Paperback: 374 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction,
Publisher: One More Chapter, Harper Collins 2022
Source: Tywyn Public Library
First Sentences: Everyone has a story to tell. But what if you don't have a story? What then? if you are Janice, you become a collector of other people's stories.
Review Quote: ‘Janice is a wonderful woman whose authenticity pulls you along…the breadth and originality of supporting characters makes this debut an immersive delight’ Dorset Magazine
Favourite Quote: “Please, please, please say you like books.”
Main Character: Janice
Setting: Cambridge, England.
My Opinion:
Sally Page has recently published her third novel 'The Secrets of Flowers'. As this title is already on my Wishlist I have decided to read this her debut and 'The Book of Beginnings ' first, as her writing has been recommended to me.
The protagonist and collector of stories is Janice. she works as a Domestic cleaner and the story revolves around her clients stories and those of others in her life. Janice also has a story of her own, that she certainly does not want to share.
This winsome novel was such delight to read. I highly recommend it to any reader looking for something lighthearted, amusing and distinctive.
Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:
She can’t recall what started her collection. Maybe it was in a fragment of conversation overheard as she cleaned a sink? Before long (as she dusted a sitting room or defrosted a fridge) she noticed people were telling her their stories. Perhaps they always had done, but now it is different, now the stories are reaching out to her and she gathers them to her…
When Janice starts cleaning for Mrs B – a shrewd and tricksy woman in her nineties – she meets someone who wants to hear her story. But Janice is clear: she is the keeper of stories, she doesn’t have a story to tell. At least, not one she can share.
Mrs B is no fool and knows there is more to Janice than meets the eye. What is she hiding? After all, doesn’t everyone have a story to tell?
Author Profile:
After studying history at university, Sally moved to London to work in advertising. In her spare time she studied floristry at night school and eventually opened her own flower shop. Sally came to appreciate that flower shops offer a unique window into people’s stories and she began to photograph and write about this floral life in a series of non-fiction books. Later, she continued her interest in writing when she founded her fountain pen company, Plooms.co.uk.
In her debut novel, The Keeper of Stories, Sally combines her love of history and writing with her abiding interest in the stories people have to tell. Sally now lives in Dorset. Her eldest daughter, Alex, is studying to be a doctor and her younger daughter is the author, Libby Page. Both are keen wild swimmers.
Photograph, Trailer and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites.
Amazon Author Page. Author's Official Website. Instagram Profile Twitter Profile
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