Sheridan HayReviews

The Secret of Lost Things was a carefully written book, with a cast of quirky characters, but a minimal plot that went nowhere and took a long time to get there. Every aspect except the heroine was deliberately peculiar or abnormal: the albino, the transgender, the overweight gay man diddling himself in the stacks, the miserly bookstore owner who always referred to himself in the third person, and several more. But although the author gave many of these characters detailed attention, they remained little more than caricatures of real individuals who, for me, did not come alive in the book. Even the heroine often seemed more like a movie victim whose primary function was to do foolish things to drive the plot along. I was a little disappointed with the ending.

10/03/2020:
I read The Secret of Lost Things in 2008, and I didn't even remember it. I still fill the same about this book I felt 12 years ago. Appreciated the descriptiveness of the novel, it was unique and compelling. The plot did fall a bit short, though. It was not terrible throughout most of the story; there was a mystery and what was promising to be an exciting climax. The thrilling climax, for me, really never came. The ending fell short, and there wasn't a clear message.
None of the characters were particularly likable to me, and I couldn't understand why Rosemary was so in love with Oscar. Also, it bothered me that all the people that worked in the shop seemed to be so vicious.
I am happy that this book is a library one.

The secret of lost things is the story of Rosemary Savage, a native of Tasmania who loses her mother at age 18. A bookstore owner and friend of the family gives her a ticket to New York and her new life begins. She finds a job in a book store and meets its employees: Walter Geist, the store's manager and an albino; owner George Pike; Pearl, a transgender cash register operator, Robert Mitchell, rare books curator; Arnold, in charge of art and photography; Oscar, head of non-fiction; and several others. She begins her stay at the Martha Washington Hotel for Women where she befriends Lillian, the receptionist who is from South America. The relationships between the characters becomes a large part of the book, especially the friendship between Pearl and Lillian, whose son was one of the "disappeared" in Argentina. (And, along with apartment prices helps date the story to late 70'sor early 80s.)

The story is also a mystery into the lost manuscript of Melville, The Isle of the Cross. Rosemary and Oscar research the work at the local library, while Rosemary becomes more involved with Mr. Geist.

Author Sheridan Hay lists the sources used by Rosemary and Oscar and gives citations for all quotes used in the book. She a;lso goes into more detail about the events in Argentina to help explain the "disappeared," persons who were killed for their political views.

The book is compelling and reads quickly. This is Sheridan Hay's only book to date, which is a shame as I'd like to read more of her work.½

Lovely book about the mystery of bookstores. A red-haired Tasmanian orphan moves to Manhattan in the late 1970s and begins work in a used book store where she becomes enmeshed in the search for a mysterious Melville manuscript. Echoes of Borges, Moby Dick - a tad twee in places but overall, quite a good read.

Such a disappointment. Almost gave it two stars, but at least I did finish it. The book had such an interesting premise, but was poorly developed. I couldn't ever connect with the characters. It's been described as a coming of age story, but even being 18 can't explain the abysmally poor judgement of the main character.
”

It was a little weird.

This book just didn't do it for me. The characters were just too bizarre, the plot not enough to hold it together. Rosemary's naivete, I probably spelled that wrong, came across as somewhat contrived, and I grew tired of her self absorption. Regrets.

Growing up and being lonely in a brand new big city. With a job that's like another city inhabited by a slitheringly varied bunch - the Arcade strikes me as smacking of Dickens or Melville (probably the latter), and as being bit naive (in a good way).

One small quibble... One doesn't write "Tasmania" on the customs form. One writes, TAS and the postal code and then AUSTRALIA. Despite Tasmania's cultural independence, they are still part of Australia. Just as when mailing things Hawaii gets reduced to HI.

The review:

Sometimes a book will just click with a reader. Everything (or almost everything) will fall into place and just be a shared experience between the author, the fictional characters and the reader. The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay was one of those books for me.

Rosemary born on Anzac Day and therefore named for the herb often worn on lapels in Australia. Until her eighteenth birthday her home is her mother's hat shop in Tasmania. When her mother dies she is sent by a bookseller friend to New York with her mother's ashes in a box of Huon pine, one of the most pungent pine scents I have ever smelled; it seems to permeate the entire island.

In that first chapter I was drawn back to my own experience as an exchange student in Tasmania at the age of 17. I can picture the very first place I visited on my own, a used book shop in Ulverstone to buy Nova by Samuel R. Delany for $5.20. I was just as naive and confused by Tasmanian culture (which is a blend of mainland Australian and British ex-pat cultures) as Rosemary is in New York. I can remember being overwhelmed by homesickness at the aroma of the Huon pines (which aren't really pines but smell enough like them to confuse a jet-lagged nose) growing at the Don college.

Then there is Rosemary's time in New York where she works at a place called The Arcade (and apparently inspired by the author's time working at the Strand). Although I haven't worked in a bookstore (would love to someday) I have worked in a university library and in my father's antique shop both which attract people similar to the characters in The Secret of Lost Things.

