What Was Lost

By Catherine O'Flynn

A lost little girl with a notebook and toy monkey appears on the CCTV screen of the Green Oaks shopping centre, evoking memories of junior detective, Kate Meaney, missing for twenty years. Kurt, a security guard with a sleep disorder and Lisa, a disenchanted deputy manager at Your Music, together become entranced by the little girl they keep glimpsing on the security cameras. As Kurt and Lisa’s after-hours friendship grows in intensity, it brings new loss and new longing to light.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: May 29, 2009
• ISBN: 9780307373397

Catherine O'Flynn

Catherine O'Flynn was born in Birmingham in 1970, where she grew up in and around her parents' sweet shop as the youngest child of a large family. She has been a teacher, web editor, mystery customer and postwoman. What Was Lost won the Costa First Novel Award 2007 and was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and longlisted for the Orange and Man Booker prizes. She is the author of two further novels - The News From Where You Are and Mr Lynch's Holiday.

Reviews for What Was Lost

[debs4jc · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book kind of confused me. At first I thought it was a story about a girl who likes to play detective. Sure she had problems since her dad died but her efforts to hone her investigative skill while toting her stuffed monkey around seemed kind of cute. Until the story suddenly did a fast forward in time and started following the employees of a mall called Green Oaks. One of the security guards seems to see a lost little girl on the security monitors. One of the employees finds a stuffed monkey in the staff corridors. It turns out the little girl who liked to play detective, Kate Meany, suddenly disappeared years ago. The book then turns into an examination of how her disappearance ties in with the Green Oaks mall and the sad lives of the people who work and shop there. Lots of sad, bizarre, and disturbing scenes made this a less than enjoyable read for me. It also didn't seem to flow well in audio form, I don't know if the print book gives you more clues but the sudden shifts in time and narrator where hard to follow in audio. The British accent of the narrator did help establish the setting, and the central mystery kept me listening to the sad ending. If you don't mind a moody tale full of detailed examinations into the futility of people's lives, give this one a try.

[papatrick_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Another tale like the movie "Babel" or the novel "Beautiful Children" I have reviewed elsewhere. At its heart is a mystery: a little girl disappeared on the day she was to take an entrance exam to attend an English private school. The accused was a neighbour and friend--a young man who was also 10 years her senior. The story unfolds from different points of view, including that of a troubled mall security guy who seems to be seeing her ghost some twenty years later. Worth the read but choppy and the different narrative passages are disproportionate--annoyingly so. O'Flynn is not yet the craftsman of some others of this genre.

[tulstig_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another enjoyable easy read. The tory was interesting and held my attention, and this time i was nowhere near in guessing the outcome.

[smik_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A lost little girl with her notebook and toy monkey appears on the CCTV screens of the Green Oaks shopping centre, evoking memories of junior detective Kate Meaney, missing for 20 years.Kurt, a security guard with a sleep disorder, and Lisa, a disenchanted deputy manager at Your Music, follow her through the centre's endless corridors - welcome relief from the tedium of their lives.But as this after-hours friendship grows in intensity, it brings new loss and new longing to light. This is 21st-century Britain with its addiction to consumerism, absurdity, and loneliness, unspoken guilt and hidden lives. My reaction to this book may be a bit low key because of the fragmented way in which I listened to it. I also found the narrator a little hard to understand and was sometimes left wondering what she had actually said. And while you are wondering, the problem compounds as you miss the next few sentences. Not a good recipe for reading enjoyment.In the opening section of the book, Kate Meaney, a 10 year old, is conducting her own "detective agency". The action mainly consists of Kate watching people at the local shopping centre, and then noting down her observations. This becomes the substance of the novel, and to be frank, it becomes a little tedious.Then the setting changed - what happened? Did I doze off? - I'm not sure but Kate is no longer the narrator. In fact, she's disappeared and it is 20 years on. And the remainder of the story works towards revealing what happened to Kate.Not a captivating book for me, I'm afraid.

[rincey_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The first half of this book was great. I loved reading about Kate and her life, even though it is pretty heartbreaking, and I found the first part of the book completely compelling.

Part 2, not so much. I think it was just because it abruptly jumps from 1984 to 2003 and you have no idea who the new narrators are or what is happening with them. I literally wanted to be like "what is the point of you people and what is happening with Kate?" But it does [kind of] pay off in the end.

[jenj5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

May 2010 COTC Book Club Selection.

A little bit mystery, a very little bit supernatural, a little bit slice of contemporary life with some very dark humor. I enjoyed unraveling the mystery a lot, but found the story overall a little depressing. This would be a good crossover for young adults.

[lynnb_64 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very good story about a young girl who disappears in the mid-80s, and about the family of the young man many thought was guilty of abducting her. I enjoyed the different perspectives in this book: Kate's dreams of becoming a detective; Adrian's need to escape from the accusations he felt were focused on him; Adrian's sister (Lisa) who was trying to maintain a relationship with her absent brother....it all comes together so well, with a surprising twist at the end. Well done!

[lxydis-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

rather bleak and depressing. starts off quite promisingly, but then switches gears and characters in second half, which is part of what makes it sad without being especially illuminating.

