What Was Lost
Catherine O'Flynn
📚 Genre
Literary Fiction / Mystery
🏢 Publisher
Penguin Books
📅 Publication Year
2008
🔢 ISBN
9780141031316
About This Book
Set in a Birmingham shopping mall, the novel tells two interlocking stories: one of a 10-year-old girl named Kate who plays detective and disappears in 1984, and another of two lonely employees at the same mall twenty years later who discover a mystery on the CCTV cameras. Themes include grief, urban loneliness, and the passage of time.
Book Details
Language
English
Pages
256
Edition
Paperback reprint (Post-Award edition)
Series
Standalone novel
Target Audience
Adult
Collector Information
Condition
Good. Notable corner wear on the bottom right and some edge scuffing; minor creasing on the spine edge and surface debris visible near the bottom left.
Estimated Value
$5-$10
Rarity
Common. This is a mass-market paperback edition produced in large quantities following the book's success and award wins.
Historical Significance
Winner of the 2007 Costa First Novel Award. O'Flynn's debut was famously rejected by 20 publishers before being picked up by a small independent press (Tindal Street Press), eventually becoming a major critical success.
Collector Notes
Minimal collector value for this specific paperback edition. Collectors should look for the original Tindal Street Press first edition hardcover. Keep away from direct sunlight to prevent the purple and cream cover inks from fading.
Similar Books
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce, Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey, Notes on a Scandal by Zoë Heller
Notable Features
Winner of the Costa First Novel Award 2007; Shortlisted for Guardian First Book Award; Longlisted for Man Booker Prize and Orange Broadband Prize.