The final point where I clicked with Rosemary was with her involvement in the search for Melville's lost novel, Isle of the Cross (1853). While I'm no Melville scholar, I am a bit of a fan of his and Hawthorne's books and was vaguely aware of their odd friendship.

Had all those different pieces in my life not been in place I probably would have been more troubled by the novel's flaws. The wacky characters are sometimes too two-dimensional, Rosemary stays naive too long, her obsession with Oscar is just as creepy as Geist's obsession with her is. Yes, those flaws are there but the connection I felt with the book was so strong I don't care about any of them.

I'd probably give it closer to 2.5 stars. It wasn't a bad read; interesting, but odd. The bookstore setting and search for a lost Melville manuscript added some intrigue to what I thought was really a coming of age novel.

The Secret of Lost Things. Sheridan Hay. 2007. Pat gave me this book when we were at the beach, and I started reading it there. When a Tasmanian woman’s mother dies, her mother’s friend gives her a ticket to NY City. She is hired to work in an enormous bookstore full of old and new books and an odd assortment of people. Her supervisor, a mysterious albino involves her in a mysterious search for a lost manuscript of Herman Melville. Bookstore, weird characters, secret manuscript—all the things I like to read about, but somehow it did not come together. Maybe it is because it took me so long to read it.

Rosemary Savage is only 18 when she leaves Tasmania to find a new life for herself in New York City. Still grieving for her mother who passed shortly before she left, Rosemary has a difficult time adjusting to life in the big city, where nobody knows her and she is completely on her own. After a couple of weeks living in a temporary women's apartment house, Rosemary finds a job in an extremely popular though unusual used bookstore, where she is the only female employee, apart from a transgendered cashier named Pearl. As Rosemary is a floater, she helps out in all of the sections and works with a number of odd characters. Though Rosemary develops a secret crush on a celebate employee, Oscar, the floor manager develops a crush on Rosemary, and entwines her into a situation where she must work for him. As Rosemary becomes more settled and starts to make friends outside of the bookstore, she finds herself in a complicated set of alliances between different people involving the possibility of a lost Melville manuscript. Rosemary is young and confused about whom she should trust when she uses her resourcefulness to research Melville's history and fully understands what might be at stake.

I thought this was a very charming novel with an interesting immigrant storyline taking place in a mysterious dusty bookstore. It was infused with the love of books, learning, and the history of literature. Really, a fantastic setting for a great novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I hope the author decides to write more!½

The setting for this novel is about as interesting as the characters who are a pretty odd mixture of people. The characters are so odd they are more caricatures than real people. However, the mixture is a good one so it makes for a fun and interesting read for those of us that love a bit of mystery, a bit of literary history, and a bit of the bizarre.

This is just a fun read and nothing more - not great literature and not particularly a book that will linger in your mind, but there's nothing wrong with that.

“The Secret of Lost Things” by Sheridan Hay

Rosemary Savage, is raised in Tasmania by her mother, a hat-shop owner. On her 18th birthday her mother dies. Rosemary is taken in by her mother’s only friend, Chaps, who owns a
bookstore. A month after her mother’s death Chaps, buys
Rosemary a plane ticket to New York City. At first Rosemary, is insulted and thinks that Chaps is just trying to get rid of her. Chaps explains that she is buying her a way out of a life of isolation and loneliness. Upon arriving in NYC Rosemary moves into a women’s boarding house and acquires a job at the largest used bookstore in NYC.

What is “The Secret of Lost Things?” you will have to read this fantastic story to find out. But rest assured once you pick this up you won’t put it down until you’ve finished. Sheridan Hay creates a modern-day Dickens-eque tale in her debut novel.

Thriller, or something, set in the world of rare books. The author mistakes 'grotesque' for 'characterisation'; a rookie error, and an easy one to make. But dull to try to wade through.

Literary fiction at its finest !!: Many of those who reviewed and trashed this book should stick to the popular, easy-to-read authors. This book is literary fiction at its finest ! The characters, the setting, the writing - are all pure delight. One reviewer actually said it took them too long to read !! Meanwhile, I read it as slowly as possible to prolong the experience of devouring this delicious novel. True book lovers will adore it.

Interesting semi-autobiographical tale of what a young Austrialian immigrant life is like working at a quirky bookstore modeled on the Strand in the alte 1970's.½

A heroine from Australia, a cavernous used bookstore, a lost manuscript, intrigue, eccentric characters...all the elements that I would expect in a great read. However, somehow they didn't all come together for me. I did enjoy quite a lot of the story, but the characters seemed a bit to eccentric and I felt there were too many loose ends when I put down the book. Perhaps the author is thinking of a sequel?

