What Was Lost

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View books by Catherine O'Flynn.

Unpickupable - Rated
I struggled with this one. I found it Borriiiing in the extreme. The plot is too drawn out and didn't give me any motivation to turn the page. I found the characters two-dimensional, cartoonish, dull, predictable. The conclusion was implausible and contrived.

I don't understand why this book is so popular.I couldn't jhave done better myself but this is probably the worst book I have ever read.

not my choice but I enjoyed it! - Rated
My husband bought me this book to read while I was ill and had I been in the book shop I would not have chosen it! However I really enjoyed it and had to slow myself down reading it so as not to finish too quickly.
The book has a lot to say about consumers obsession with shopping and also there is a good mystery element.

Accurate, Moving and Occasionally Funny - Rated
What Was Lost' is such an elegant and effortless read filled with intrigue, mystery and despair. I loved it.

On the front of this book there is a tagline written by Jonathan Coe (possibly reason enough to purchase this book?) and there are some definite similarities between his novels and WWL. Like Coe, O'Flynn has managed to cut to the rotten heart of her subject matter, in this case, Shopping Centres.

The Green Oaks shopping mall is a hulking malevolent presence built on the the industrial wasteland of 80's Birmingham. O'Flynn portrays it beautifully. One of the major characters works at the mall as an assistant manager of a record store chain. Life at the branch is described with acidic accuracy. The sections dealing with the customers, staff and senior managers of the store are hilarious.

The central thread throughout the novel is the disappearance of a young girl shortly after the shopping centre's opening. This is dealt with sensitively and the plight of the lost nine year old very moving. All of the central characters are tied together by the repercussions of this event. Much like a Jonathan Coe novel, they are inexorably drawn together, often by coincidence, until the book reaches it's thrilling and poignant conclusion. This use of coincidence ought to be implausible but O'Flynn's light touch makes it work. There is an elements of the mystical and the macabre that jars a little and which some readers may find spoils their enjoyment.

On the whole though, What Was Lost is a very satisfying read and an accurate portrayal of our turn of the century cultural wasteland.

moving and clever - Rated
This is a well thought out book,creating a new and intelligant aspect to writing.
At first it comes across as the children's book Nancy Drew, however as you read into it it appears to be much more than this.
The characters are well written and you do sympathise with them and want to follow their story.
A great book which i believe although is not of the quality enaballing it to be put into the booker should be nominated for the orange or something simmiar well worth a read as it is an easy going novel with ghosts, new love and it also tries to get to grips with the obession with material goods and consumerism which drives our everyday lives in the 21st century

Ultimetely Rewarding - Rated
In my pick of the Man Booker contenders along with Lloyd Jones' 'Mister Pip and Tan Twan Eng's 'The Gift of Rain'.

'What was Lost' is a neatly plotted novel with a cast of finely drawn characters. The setting is a shopping centre - hardly an exotic backdrop and a bit claustrophobic at times - but the author's keen sense of pace, dark humour and attention to detail more than compensates. A bit creepy but in a delicious rather than disturbing way. This is a cleverly written, engrossing and ultimately rewarding book.