November 2025: Ruth Hogan’s The Keeper of Lost Things
“I love to explore the emotional attachment we form with objects. We give an object disproportionate significance because it relates to a person, memory, or place that we loved. We all do that–have objects with connections that make them much more valuable than their intrinsic worth.” – Ruth Hogan
Episode 99
If you’ve been lucky enough to stumble upon ‘The Keeper of Lost Things’ the bestselling debut novel by British author Ruth Hogan, you know exactly why it captured our hearts and was selected as our JHBC November Fireside Read selection. This book is a whimsical, tender, and deeply human story about a man who collects seemingly insignificant lost objects — and the woman who inherits both his home and this strange little mission. As she begins to return these “lost things” to their owners, we discover that every object holds a story, every story holds a loss, and every loss holds a little bit of light.
Ruth’s own story is just as moving — she began writing after recovering from a serious car accident, during a time when she felt a bit lost herself. And from that season came this debut novel that went on to charm readers all over the world. This book feels like a love letter to brokenness — to the idea that what’s been lost can still be redeemed. It’s a generous, tender book — one that invites us to look closer at the world around us and remember that meaning lives everywhere, even in the smallest things.
Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
The Keeper of Lost Things: A Novel by Ruth Hogan
To the Sea by Train: The Golden Age of Railway Travel by Andrew Martin
The Secret of Secrets: A Novel by Dan Brown
The Golden Hour by Kate Lord Brown
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