Lost: A Novel

By Gregory Maguire

“A brilliant, perceptive, and deeply moving fable.”
—Boston Sunday Globe

 

Publishers Weekly calls Gregory Maguire’s Lost “a deftly written, compulsively readable modern-day ghost story.” Brilliantly weaving together the literary threads of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, and the Jack the Ripper stories, the bestselling author of The Wicked Years canon creates a captivating fairy tale for the modern world. With Lost, Maguire—who re-imagined a darker, more dangerous Oz, and inspired the creation of the Tony Award-winning Broadway blockbuster Wicked—delivers a haunting tale of shadows and phantoms and things going bump in the night, confirming his reputation as “one of contemporary fiction’s most assured myth-makers” (Kirkus Reviews).

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Mar 17, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061748660

Gregory Maguire

Gregory Maguire is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Wicked Years, a series that includes Wicked—the beloved classic that is the basis for the blockbuster Tony Award–winning Broadway musical of the same name and the major motion pictures—Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men, and Out of Oz. His series Another Day continues the story of Oz with The Brides of Maracoor, The Oracle of Maracoor, and The Witch of Maracoor, and his other novels include A Wild Winter Swan, Hiddensee, After Alice, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Lost, and Mirror Mirror. Some of his novels for children include Cress Watercress, Leaping Beauty, and Egg & Spoon, winner of a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Honor. He lives in New England and France.

Book preview

Reviews for Lost

[lycomayflower · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The book certainly held my interest (I read about three-quarters of it in one day), but it's ultimately somewhat disappointing. Maguire starts out by setting up a truly creepy ghost story, but it turns out the book is actually a character study. I'm fine with books which defy categorization or which mix or meld genres (in fact, when they are done well, I love books like that), but in Lost I couldn't help but feel like Maguire cheated by reeling me in with a ghost story and then, when I was well and truly hooked, giving me the literary character novel he wanted to write all along. When a writer pulls a switch like this, disappointment is almost inevitable. I'd have been happy with a straight-up ghost story, and I'd have sat still for the character study from the beginning without being hoodwinked into it. Maguire is good enough to do either; I wish he'd had enough wisdom (or confidence?) to pick one or the other.

[bellafoxx · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Winifred Rudge writes children’s books, she has also written a best seller the royalties of which supports her. Working on a new book, a change from her usual fare, she travels to London for ‘research’. She normally stays with her old friend and cousin (by marriage) John Comestor, but when she gets to his house, she finds he is gone and the house is apparently haunted. Winnie becomes obsessed with finding out what has happened to John and who or what is haunting the house.Included in the story is Winnie’s new novel, or the notes for it. Rather confusing at first because the thoughts spring up in the middle of Winnie doing something. However once I realized what was going on, I was able to follow the two story lines rather easily.The story of the Ghosts of Christmas (A Christmas Carol) is interwoven in this account along with other stories I am not familiar with. This is ghost story involving old ghosts known for a long time, but not known and also recently discovered. Its all explained in the book.There are two main characters in this story, two people that have lost something, Winnie and the ghost. The ghost is centuries old and has been searching for a long time, Winnie’s lose is more recent. In summary there is more then one plot line in this narrative and at times it can get confusing, however in the end, all the stories come together and sort of make sense.

[jen7r · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Lost" is quite unlike Gregory Maguire's other books. They are of olden days; this is modern. If you are a fan of Maguire's other stuff, you may be surprised how different this one is. But still, this is an amazing book. Excellent story-telling, intelligent and imaginative, and, finally, really moving. Very highly recommended.

[ridgewaygirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When in danger, when in doubt,Run in circles, scream and shout.Lost is a book by the author of Wicked. Maguire cleverly combines fairytales, history and an agile imagination to create stories that are impossible not to keep thinking about, long after the book is finished. Lost uses the story of Ebeneezer Scrooge as its pillar, to tell the story of Winnie Rudge, a writer who has traveled to London to research her next novel. She arrives to find the relative she planned to stay with missing, his flat occupied by builders and a very creepy haunting. Maguire's talent is in how he combines all the disparate elements of his story into a seamless tale.

[kristysp · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Well, I didn't really "read" this. I stopped about halfway through. Gregory Maguire, what happened? The idea of this book is great--but I just could not get into the story. I found it incoherent and boring. Also the main character, Winifred Rudge, is a total drag.
So disappointed. I should have just re-read "Wicked."

[bunnycates · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I have been trying to read this thing since Sept.BORING.I have, in the process, discovered a cure for my insomnia!

[katharinedb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Loved it- not as much as Wicked but a great story about loss and finding one's self again after tragedy hits

[auraesque · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Slow-moving and anticlimactic this book is a frustrating read. I have enjoyed Maguire's other novels but this one just didn't do it for me. The main character is obnxious and irritating as are the other characters and the mystery is slow to build. Once we do learn the truth it feels as though we're reading en entirely different novel only the first half has been completely omitted: the "twist" comes out of left field and doesn't make sense in the context. Even if you're a fan of Maguire's other books do yourself a favor and skip this one.

