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What Was Lost Audiobook
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(3.00) - 2,900 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
In the 1980s, Kate Meaney is hard at work as a junior detective. Busy trailing "suspects" and carefully observing everything around her at the newly opened Green Oaks shopping mall, she forms an unlikely friendship with Adrian, the son of a local shopkeeper. But when this curious, independent-spirited young girl disappears, Adrian falls under suspicion and is hounded out of his home by the press.
Then, in 2003, Adrian's sister Lisa—stuck in a dead-end relationship—is working as a manager at Your Music, a discount record store. Every day she tears her hair out at the outrageous behavior of her customers and colleagues. But along with a security guard, Kurt, she becomes entranced by the little girl glimpsed on the mall's surveillance cameras. As their after-hours friendship intensifies, Lisa and Kurt investigate how these sightings might be connected to the unsettling history of Green Oaks itself.
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"While this was definitely a dark story, I found it's emotional depth affirming and the intersecting lives hopeful despite the despairingly tragic path each individual had been traveling. The level of tragedy varied but the feeling of being trapped by our experiences or past is universal where it often takes another person to help make us whole or give us the desire to break free and try an alternate path. Each character was also well formed without simplistic stereotyping and the unfolding story was suprisingly gripping."
— Mara (4 out of 5 stars)
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“An off-beat quirky little mystery which punches way above its weight…The author’s achingly astute observations on consumerism make this far more than a generic mystery and the icing on the cake is a twist in the tail which I really didn’t see coming.”
— Marian Keyes, New York Times bestselling author -
“Stirring and beautifully crafted…Gripping to the end, the book is both a chilling mystery and a poignant examination of the effects of loss and loneliness.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review) -
“O’Flynn has created an ensemble cast of fully developed and engaging characters—children, adults, and adolescents—and placed them in a plot that twists and turns more than the underground and locked stretches of the mall. And she creates sentences and verbal images that are both finely honed and flawlessly flowing. This is a book with high appeal to mystery and suspense fans, and also to anyone who appreciates fine writing or mesmerizing storytelling.”
— School Library Journal -
“What Was Lost is a terrific, wonderful book and I loved every page of it.”
— Douglas Coupland, author of The Gum Thief -
“What Was Lost is a delight to read—poignant, suspenseful, funny, and smart…[It] is a moving novel, bespeaking not only the energy and inventiveness of its author but also the power of good old realism.”
— Los Angeles Times -
“The bravest and most appealing adolescent this side of The Lovely Bones, aspiring detective Kate Meaney vanishes partway through Catherine O’Flynn’s mesmerizing debut novel, What Was Lost…There are many ways to feel invisible, we learn from this gentle, sharp-sighted tale of love and loneliness. And there are many ways to be found.”
— O, The Oprah Magazine -
“At once moving and wickedly funny, [What Was Lost] is one dazzling debut.”
— People (4 stars) -
“O’Flynn elevates common characters into fascinating studies of people and their circumstances. Her portrayal of Kate Meany, a young girl who spends her days playing detective, is vivid and heart-wrenching. The author’s tender sense of humor shines through her writing, providing relief from the sadness of the story.”
— RT Book Reviews (4 stars)
Awards
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Longlisted for the 2007 Man Booker Prize
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A 2007 Guardian First Book Award Finalist
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Longlisted for the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction
What Was Lost Listener Reviews
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" So, I didn't actually finish this book. I got about half way through, and couldn't handle any more of the foul language. The story was interesting, but my frustration with language finally overpowered my curiosity to find out how it would end. "
— Thom, 1/31/2014 -
" Thoroughly enjoyed it. It is relatively short (less than 250 pages) but the way the author intertwines the lives of characters is done very well. "
— Elizabeth, 1/22/2014 -
" I loved the super-dry humor, as well as the unforgettable characters. "
— Amy, 1/18/2014 -
" This book reads like a play for some reason. I think it is the variety of voices/narrators in the story. Anyway I thought it was interesting commentary on "mall culture." Funny it is a British book, but could easily be set in the U.S. "
— Marita, 1/10/2014 -
