Ruth Hogan’s novel is a cozy, multi-layered love story about a woman who inherits a gorgeous home full of catalogued found objects that she is tasked with returning to their rightful owners. Mine–and likely everyone’s–favorite character is Sunshine, a young woman with Down’s Syndrome who steals every scene. There are very short fictional episodes interspersed throughout, as if someone (never quite sure who) is imagining the back stories behind the lost objects. I thought this would irritate me, but they were smoothly worked into the narrative, overall, though the free indirect discourse POV was a bit confusing (who was making these up??). Also, the plot developed into something of a ghost story, inexplicably, midway through. I did appreciate how the two main narrative threads finally linked up–wished the relationship between Laura and Eunice might have been explored a little more deeply. So, while uneven in terms of writing, plotting, characterization, this was a pleasant, untaxing book to read.