Couldn't find a way in to it and had to force myself to finish it but mostly skimmed

There's a somewhat recent phrase bandied about the movie review world concerning the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. According to a definition from Wikipedia, this character is a "bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures." Well, I think there should be a character type that would cover almost all the primary characters in this work. I’ll call the collection of individuals found in this book a Moronic Unbelievable Menagerie of Morons. I wanted to like this book; I really did. However, there were far too many scenes where I wanted to rip the remaining hair out of my head. If I were a fly on one of the Arcade’s walls, I would have flown posthaste into a window or solemnly perched upon Walter Geist's exposed light bulb and found succor in death. In the end, I want no Rosemary for remembrance. I’ve had enough of the Moronic Unbelievable Menagerie of Morons.½

I'm fascinated by books, and theoretically this book - which is all about people who are fascinated by books - should have been really enjoyable. Unfortunately it managed to be rather dry and colourless. Written in a careful and competent manner, it lacked the lyrical leaps that bring other stories to technicolour life. I didn't really feel as if I knew the central character, Rosemary, at all, and nor did I understand what it was about her that attracted Mr Geist, unless it was the fact she was the only woman employed at the bookstore.

There were some things about this book that were done well - the array of enigmatic characters working at the 'Arcade' are impressively imagined. Oscar, in particular. Do we presume he had Aspergers, or something of that nature? Interesting the way things like this were not explained, leaving readers to reach their own conclusions. I did feel the analysis of Geist throughout the book was overdone a tad though..... He's an Albino, I was mentally shouting....Get over it!

It may be easier to enjoy this book if you are a fan of Herman Melville, a central character in the novel despite the inconvenience of being dead. Unfortunately I read Moby Dick (a textbook if ever there was one) and hated it with a passion. If there is indeed a 'lost book' of Melville's in existence, sorry but it can stay lost as far as I'm concerned ;)½

A reader's true joy is in building in their mind's eye the surroundings painted in words by the author. It was my mistake to have read the "acclaim" for the book prior to reading it. The comment that made the rad far less enjoyable reads (in part) ... to the overstuffed bookstore in New York that calls to mind the Strand.... ARGH -- having been to the store and thence reading that the author had actually WORKED there could only cause continual conflict with the story. Knowing that in the Strand that the top floor is of Rare Books and is only accessible by elevator only made the situation worse.

Aside from being totally distracted by the above, I would classify this a work of literature. Don't expect it to be a thriller with the heroine being chased around for the lost manuscript that has fallen into her hands. Rather tastefully done -- with the author obviously having a passion for books.

I loved the writing! Very talented author with an enormous vocabulary! Interesting characters, and some were REALLY characters.
The "plot" was mildly entertaining, but the basis of the story was really about knowing yourself and accepting others for how they are, faults and all. I hope to read more in the coming years by this author!½

A young Australian woman (Rosemary, from the remote state of Tasmania) is brought up by her mother alone. When her mother dies she lives with another woman who decides that she should send Rosemary to New York. The story is mostly about Rosemary's growth to true adulthood while living in NY and working in a bookshop. Sounds boring, doesn't it? Well, even non-bibliophiles will find this story much more interesting than my summary suggests. It's not just about the nominal storyline (to do with a lost manuscript written by the author of Moby Dick), but there's a lot more complexity of relationships and real human stories. I suppose it does feed on a romantic view of what living in near poverty in New York would be like...and never having left Australia my ignorance makes me vulnerable to such visions.
There's lots of other reviews of this book (it must have been a LT give-away) - I suggest you read those to get a more balanced perspective!

Rosemary has lived all of her eighteen years in a small town in Tasmania. When her mother dies, a family friend sends her off to New York armed with three hundred dollars and her mother's ashes in a small pine box. Rosemary finds a job in an enormous used and rare bookstore where the employees are about as colorful as you could hope to find in the NYC of 1980. Rosemary learns to negotiate relationships, although the man she decides to fall in love with is about as unsuitable as possible.

There is a mystery, too. A manuscript, presumed lost, by Herman Melville is hinted at and she, as well as a few others at the bookstore, begin searching for clues to its nature. This book is beautifully written, in a slightly old-fashioned way, reminiscent of The Thirteenth Tale. Rosemary is naive, in the way of a sheltered eighteen-year-old, but she isn't stupid. The book explores Melville's friendship with Nathaniel Hawthorne and how his career as a writer ended with the publication of Moby Dick. The parts about Melville are eloquent and have me eager to dig into Moby Dick.½

A young girl moves to New York from Tasmania after her mother passes away. She gets a job at a bookstore full of eccentric employees. In fact, they might be too eccentric. It seems at times that the author is pushing them in our faces and trying to convince readers that we should like these characters. It didn't work for me.

I like the idea of a lost manuscript. Although personally, I'm not a fan of Melville, so I say "Let it stay lost." The quest to find acceptance, friendship, romance, and the manuscript just don't come together for me. Too much searching, looking, and yearning, and not enough just plain storytelling.½