leaves her in the big ladies’ underwear department of a local store and never returns. United at this fateful moment with two octogenarians seeking their own answers, Millie embarks upon a road trip with them to find her mother. Together they will discover that old age is not the same as death, that the young can be wise, and that letting yourself feel sad once in a while just might be the key to a happy life.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

The author was inspired to write this novel after her mother died suddenly in a freak accident in 2007. The book became part of her PhD thesis about grief representation in literature. This is the Australian author’s first novel.

What’s good?

This is a character-driven, adventure-laden story about a little girl and two elderly people who go on a journey together. Love, loss, loneliness, the value of life, and the burden of grief are some of the themes the author explores using humor, beautiful imagery, and a range of emotions. Seven-year-old Millie’s interpretation of the world, especially her obsession with dead things, is uniquely charming. Her older companions are well-drawn and distinctively quirky. The dialogue is strong, and the author’s use of language is often breath-taking. One of my favorite lines (among many) is, “…she saw the hair in his ears, waving in the wind like the hands of drowning men.” (pg. 57). The ending, though lacking resolution, was surprisingly satisfying.

Best Part: I’M HERE MUM

What isn’t good?

The pace is uneven and several times the characters go off on wordy tangents that are unnecessary. Agatha’s rude yelling gets irritating after a while. Several situations are difficult to believe; in fact, the entire premise is highly improbable.

Worst part: The dialogue is italicized instead of placed in quotation marks, and doesn’t follow standard style.

Recommendation þþþoo

This novel is okay for mature teens, but it’s probably not appropriate for (or of interest to) younger readers. The exploration into grief and aging gets quite complex and becomes even more convoluted with the use of dark humor and mature situations. There is something captivating about the author’s style, especially in her imagery and characterization. This novel won’t be for everyone, but I look forward to future stories.

Davis, Brooke. Lost & Found. New York: Penguin, 2016. (Originally published in Australia by Hachette, 2014)