Scan barcode
A review by hectaizani
The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay
3.0
I guess this is a coming of age in Manhattan story. Protagonist Rosemary is an eighteen year old from Tasmania who after the death of her mother, comes to New York to find herself. She gets a job at the Arcade, the largest used bookstore in New York City. The Arcade deals not only in used books, but specializes in rare books, books costing upwards of $20,000 to the determined collector. The Arcade is populated by a phalanx of oddball characters, such as a pre-op transexual cashier, an albino general manager, and a floor clerk who is obsessed with nude photography.
The author adds a literary mystery involving a lost Herman Melville manuscript to the mix causing Rosemary to spend her time researching the possible existence and providence of the manuscript. Where it falls apart is in character development. Rosemary is affable and likeable, the other characters are more caricatures than real. Some of the relationships are allowed to just fizzle, as it seems the author didn't know what to do with them.
The author adds a literary mystery involving a lost Herman Melville manuscript to the mix causing Rosemary to spend her time researching the possible existence and providence of the manuscript. Where it falls apart is in character development. Rosemary is affable and likeable, the other characters are more caricatures than real. Some of the relationships are allowed to just fizzle, as it seems the author didn't know what to do with them.