What an incredibly lovely, thought-provoking book.

Dot Watson's life has taken some unexpected turns - she set out to work abroad, she was studying her MA in Paris, the world was her oyster. Fast forward a few years and Dot is working in the Lost Property Office at Baker Street, taking pride in reuniting lost items with their owners, but with very little life outside her work. She lives with her mother, who has just moved to a home as she has dementia, she is harrassed by her bossy sister and she dislikes the changes being introduced by her new, predatory manager.

Dot's life might be anyone's, and the way she suffers, reliving past traumas, is heartbreaking. She is a good person, with a lovely down to earth manner not often encountered in today's world. The reader wants everything to come right for Dot. But is this a fairy tale, or real life?

I really enjoyed the book, had a lump in my throat in parts, and chuckled aloud at others. Brilliant.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and Doubleday for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dot has been working in the lost property office for years. She finds it soothing to have the order of it and loves to be able to return items.
Dot becomes a little unhinged after the suicide of her beloved father and her mother having to go into a care home.
She hits highs and lows but comes out of it with clarity and perspective.

What a wonderful, uplifting debut novel by Helen Paris! The book follows Dot Watson who works at a lost property office in London as she deals with the ups and downs of her life. I really don’t want to give any spoilers to the plot of this delightful, well written book that is full of such clear descriptions of both people and places that you can see and smell the places and people she meets. In some way her writing reminded me of Victoria Wood as she makes such detailed observations of people - I’m sure that Helen Paris is an author to watch. The book is emotionally difficult to read at times, dealing with subjects such as suicide, death, dementia and loss, however there is also hope and a very strong message to always choose life...... I loved it!

Lost property - lovely uplifting story. With great characters and a compelling story line. Definitely worth a read.

A delightful read. I liked the slow rather quirky, slightly humourous start in the lost property office but did wonder where it was going if it had carried on in the same flattish vein, however, it quickly picked up. The book sensitively dealt with all kinds of mental anguish and illness and how a sequence of events can pull an individual down. Interesting characters plus a heartwarming ending makes this a worthwhile read. I look forward to reading more from this author as I believe this is her first novel.

I’ve given this book 4* because for me it was a slow start.
My feelings towards Dot kept changing throughout the book, firstly I was curious about her, then I didn’t like her, then I wanted to hug her and finally, I was proud of her.
As a debut novel it was incredibly clever and I look forward to reading more from Helen Paris.

I was surprised and happy when I was contacted to read and review this book in netgalley.

It is quite an unusual read but enjoyable. I'll be honest the start of it was a little slow but some say that the best books are like that. It kind of reminded me of Elinor Oliphant Is Just Fine in the way that it was written as well as The Keeper Of Lost Things in the way that it focuses heavily on items within the book.
The book does touch upon love and grief and has a bit of character development for the MC who is called Dot and who works in the lost property department at TFL.
All round a decent read, can't wait to see what else the author comes up with.

It’s not often a book comes across as original in the blurb, but this one really did.

It was a little slow to progress for me, and I did have to keep forcing myself to pick up and read, but I’m glad I did.

Verdict: not a page Turner, but a heart warming, enjoyable read.

I loved Dot and her lonely little life, centered around work and with really difficult personal interactions- she is a real human in the paper world of a novel.
The descriptions of her work, the lost property and the people she tries to reunite with their belongings are fantastic , as is her "other life" travel book obsession, visiting on paper the places she wishes she were brave enough to go to in real life.
Dot is an inspiration waiting to happen and when she does it is beautiful!

I applied to read this book as the cover made it look like a rom com. But this book was so much more than that.

The book covers loss, grief and our main character rediscovering herself, after spending years working in Transport for London’s lost property office.

It was a beautiful read, and the pages just kept turning as the heroine sought to reunite a man with his lost property, whilst coming to terms with the loss of her father.

