Lost and Found is a quirky first novel from Australian writer Brooke Davis. It’s a essentially a “road movie” plot, peopled by some pretty bizarre characters: Millie - an abandoned child obsessed with death, Agatha - a widow raging at the world, Karl the touch typist - a compulsive widower bemused by life, and Manny - a department store mannequin.

Davis spins her story by shifting the focus between her main characters (other than Manny; sadly we never learn his opinions on life) and revealing their individual stories. Agatha and Karl combine to help Milly track down the mother who has abandoned her. They head from Perth to Kalgoorlie to catch up with her in Melbourne; I’m still not sure why they would do that.

The book is amusing and original, but I kept getting the feeling I was in a Wes Anderson film script. In the end I didn’t like it that much. I think I would give it four stars, except that I found Agatha a really obnoxious and off-putting character and her every appearance annoyed me. I think Davis was trying to engender some sympathy for Agatha, but she fails to do so - the character is just too much of a grotesque. ( )

Uma história enternecedora e realista sobre a jornada de três personagens das quais se aprende o que se passa nas suas cabeças. Este livro dá-nos um olhar diferente à figura da pessoa idosa e mostra, de uma forma cómica e emotiva, o processo de envelhecimento de Karl e Agatha e a maneira como acompanham a pequena Millie na sua busca pela mãe. ( )

reviewed from uncorrected advance reader copy (publishing release date: Jan 2015).

adult fiction/human drama. I'm impressed with Davis' ability to develop interesting and likeable characters with depth but have mixed feelings about the ending (can't decide if I like it or not). Definitely one of the best ARCs I've read this year though. ( )

So cute and charming, and also one of the few books that actually writes about old people in a real way and they’re not just unimportant side characters that only think in either good things or simple things. It was cute and charming and made you think at times and made me cry at the end. An unlikely friendship between unlikely people. All so different yet at the same time just the same. The ups and downs of life and the questions and thoughts everyone experiences, truly an amazing and fun book. - rounding my 4.5 to a 5 bc it deserves it and I either can’t or don’t know how to rate half-stars ( )

Das siebenjährige Mädchen Millie erfährt schon sehr früh, dass alles endlich ist. Sie legt sich eine Sammlung toter Dinge an und muss ihren Hund und später auch ihren Vater eintragen. Der Verlust, um den es im Buch geht, ist allerdings der ihrer Mutter. Diese lässt das Mädchen in einem Kaufhaus zurück. Ihr zur Seite stehen im Folgenden zwei sehr skurrile Personen: Karl, der Tasttipper und Agatha Pantha. Beide sind alt und in ihren Leben von mehr toten als lebendigen Dingen umgeben. Die Reise, die sie gemeinsam unternehmen um Millies Mutter zu suchen, macht sie alle lebendiger und bringt sie weiter.
Trotz dieser interessanten und berührenden Themen hat mich das Buch nicht gecatched. Ich kann mit so skurrilen und unglaubwürdigen Reisen (ala „Der Hundertjährige…“) eigentlich wenig anfangen.
Die Figuren waren mir zu abgehoben und haben mich in ihrer Fremdartigkeit nicht erreicht. Stilistisch ist mir die Mischung aus Naivität und Altklugheit auch etwas zu viel gewesen.
Ich verstehe schon, dass das Buch den Leserinnen und Lesern gefällt, bei mir ist der Funke jedoch nicht übergesprungen. Am besten fand ich erstaunlicherweise das Nachwort. Das hat mich berührt. ( )