Lost & Found
The award-winning bestseller
-
-
4.1 • 171 Ratings
-
-
- $9.99
Publisher Description
WINNER OF THE WESTERN AUSTRALIA PREMIER'S PRIZE FOR AN EMERGING WRITER 2016
WINNER OF THE GENERAL FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD, AUSTRALIAN BOOK INDUSTRY AWARDS 2015
WINNER OF THE MATT RICHELL NEW WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD, AUSTRALIAN BOOK INDUSTRY AWARDS 2015
SHORTLISTED FOR THE DEBUT FICTION AWARD, INDIE BOOK AWARDS 2015
SHORTLISTED FOR THE AUSTRALIAN BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION BOOKSELLERS CHOICE AWARD 2015
The heart-warming, multi-award-winning Australian novel that was sold around the world will have you laughing, crying and, by the end, feeling just a little wiser . . .
At seven years old, Millie Bird realises that everything is dying around her. She wasn't to know that after she had recorded twenty-seven assorted creatures in her Book of Dead Things her dad would be a Dead Thing, too.
Agatha Pantha is eighty-two and has not left her house since her husband died. She sits behind her front window, hidden by the curtains and ivy, and shouts at passers-by, roaring her anger at complete strangers. Until the day Agatha spies a young girl across the street.
Karl the Touch Typist is eighty-seven when his son kisses him on the cheek before leaving him at the nursing home. As he watches his son leave, Karl has a moment of clarity. He escapes the home and takes off in search of something different.
Three lost people needing to be found. But they don't know it yet. Millie, Agatha and Karl are about to break the rules and discover what living is all about.
'This is a story of loss and hope with one of the most vivid casts of characters I've come across. In particular, it is red-wellied, seven-year-old Millie our heart weeps and soars for. A great read with ballsy, brilliant writing' MATT HAIG
'First time Australian author Brooke Davis wanted to explore grief as a part of life and she has done that with originality, whimsy and charm' THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLY
'Offbeat and funny' THE TIMES
'Expresses heartfelt and profound humanity' THE AGE
'Heartbreaking, funny, brilliant' HERALD SUN
'Enchanting . . . Bubbling with warmth and humour' THE WEST AUSTRALIAN
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Funny, sad and unabashedly charming, this fantastic debut from Australian writer Brooke Davis follows Millie Bird, an odd and wise seven-year-old who’s abandoned in a department store. As Millie creates a surrogate family for herself amid the clothing racks, makeup counters and toy displays—and then embarks on an impromptu journey across Australia—she brings together a cast of damaged and isolated characters drawn to her sincerity and quirks.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This novel by Australian travel writer and first-time novelist Davis attempts to use whimsy as a delivery mechanism for a meditation on loss and loneliness among the very young and very old. Seven-year-old Millie Bird is obsessed with death, inscribing her encounters with dead things in a "Book of Dead Things." Entry twenty-eight is "MY DAD." As a result of losing her husband and Millie's father, it's not long before Millie's unstable mother drops her at a Perth department store by the "Ginormous Women's Underwear" section and never returns. Millie spends a couple of nights hiding out in the store, seemingly undetected by anyone except a mannequin she treats as a companion and an old man she approaches in the store's caf who identifies himself as "Karl the Touch Typist." Karl is battling his own grief after the loss of his wife. Finally caught by store security, Millie, with Karl's help, escapes authorities and makes her way home, where an elderly neighbor, Agatha Pantha, an unpleasant shut-in following her husband's death, somehow decides it would be better to accompany Millie to find her mother in Melbourne than to call the police. Karl catches up with them and the unlikely trio travels across Australia. Ultimately, this journey toward understanding and accepting death is too predictable, offering little aside from the quirks of its characters.
Customer Reviews
Treat Yourself
This quirky, funny, sad story will stay with you long after you finish reading the last page. I loved it so much that when I finished reading it I went back to the beginning and started reading it again.
Favourite book this year!
It's hard to express how much I loved this book. Some parts are hilariously laugh-out-loud funny, and other parts made me cry and just broke my heart. This is an amazingly moving but easy-to-read story. Fantastic characters, and written by a young Aussie author too!
Lost & Found
A delightful surprise on a subject handled with insight and wonderfully quirky humour!