The Room of Lost Things
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Review
'Stella Duffy is a writer who never lets you down, and this is her most ambitious, satisfying book yet.' - Ali Smith 'Stella Duffy strides into a whole new league with her lyrical, gritty, deeply affecting journey into the heart and soul of south London.' - Manda Scott
Manda Scott
Stella Duffy strides into a whole new league with her lyrical, gritty, deeply affecting journey into the heart and soul of south London.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I love London. The buildings, the tube, the bustle. A few years ago I finally went to South London and discovered a different London. One that doesn't come with map, that is louder, stranger, a mish-mash of cultures - sounds, smells and sights - squashed next to each other in shops less picture postcard and even more alluring for that.
`The Room of Lost things' is set in this area, which is painted in a loving yet real fashion, with no grotty archway or uncomfortable issue (race/sex/politics)glossed over in favour of making it seem desirable to outsiders, and the descriptions in this book are almost poetic at times.
Stories with too many characters can be confusing and distracting, but this, although heavily casted, is not like that. You can picture Stefan the commitment-phobe dancer; Akeel the terrified and conflicted father to be, Marilyn with her tight clothes and massive appetite, and of course, there's Robert, the protagonist - owner of the dry cleaners and many, many secrets.
His story had me going. I couldn't wait to find out more about him, but this wasn't because of any overly dramatic devices or cheesy revelations. Like the character his story was slow, steady and well-thought out.
I've been a fan of Duffy's since finding Immaculate Conceit in Manchester's Central Library many years ago, and her writing has matured, progressed and is even better, which as I love her other books, was a lovely surprise.
`The Room of Lost things' is set in this area, which is painted in a loving yet real fashion, with no grotty archway or uncomfortable issue (race/sex/politics)glossed over in favour of making it seem desirable to outsiders, and the descriptions in this book are almost poetic at times.
Stories with too many characters can be confusing and distracting, but this, although heavily casted, is not like that. You can picture Stefan the commitment-phobe dancer; Akeel the terrified and conflicted father to be, Marilyn with her tight clothes and massive appetite, and of course, there's Robert, the protagonist - owner of the dry cleaners and many, many secrets.
His story had me going. I couldn't wait to find out more about him, but this wasn't because of any overly dramatic devices or cheesy revelations. Like the character his story was slow, steady and well-thought out.
I've been a fan of Duffy's since finding Immaculate Conceit in Manchester's Central Library many years ago, and her writing has matured, progressed and is even better, which as I love her other books, was a lovely surprise.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I was enchanted by this book. It reminded me of why I fell in love with London when I first moved here several decades ago. It is the protrait of a South London community over a year - a year in which the dry cleaner's business passes from the hands of ageing, white working-class Robert, who grew up in the shop, to Akeel, a young Asian East Londoner who dreams of a future business with many such shops. The author evokes the mixed community with snapshots from the lives of a range of individuals, their preoccupations, love-affairs, encounters with mortality, and their various strategies for coping with the hazards and beauties of London life. She describes with delicacy the growing relationship between Robert and Akeel, creating an elegy to the stoicism, humour and resilience of Londoners. She has created a vision of the role of the dry cleaner as the keeper of secrets, community historian, and father confessor which accentuates the everyday, understated herosim of the likes of Robert. The whole is grounded in an awareness of the plants, birds and animals that share the land with the humans, and always, in the background, the river Thames.
The vision is so convincing it took me a few days after reading the book to even wonder whether Loughborough Junction is the name of a real place after all, or whether it belongs with such believable creations as Platform 9 and 3/4 on Kings Cross station...
An unusual and original book which deserves the Orange Prize for which it has been longlisted.
The vision is so convincing it took me a few days after reading the book to even wonder whether Loughborough Junction is the name of a real place after all, or whether it belongs with such believable creations as Platform 9 and 3/4 on Kings Cross station...
An unusual and original book which deserves the Orange Prize for which it has been longlisted.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a book about London as its people know it - the London the tourists don't see, but the inhabitants live. The focus of the book is the story of a local dry cleaner who's spent his whole life there, cleaning people's clothes, keeping their secrets, observing their lives. Now he's passing on his business to another Londoner - young to his old; Muslim to his atheist; Asian to his white. The landscape, the river and vignettes of the people they encounter along the way are the background to their growing friendship, richly and skillfully drawn.
The Room of Lost Things is a gorgeous evocation of the spirit of South London; a compassionate portrait of its people and their changing lives, beautifully written, funny, clever and moving. I can't recommend it highly enough.
The Room of Lost Things is a gorgeous evocation of the spirit of South London; a compassionate portrait of its people and their changing lives, beautifully written, funny, clever and moving. I can't recommend it highly enough.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Don't take the 345!
Many novels have sought to describe places over the years. One can easily think of Joyce's Ulysees which sought to describe Dublin in 1904 from the eyes of Leopold Bloom, an Irish... Read more
Published on 6 Jan 2010 by Ed Foye
Bring Back The Routemaster!
I'm still reading this book and enjoying every bit of it. I live where the book is set and find myself looking at my fellow bus passengers in a new light, trying to imagine their... Read more
Published on 2 Jun 2009 by Ms. P. Stevens-Hoare
An unexpected delight
Were it not for my book club I wouldn't have considered this book, with it's somewhat bland facade. My life would have been so much the poorer! Read more
Published on 25 May 2009 by Teleute
The Room of Lost Things - A Tresure of a Book
The story focuses on several characters but in particular Robert Sutton who is the keeper of the room of lost things. What is the room of lost things? Read more
Published on 2 April 2009 by Simon Savidge Reads
A good book to share with friends
An engaging and beautifully written story, for anyone who's interested in other people; one of the few books that I would save to pass on to others.
Published on 27 Mar 2009 by Dorfus
extraordinary, true to life, understated, powerful
This is an extraordinary book. It is like eating delicious very rich dark chocolate - I found I couldn't read too much in one go; I wouldn't have wanted to rush it. Read more
Published on 29 Oct 2008 by Nadia Kingsley
total let down
I was looking forward to this book having read (and enjoyed) several of Ms Duffy's previous novels. Then there was the added incentive of it having been shortlisted for awards. Read more
Published on 28 July 2008 by RD
A great book
I loved this. The Room of Lost Things is a departure for Stella Duffy, as it's a portrait of a place as well as a novel, but it may well be her best yet.
Published on 28 April 2008 by Spectacular
Good book group read, difficult to master on your own
It's the kind of book I wouldn't have picked if it wasn't for a special promotion because Stella Duffy was going to hold a talk in Brighton. Read more
Published on 25 April 2008 by Lou Ice
Too Many Characters
I would rank Singling Out the Couples and Eating Cake in my top ten books of all time, with State of Happiness and Parallel Lies in the top thirty. Great reads all. Read more
Published on 22 Mar 2008 by Zarla
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