" Given the summer buzz I wanted to like it more than I did. I am not sure why I didn't, it just didn't stick with me. In fact I almost forgot I read it until I noticed it in a pile. I find it hard to write about a book unless I loved it, or hated it and this was just in between. "
— MaryAnn, 1/8/2014 -
" A funny, sad, amazing book, sort of a cross between "Harriet the Spy" and Nick Hornby. I laughed out loud through most of it and cried at the end and DAMN IT, I never cry. I want to track down the author and give her wedgies until she gets cracking on her next book. "
— Nette, 1/3/2014 -
" Loved it. Kind of a commentary on our mall-warped culture, too. Good mystery. "
— Leigh, 12/31/2013 -
" Very poignant. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. The author drew me in quite nicely. "
— Bee, 12/24/2013 -
" I just can't get into stories told by a precocious child protagonist. I had the same problem with "Room". "
— Carol, 12/16/2013 -
" i now this looks like chick lit but its not and its really a cute funny little book "
— Shea, 12/14/2013 -
" Quick read. I enojyed the story but I thought the "who dunit" at the end was wrapped up a bit quickly. "
— Kristen, 12/9/2013 -
" Almost a 4. What a great first book! Can't wait for her next one. I love the inner thoughts of the main characters; so true. "
— Grace, 11/17/2013 -
" This book started out strong but petered out in the middle and never really went anywhere. "
— Leigh, 5/5/2013 -
" I think of this book every time I enter a shopping center. A wonderful but ever so sad book. "
— Jeannine, 12/18/2012 -
" A quick read. The twists and turns and irony of the story leave me thinking, and indeed talking about it. Excellent. "
— Jenny, 10/2/2012 -
" I really liked the first part of the story with Kate Meaney. She was an interesting character. The rest of the story was depressing and a sad ending. "
— Colleen, 8/14/2012 -
" I didn't enjoy it very much when I started it, but closer to the middle of the book it got a lot better! It is a very cool mystery and when the answers are revealed at the end it is extremely surprising how the events unfolded slowly one by one. "
— Girija, 7/2/2012 -
" Liked this book. I'm not a big mystery fan, but this is more about the characters than the mystery. Somewhat sad and depressing but there is light at the ending "
— Meg, 1/31/2012 -
" Needed something lean, narrative, and character-based following my slow trip with McCarthy's <em>C</em>. This was perfect -- read in two sittings. "
— Gena, 6/18/2011 -
" Boring and unbelievable is how I found this story. "
— Annica, 6/13/2011 -
" Another book that I thought was kind of slow, until the last quarter, which made it all worthwhile. It's how the disappearance of a little girl affects others (not family members). "
— Janet, 6/6/2011 -
" 1980s England, a young orphaned girl who thinks herself a spy disappears from a mall. I really liked this book, I liked the little girl and the other characters. It has a sad twist ending. "
— Beth, 6/4/2011 -
" Really enjoyed this book. Hard to classify genre-wise as there are so many great things going for it. Wonderfully true to life characters, surprising relationships and some hilariously well observed sketches set in the shopping centre. "
— Ellie, 4/6/2011 -
" hmm... i liked this - it was a really fast listen, gripping story, and the narrator had an AWESOME accent. But it wasn't mind-blowing, at all. I feel like this is one I need to read some reviews to really absorb. "
— Jess, 3/22/2011 -
" There were some sentences that I read over and over because I loved the way she wrote it. I could not relate to any of the characters and the story line was a little dark for my taste. "
— Melissa, 2/24/2011 -
" I found myself frustrated because it really wasn't what I thought it would be. The children in the book have so much more life than the adults. Since much of the book happens after Karen disappears, it can be a drag. "
— Sister, 2/19/2011
About Catherine O'Flynn
Catherine O’Flynn, the youngest of six children, was born in Birmingham in 1970 to Irish parents. Her father was a newsagent, her mother a teacher.
Prior to the publication of her first novel she did a variety of jobs including web editor, box office assistant, deputy manager of a large record shop, civil servant, post woman, teacher and mystery shopper.
Her debut novel, What Was Lost, won the Costa First Novel Award, was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award, and longlisted for the Booker and Orange Prizes. She was named Waterstone’s Newcomer of the Year at the 2008 Galaxy British Book Awards.
Her second novel The News Where You Are, published in 2010, was shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, an Edgar Allen Poe Award and was a Channel 4 TV Book Club choice.
Her third novel Mr Lynch’s Holiday was published in 2013.
Her short stories and articles have featured in Granta, The Independent, The Observer and on Radio 3 and 4.
She lives in Birmingham with her husband and two daughters.
About Catherine Skinner
Catherine Skinner’s theater credits include The Crucible (Royal Shakespeare Company), The Witches (National Tour), Hay Fever (Theatre Royal Haymarket), and Forward (Birmingham Rep). She can be heard as Liza in Love Chat and Annie in One Day on BBC Radio and seen on television as Natalie in BBC’s The Rotter’s Club.