[sianpr · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Engrossing story telling with lots of interwoven threads centred around Kate Meaney, a young girl who goes missing. The story is not so much about the search for Kate but about the consequences of a child's disappearance on others.

[cbl_tn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A bright but lonely 10-year-old girl disappeared without a trace in 1984, and the incident continues to affect the lives of several individuals almost twenty years later. Kate Meaney was a solitary child who spent a good part of her days honing her detective skills at the new shopping mall built on the ruins of an industrial estate. Twenty years later, Lisa Palmer, sister of the prime suspect in Kate's disappearance, works as a mid-level manager at a music store in the mall. Kurt, a mall security guard, had played among the factory ruins before the mall was built. When Kurt and Lisa meet, their friendship may provide answers to the long-ago mystery.What Was Lost is as much as anything a story about the lost innocence of childhood. Although Kurt and Lisa are adults when readers meet them, their characters were shaped by significant events in their childhood. Kate's personality dominates the story. Kurt and Lisa seem more like echoes of Kate than characters with their own personalities. There is too much similarity between their voices.The book captures the feel of the Midlands with the decline of industry and the rise of consumer culture. I think What Was Lost would have the same attraction for mall workers that Last Night at the Lobster has for restaurant workers. The novel has enough mystery to appeal to readers of crime fiction, but not enough to alienate readers who dislike that genre. Although the book has its flaws, it's a promising first novel and I can see why it caught the attention of several literary award committees.

[jmc400m · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is peculiar at first and I had a hard time becoming immersed in it but when I did I couldn't put it down. The first few chapters are narrated by a young girl, Kate Meaney who has created a detective agency based on a children's book that her father gave her. Her imagination runs wild as she tries to develop her detective skills with the help of a pet stuffed monkey doll. Later in the novel, a series of characters enter story which centers around the intricate world of a shopping mall. I am glad I did not give up on this book and now can appreciate the cleverness of this first time author. It was interesting to read that O'Flynn worked in a record shop and her experience inspired her characters and the story. This is an intricate novel about several friendships, most of them unconventional and the way individuals try to connect with others in their world. The book is extremely witty and subtly suspenseful and much overlooked.

[lizarees · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've had this book for a while, but for some reason I'd never got round to reading it. Now I have I wish I'd picked it up sooner! The author superbly evokes time and place, and spins out a mystery that eventually links the different time periods and characters together. A twist at the end that I didn't see coming too. well worth reading.

[bcquinnsmom · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a very sweet story and at the same time a bit heartbreaking. I really enjoyed this one and think it would make a great bookgroup read. The writing is very good and the story wonderful.Kate Meaney, a little 10 year old girl, only wants to be a detective. She and her little stuffed monkey in spats go on "surveillance" missions, practicing the art of detection. She takes notes and has no problem staying in one spot watching someone for hours. Then one day, she disappears literally into thin air. That was in 1984. This story is the backdrop for the rest of the book, which takes place in modern times. As a disaffected security guard watches the monitor screen in a mall where he works, he sees a little girl sitting all alone, holding a stuffed monkey. When he looks up again, she is gone.There is also a great characterization of modern consumer society woven throughout the story that you can't fail to notice. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys something refreshingly different and wants to read some very good writing.

[jaie22 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Truly excellent so far. Compulsively readable, kinda rare in a novel of this caliber.

[mendon_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is an unusual novel for mature readers. It's a mystery, but the plot is secondary to the characterization. Kate is an independent child who aspires to be a detective, and her uneventful stakeouts of suspects at the mall are a hoot. The record store employees and their customers are pretty entertaining too. Be warned that there are plenty of sad parts mixed in with the humor.

[elleseven_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

On the short list and the long list for many prestigious fiction awards, this 2007 Costa First Novel award-winner does not disappoint. This is the story of Kate Meaney, a 10-year-old girl living in Birmingham, England, who turns to her fledgling private investigation business (with partner Mickey the Monkey) to escape the loneliness she feels after her father dies and vanishes one spring day, never to be seen again.This is also the story of the aftermath of Kate's disappearance and the impact it has on a number of people: Lisa, whose brother was a suspect in the girl's disappearance and who disappeared himself; Kurt, a security guard at the mall at the center of the action; and Gavin, another mall security guard with a questionable past and odd habits.What Was Lost is in turn laugh-out-loud funny and deeply bleak. The description of consumer mall culture is spot on. The book is written from several different points of view which does take some time to get used to.

[bowerbird_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The first part of the book is seen through the eyes of Kate a rather lonely little girl who tries her hand at being a detective. The adult readers' knowledge of the world will make them very conscious of the dangers which the little girl cannot appreciate. Her fate is the result of her innocence. However, it is many years later before we discover what has happened to her. The rather bleak setting of the service areas of a Birmingham shopping mall gives the story a sense of forboding. The style for the first half at least, has just a touch of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

[scd87 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The best part of this book is the subtle criticism of consumer culture, and O`Flynn`s great writing. The ending was a little disturbing, but satisfying. Overall, I definately recommend it!

[bookmart_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The story that involves a murder, a suicide and abuse and it tells of the lives of individuals involved or affected but the incidents, which all sounds a bit serious. But it's not, there's a great lightness and humour that runs through the book. A good read.

