All the Lost Things
A Novel
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
From "a master of slow-burn suspense" (Shelf Awareness), a simmering family drama about a father and daughter who embark on a road trip through the American South -- but what they're leaving behind is as important as what lies ahead.
When we first meet seven-year-old Dolly, she immediately grabs us with a voice that is both precocious and effervescent. It has been a while since her dad has spent time with her, just the two of them, and so when he scoops her up and promises to take her on the adventure of a lifetime, Dolly is thrilled.
The first days on the road are incredibly exciting. Every pit stop promises a new delight for Dolly and her favourite plastic horse, Clemesta, who she's brought along for the adventure. There are milkshakes, shopping sprees, a theme park, and all the junk food she isn't allowed to eat under her mother's watchful eye. And, for the first time, she has her father's attention all to herself. But as they travel farther south, into a country Dolly no longer recognizes, her dad's behavior grows increasingly erratic. He becomes paranoid and irresponsible, even a little scary. The adventure isn't fun anymore, but home is ever further away. And Dolly isn't sure if she'll ever get back.
A compulsively readable work of psychological suspense from the first mile to the last, All the Lost Things introduces a remarkable young heroine who leaps off the page, charts a life-changing journey, and ultimately reveals the sometimes heartbreaking intersections of love, truth, and memory.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sacks (You Were Made for This) delivers another gripping domestic tale, but doesn't quite pull off the challenging task of telling it from the point of view of seven-year-old Dolly Rust, whose father suddenly takes her on a life-changing road trip. From the moment their so-called "adventure" begins, a sense of foreboding permeates; as they get farther from their New York home, Dolly's constant companion, a toy horse named Clemestra, becomes less of a comfort and more of a purveyor of uncomfortable truths as she begins speaking to Dolly. For Dolly, there's joy in doing something so unexpected and fun, staying in a nice motel, eating junk food and having her father to herself. But her dad starts acting angry and frustrated, gets drunk, and they stay in seedier and scarier places as they head farther south and off the beaten path. Using such a young narrator becomes tedious as Dolly continually makes observations in capital letters, which are sometimes beyond her years and other times too childish. Unfortunately, the d nouement and the quick resolution comes off as pat and unsatisfying. Still, the author is adept at generating tension and showing the inevitability of the past (and the law) catching up, making this a passable family suspense novel.
