The Lost Ticket
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4.3 • 34 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
One of Amazon’s Best Books of September!
Strangers on a London bus unite to help an elderly man find his missed love connection in the heartwarming new novel from the acclaimed author of The Last Chance Library.
When Libby Nicholls arrives in London, brokenhearted and with her life in tatters, the first person she meets on the bus is elderly Frank. He tells her about the time in 1962 that he met a girl on the number 88 bus with beautiful red hair just like hers. They made plans for a date at the National Gallery art museum, but Frank lost the bus ticket with her number on it. For the past sixty years, he’s ridden the same bus trying to find her, but with no luck.
Libby is inspired to action and, with the help of an unlikely companion, she papers the bus route with posters advertising their search. Libby begins to open her guarded heart to new friendships and a budding romance, as her tightly controlled world expands. But with Frank’s dementia progressing quickly, their chance of finding the girl on the 88 bus is slipping away.
More than anything, Libby wants Frank to see his lost love one more time. But their quest also shows Libby just how important it is to embrace her own chances for happiness—before it’s too late—in a beautifully uplifting novel about how a shared common experience among strangers can transform lives in the most marvelous ways.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Sampson's amiable latest (after The Last Chance Library), bookkeeper Libby Nichols is thrown a curveball by her live-in boyfriend and boss. Simon, declaring their life has become too "predictable," dumps Libby, putting her out of a job. She moves from Surrey to London to help her sister with childcare in exchange for a place to live. On Libby's first day in the city, she meets Frank, an elderly man who's been riding the bus for 60 years looking to reconnect with the woman of his dreams. She had written her name and number on a bus ticket, which Frank lost, and he's spent his days since looking for her. Libby teams up with Dylan, a mohawked punk and Frank's caregiver, to search for the red-haired woman of Frank's memory as his dementia worsens. Joining in the search are quirky characters whose lives Frank has touched over the years and who want to pay him back. In the meantime, Simon resurfaces with surprises of his own and Libby has to decide what she wants out of her life. Despite some predictable turns and beats, there's plenty of tension. This will keep readers turning the pages.
Customer Reviews
Heartwarming Story
Four and a Half Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭒
The Lost Ticket by Freya Sampson is a stand-alone women's fiction book with a bit of romance that is simply adorable. It’s a heartwarming story of a few lost souls who bond on a bus, to find one last wish for one of the passengers
Libby Nicholls is back in London after a recent breakup with her fiance and employer. She’s living with her overbearing sister and her husband and son, while she decides what to do with her life. She rides a bus and meets Frank, an elderly gentleman who though she reminded him of his lost love, whom he met on the bus in 1962, and has been riding the bus hoping to meet his lost love once again.
Frank’s story inspires Libby to look for Frank’s lost love so at least she can give him some closure. She meets Frank’s carer, Dylan, and together they hatch a plan to find Frank’s, lost love. Will Libby and Dylan find the woman who stole Frank’s heart in 1962? Or has too much time passed?
The Lost Ticket is a very heartwarming story that I just adored. The quirky characters and their quest to find Frank’s, lost love. It has found family, community spirit, and a light romance. I love the way Libby took on the task of searching for Frank’s lost love. She has her own issues, but the search became a way for her to ignore her situation for some time, and do something for others.
I loved all the characters in this book. Although at first, it appears as if Libby is hiding from her life, it’s helping Frank that helps her to realize her own inner strengths as well as find out her own path in life. I wanted to help Frank find his love and was rooting on this odd group of friends to find this woman, as I was pulled into this story of love, friendships, and community. And Dylan is nothing more than a sweetheart dressed in punk clothing. He cares for his clients as if they were his own family and his outward demeanor is just a shield for a slightly wounded but extraordinary man.
I highly recommend The Lost Ticket to anyone who enjoys women's fiction. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.