[laurie_library_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

slow, convoluted and i'm waiting for the last few chapters to tie it all together.

[chrystal_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I thought this book was strange; the character studies were interesting but the characters were all sad, so I found it somewhat depressing, a study in loneliness. I liked the structure of the book, first from the girls point of view, then 20 years in the future, then back to the girl to find out what happened to her. Interesting viewpoint on malls/society.

[phoebesmum · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A sad, haunting little story of a lost child and the repercussions of her disappearance, in the midst of all of which the author finds time for some acerbic and hilarious insights into the goings-on behind the scenes at a large chain of music stores.

[bodachliath · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very enjoyable, but difficult to categorise. I would normally avoid anything described as a ghost story, but this was so much more than that, well written and full of wry humour, social commentary and (for those of us of a certain age) nostalgic cultural reference points. It also manages to weave something unexpected out of what might seem like mundane subjects. A very impressive debut novel.

[mahallett · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

a very strange book. a very strange, sad, little girl, her strange adult friend, a huge shopping mall, a strange selection of shoppers, and a strange little plot. a sad, strange book.

[randall6hansen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hard to describe this book, which I received as part of my book club's (valentine's) mystery date with a book. It's part a missing persons mystery, partly a long bit on the adrift lives of low-paid store clerks in a mega-mall (perhaps the modern version of Saturday Night/Sunday Morning), and partly a story on relationships and family. Actually starts out sounding like a YA book as a 10-year-old girl plays detective, then a loooooong middle about the lives of people working in the mega-mall, and then a reveal of the mystery surrounding the missing child. Odd, though sometimes compelling. Writing could have been stronger, as true of character development. Not surprisingly, the author worked in a mega-mall before she wrote the book!

[bookworm12_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Kate, a curious 10-year-old, goes missing and causes the lives of others to spiral into strange directions. I loved Kate's voice in this book and wished we gotten more of it. Here relationship with her father was one of the highlights of the story for me. I felt the book lagged a bit once we got to know Kurt and List, which isn't surprising since their lives are intentionally at a standstill.It's an excellent debut novel. It has an interesting plot and likable characters. Like most debut novels, this one contains many elements from the author's own life, including her frustrating experience in retail. Those elements get old fast, but it's forgivable, because the rest of the elements make up for it. O'Flynn does a wonderful job wrapping up the story and bringing it all together in the end and I found it very satisfying.

[voracious_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"What was Lost" is an interesting and funny book about a Kate Meany, a young girl determined to be a real detective and solve crimes in the nearby shopping mall. When she suddenly goes missing, the lives of others around her are affected for many years. The novel makes a sudden leap of twenty years after Kate disappears to introduce the lives of two mall employees, Kurt, a security guard, and Lisa, a record store manager, who are both burnt-out and stuck in their jobs in the mall. When a latent vision of Kate appears on security footage and her lost detective-partner stuffed monkey resurfaces in the labyrinth of employee passages, clues about what happened to Kate begin to come together. I found this novel deeply witty as descriptions of transient mall characters peppered the story, keeping the story light. It was evident that the author had spent quite a bit of time as a mall employee as the dark humor about life behind the scenes jabbed the reader at unexpected moments. While the novel was at times confusing as it shifted perspectives between the main characters and some unknown characters, the story proceeded at a good pace and it resolved in a satisfying way.

[jayne_charles_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a short but thoroughly enjoyable book, full of humour and sadness in equal measure. I split my sides laughing at the record shop sections. Anyone who as ever wanted to work in such a place wouldn't after reading this! I never thought there was so much humour to be found in shopping centres, but here even the lift is a comedian. Thoroughly deserving of all the prizes it has won and the praise that has been heaped on it, I hope this massively talented author writes more and lots of it.

[mumineurope · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Kate (detective), Lisa and Kurt. Shopping centre.

[tina1969_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This book is for book group.Kate is a 10 year old who has her own detective agency. She spends her days watching all around her and writing things down in her notebook. She lives with her dad who had Kate late on in years Then when he dies she lives with her grandmother. Her best friend is Adrain who is 22 years old and Teresa is her friend at school. When Kate disappears Adrain is accused of her abduction. Twenty years forward is Lisa and Kurt who work at the Green Oaks shopping complex where Kate spent most of her time.I didn't finish this book as I lost interest in it completely. I was really uncomfortable reading this book. Firstly I was annoyed with the fact that little Kate is allowed to wonder on a her own all day with no adult supervision, knowing that Kate is going to go missing. Then comes the argument when is a child old enough to do these things, e.g. walking to school alone, going to the shops etc. Then I felt her dad was strange as he and Kate were doing a comparison of pear drops. Her friend Teresa was being abused by her step father and she tried very hard to kill him off. Kates friendship with Adrian was very worrying also as her was 22 and she was only 10 !At first I thought I was reading a childrens book and had to look it up on the internet to see if it was. Then I thought is this book supposed to be funny but I didn't think it was. On a positive, I did like snippets of the first part of the book, but then found when I got to the second part it was starting to irritate me, so I gave up on page 168.