I found it In turn funny, painful, uplifting and in some parts heartbreaking. On some levels the story reminded me of ‘Eleanor Oliphant’. Warning: contains references about dementia and suicide.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Random House and Netgalley for the ARC of this book.
This is not the sort of book I normally read but I must say I really enjoyed this. It was a fairly quick read but still enjoyable. I really felt for Dot as she really loved her job but there were so many things about her past that needed finishing too. Her relationship with her sister was strained because of their mother being in a care home but, as I hoped, they came together when their mother died and the book ending was heartwarming.
Look forward to next book.

I received an advance copy of, Lost Property, by Helen Paris. A very interesting premise, but I could not get into this book. The characters were ok.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Dot works at the lost and found for the past ten years. It was only supposed to be a temporary position. She has had dreams of living in Paris. I enjoyed the different characters in this book.

Such a beautifully-written book and if you enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine, you will love this.

It starts off quite slowly and I initially thought it was going to be chick-lit in style. I really enjoyed reading about Dot’s job working at TFL’s lost property office in Baker Street and the various items that had been lost and found. Dot needed to have order around her at work to enable that feeling of control in the rest of her life. She is quite a cold character and wasn’t m easy to like initially, but as the story progressed, I warmed to her more and more.

The book explores Dot’s familial relationships and her heartbreak and guilt of a father, lost, together with his struggles; a mother suffering from dementia and the superior relationship her sister has with her.

I was filled with warmth, tears and warmth again, I felt incredibly sad for this lost soul - I did laugh at the bull scene!

As an aside from the story, the author’s use of the English language is exemplary, I have learned many new words!

I really enjoyed Lost Property and would recommend it. 4 stars from me 🌟🌟🌟🌟.

It took me a while to get into this book and almost gave up but am glad I carried on. On the surface, Dot is lonely and slightly odd, she's a perfectionist and not easy to warm to, but then you get to know her deeper issues and why she is the way she is, her dysfunctional relationship with her older sister, the trauma she goes through at work and major flash backs into her life around her father who ultimately ended his life with suicide.
This book started off for me as a chick lit but it ended up being something that warmed and broke my heart at the same time.
Give this book a go. It's truly worth it.

Dot is working at the lost property office but why is reuniting people with what they have lost so important to her?
As the story unfolds it all starts to become clear. And, be warned its a heartwrencher!
I finished the book on new years eve which seemed apt. Whilst I was considering what I might do in 2021 and what resolutions I might make the book seemed to be pushing me along. The things that are important and the themes of loss and love gave me pause.
For me some of the themes were a little close to home but were handled well.

Not what I expected but I loved it. A couple of parts of the story were not what i would like to read but they were part of the story, the attack by Dot's boss and her father dying in the way he did. Amazing how the generations change on what shocks us. I loved reading what was lost. The book covered some difficult topics

Lost Property is the debut novel from Helen Paris. Telling the story of Dot Watson, an eccentric lost property clerk, this is a gentle tale containing a mix of sadness, romance, fantasy and loss.
I took a while to get fully involved in this book - it's a slow starter - but that makes it more worthwhile as you delve deeper into Dot's world.
Dot is a lovely character, surrounded by realistic and recognisable people. I find it hard to put a genre to this book, but that makes it all the more interesting. It's original and well worth a read.

I found lost property quite an unusual book, it took me a while to get into it and I found it rather slow!
Dot has a staid existence living with her elderly demented mother and working for TfL’s lost property department! Dot takes a pride in her work and relishes the opportunity to reunite property with its rightful owners, sometimes going to extreme lengths in order to do so!
Lost property, grief and unrequited love are central to this book and by the end you do feel for Dot and the life choices she has made.
Thank you net galley for this early read.

I was contacted by the publisher to get a Netgalley copy of this book.
I'm very grateful for the opportunity, however, I must admit this wasn't for me, and by chapter 3 I knew I wasn't enjoying my time reading this book, but I kept trying.
I had a hard time getting into the story and decided to not finish the book after 62%. I'm giving it two stars because I thought it had potential, and I enjoyed some aspects of the writing.