The Book of Lost Things

The Book of Lost Things looks like a lot of things it isn't, but it is about those things.

I know that's a strange statement. The Book of Lost Things reads a lot like a children's book, and it reads a lot like a fairy tale, but it isn't really either. It concerns itself with the story of David, a young boy whose mother passes away before the story has begun. Struggling to come to terms with the loss and life as it continues on without her, he finds himself in a fairytale world – not a Disney fairytale world, but a darker, Grimm-esque one.

Without wanting to spoil anything for a new reader, the Book of Lost Things borrows liberally from traditional fairy tales, and assembles a new story using them as ingredients. Readable purely on a narrative level, there is a more complex layer underneath, one that – at least in the Kindle edition that I read – is explored in a lengthy afterword, including an interview with the author, as well as a rundown of the stories and themes from which Connolly borrows, written mostly by Connolly himself.

A smart book, smarter than I think it might get credit for. The afterword is worth reading in full.