[lindenstein · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I'm a huge fan of Maguire's work; I really enjoy the way he takes traditional tales and makes them into something more complicated and different from their normal role. This was not my favorite story, because I was expecting something different. I thought there would be more incorporation of Scrooge or Jack the Ripper, but they were more like figureheads who were present in name but not in character. I thought that the story was interesting and enjoyed the book for what it was, but I feel that the book's synopsis on the back maybe was the most misleading part of it. I found the Wendy to be very likable, most of the time, and I really felt like I connected with her character and wanted her to win at the end of the story. Overall, I liked the story but would not consider it one of my favorite books of all time.

[coliecakes · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I cannot read 3 pages of this book without falling asleep. The story has gone nowhere for the majority of the book. I'm giving up now and based on the other reviews, doubt I will be missing a spectacular end.

[adpaton · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Gregory Maguire has made his name by his sophisticated retelling of childhood classics: Wicked dealt was about the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz, while Confessions was the Cinderella story – from the point of view of the ugly stepsister. Lost purports to deal with Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, with diversions into Jack the Ripper territory, also featuring a book within a book as heroine Winifred Rudge mentally maps her next novel while at the same time trying to solve to disappearance of her step-cousin. Family history, ghosts, missing cats, and Ebenezer Scrooge, the book starts slowly and I battled to get into it. Ultimately, the effort – like the opportunity Maguire had to create an entertaining story – was wasted.

[sszkutak_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I have read Wicked and Son of a Witch, both great works by Gregory Maguire, Lost was not that at all. It was slow and boring. I was disappointed. In hopes of another well written tragic story, I received whiny and melodramatic- the main character is annoying. The story attempted to have the main character search out the background of Jack the Ripper, and there really wasn't any of that.

[norabelle414 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Definitely not up to par with the rest of Maguire's books.

[genki_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I had high expectations for this book after having read Wicked, Son of a Witch, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, and Mirror Mirror. I could not get into this book, and made it through the book only because I was determined to finish it.

[djupstrom · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I like Maguires other books like Wicked and Son of a Witch, but this one seemed a bit off the mark. It was a struggle for me to finish.

[invisibleinkling · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This one didn't catch me as strongly as Maguire's other books have. It's not bad, but it took me a lot longer to finish. Maybe I'll give it another shot.

[jeyra_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A lonely woman chases her own ghosts by chasing the ghost of Ebenezer Scrooge. Great psychological novel. Contains some sexual content (not explicit) and language.

[redderik_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This implies it relates to a charles dickenson's christmas carol, but dissapointingly misleads you. By itself it is still a good story, but the expectation threw me off.

[sussabmax · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really didn’t like the first half of this book. The main character was kind of whiny, and not appealing at all. I kept reading because I really like Maquire (he wrote Wicked, and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister). About halfway through the book, it suddenly got markedly better, and really fascinating. It was kind of odd. Overall, I am glad I read it, since the end was so good, but it was hard going for the first half. It was almost like two entirely different books.

[sambina8051 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I wish someone would have stopped me from reading this. It was NOT his best book. Ugh.

[thioviolight · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not bad really, but I think I wasn't reading the book closely enough to enjoy it fully; if I had read it more slowly, I may have appreciated it more. The twists are interesting, and there are surprises 'til the end, but there are some parts that I found too rambling and some points that I was not quite able to connect to the whole. I did not particularly feel for the main character either. Still, not too bad, but I think I was expecting more out of the book.

[t1bnotown · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I never got particularly into this one- the character spends a lot of time whining about how she's obsessed with her cousin, and we eventually find out she's got all these weird psychological things going on with him and her guilt over the death of the baby she and her husband almost got to adopt. I really love Maguire's fairy tale reinterpretations, but the Jack the Ripper theme on this one didn't work for me. I just didn't have very much to connect with, and didn't particularly enjoy it.

[im1imagined · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Certainly not Maguire's best work...but I enjoyed it. Not a patch on 'Wicked' or 'Stepsister' but...interesting, for lack of a better word. Dense and atmospheric - quite suffocating, I thought, at times.

[lewispike · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I wish I hadn't bought this. I thought Wicked was interesting and bought this and confessions together on that basis. Bleuh, what a mistake.

[donttalktofreaks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An interesting but twisted book. Maguire was constantly one step ahead of me. It took me a while to grasp what was going on and the ending was a surprise to me.

[fantasmogirl · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Maguire's other books all hold great storylines, excellent character development and great real-to-life attributes within their fantasy worlds. This particular bit of writing did none of those things...it was loose and jumbled, jumped around, carried a shallow plot that never seems to really grab the reader's attention.