The Library of Lost and Found ~ Phaedra Patrick
Publisher: Park Row
ISBN: 9780778369356
352 pages
Source: Publisher via Netgalley
Martha Storm is everyone’s go-to girl but it’s not as glamorous as it sounds. In fact, it’s not glamorous at all. She is the older sister of successful and polished, Lillian, a working and married mother of two who takes life entirely too seriously for Martha’s taste.
Lillian, along with most of the people who know Martha, takes full advantage of her older sister’s kindness, using her as a book procurer, babysitter, and seamstress, with nothing so much as a “thank you” in return.
Martha is a dreamer of adventures, rather than a doer but when a mysterious book containing a sliver of her past falls into her lap, everything changes.
The Library of Lost and Found is a sweet little book, though it has some pretty dark and uncomfortable parts. The book is dotted with flashbacks in the point of view of Martha’s mom which where the hardest parts to read, for me. Her parents’ marriage, specifically her father’s treatment of her mother, was incredibly toxic and emotionally abusive which explained a good deal of why Martha grew up to be the run down people pleaser we met at the start of the book.
Once I understood the backstory, I enjoyed the book far more, though I still found myself getting wildly irritated with how often people pushed Martha around (as well as how often she allowed it).
It’s a peaceful little book but do be warned of the rougher emotional parts.
Thank you to Netgalley and Park Row (Harlequin) Books for the ARC. The book comes out March 26th, 2019.
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