A heartwarming story that drew me right in. Filled with an array of memorable characters. I'll definitely recommend this book.

The Keeper of Stories by Sally Page is a charming feel good book , perfect cosy reading for a Winter weekend.
Janice is a cleaner, and a collector of stories, stories from the people she works for, from people she overhears on the bus as she travels between jobs, from anyone interesting she encounters in her day to day life. She takes great pride in her work, and very selective about her clients, who clearly see her as more than "just a cleaner", unlike her feckless and aggravating husband Martin, who constantly takes advantage of her, and demeans her job at every opportunity.
As we follow Janice we are introduced to some of her favourite clients, such as the recently widowed Fiona and her son Adam, famous singer Geordie and the unpleasant Mrs Yeahyeahyeah who Janice only keeps as a client because of her dog, an adorable but apparently foul mouthed fox terrier named Decius. When Mrs Yeahyeahyeah asks Janice to clean for her mother in law, she reluctantly agrees to at least visit , and it is a decision that will change her life. Mrs B is a feisty woman in her nineties who is determined not to leave the home she shared with her beloved husband, the now deceased Augustus. The meeting is not promising at first, but it is soon apparent that Mrs B can see there is more to Janice than meets the eye. Could she be the one who finally convinces Janice, the keeper of stories, that she has a story of her one, and one that is worth sharing with the right people.
This is a really sweet and charming book, uplifting and entertaining and designed to play on peoples natural curiosity about others. Janice is such a wonderful character that is impossible not to root for her from the beginning and seeing her blossom and free herself from her husband and the past that held her back for so long was truly a joy.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher ,all opinions are my own.

A feel good uplifting book! I immediately fell in love with the main character the keeper of stories who’s collection of peoples essence of life stories are gained from amongst the clients she cleans for and the conversations she overhears on the bus driving around
Cambridge to her work places Well worth reading!

An unusual theme and an excellent debut novel.

One constant is the character, Janice, who pulls the book together. Along the way we meet various characters and learn their story. Most of these stories are from real people, but all have something important to tell. The author has beautifully constructed this novel, making it an easy page turner. Secrets emerge throughout the telling and with the story of Becky, the reader will quickly become absorbed and intrigued in her’s and all their lives. Many of the ‘stories’ contain similar themes, some sad, but all part of the overall picture of life. A brilliant, new approach to novel writing.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers HarperCollins for this advance copy.

I loved this book, it was so different and very readable. I found the main character very likeable and the whole story was so warm like soaking in a lovely warm bath after a long and tiring day. At times it made me laugh and other times it was sad especially how some people treated her especially her husband. A wonderful book. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Cleaner Janice knows that it is in people's stories that you really get to know them. From recently-widowed Fiona and her son Adam; to opera-singing Geordie; and the awful Mrs "YeahYeahYeah" and her fox terrier, Janice has a unique insight into the community around her. When Janice starts cleaning for Mrs B - a shrewd woman in her nineties - she finally meets someone who wants to know her story. But Janice doesn't have a story to share. Mrs B is no fool and knows that there's more to Janice than meets the eye. What is Janice hiding?

I fell in love with Janice almost straight away. This is a beautifully written book. Janice's life stories are gleaned from the clients that she cleans for, She cares about her clients and their stories but we don't know much about Janice, but she does have a deep dark secret that she's unwilling to share. This is a character driven story. This book wasn't quite what I was expecting, it was much better.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HarperCollinsUK #OneMoreChapter and the author #SallyPage for my ARC of #TheKeeperOfStories in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Janice, the main character in this story.. She is a hard working woman, working as a cleaning lady. She doesn't have much self esteem and doesn't think she has much of a story to tell, but loves to listen and learn the stories about her clients. So interesting following her changing story as she begins to look at herself as others do.

Janice is a cleaner and a collector of stories. Living in Cambridge and trapped in an unhappy marriage, she collects her stories on the bus and at the houses she cleans. Janice also has her own story, but will she find the courage to tell it?
This book exudes so much warmth as Janine introduces us to the people she cleans for and the relationships she forms with them.
With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

“ Janice is just a cleaner” How this line, trotted out by the ignorant, can be so wrong . A beautiful book about ordinary people, doing extraordinary things. Guilt, heartbreak and second chances are all featured here as people’s stories are discovered and give encouragement and closure to others.
Great characters especially Decius the swearing dog

Absolutely wonderful, this deserves to be a massive hit and I’m certain it will top the bestseller lists. Cleverly written with fabulous characters and the best fictional dog ever. The depth of the storytelling reminds me of Ruth Hogan, every character is a little deeper than you first assume. I will keep this story in my memory.

What a delight. I took a while to settle into this as I was worried it might be a bit too twee but it wasn't. Janice is such a strong and interesting character and all her stories resonate in various ways. She helps others but hides her own secrets and it takes a feisty dog, a bus driver, a cantankerous woman and a young boy to dig them out. Lovely characters, a lot of sadness but with such hope for the future whatever damage has been done as a child. Read and enjoy.

The main plot is original and interesting. It involves Janice and the people she cleans for, her relationship with her husband, and her friend the bus driver. She particularly befriends Gregory, a famous opera singer, Adam and his bereaved mother, Mrs B and her son and his dog, Decius. Janice enjoys other people's stories but she has her own story which she has never revealed before. I thought the story of Becky was uninteresting, irrelevant to the plot and made the book too long. However, it had a satisfactory ending.

The Keeper of Stories is a wonderful joyous read which I devoured in just over one day.
I loved Janice - she is one of life’s observers- quiet and unassuming but watching and noticing everyone and everything. Gathering up stories as she goes about her life, Janice has forgotten her own powerful and emotional story.
Sally Page is so observant in her writing - the little details shared about her brilliant characters are fabulous and I loved the little insights given to their own stories - in particular Mrs B and Decius the swearing fox-terrier.

Janice is an excellent cleaner. She is also a collector of stories and adds to them regularly. When she is asked to help clean up an elderly lady’s home, she is at first taken aback by the hostility that emanates from the homeowner, and then by the scale of work to be done. Nevertheless, never one to pass up a challenge, Janice takes it all in her stride, and to say her life changes beyond measure is an understatement.

I loved this book. I fell totally in love with Janice’s stories and those of Mrs B, especially the reminiscing of her younger self and the Becky saga.

It’s rare for me to say I didn’t want a book to end, but this is one of those occasions and could have quite happily read on.

A wonderful book, full of deliciously detailed characters, more please from this author.

Totally brilliant, deserves more than 5*.

Thank you NetGalley.

Now this is a bold statement to make but I have a feeling The Keeper of Stories is going to be one of my favourite reads of 2022. Straightaway the cover (and the title) reminded me of Ruth Hogan’s novels which I absolutely adore and once you begin reading you might even think Sally Page’s writing resembles her style too. I certainly did! This is such a life affirming, gorgeous novel with a storyline that lights you up with happiness from the inside out so that even as I’m writing my review I find myself grinning from ear to ear remembering these characters with fondness. The fact that I actually read this at the beginning of December and I’m still thinking how very happy this book made me feel shows the powerful impact storytelling can have on a reader’s mood. I can think of no higher compliment than that. I shouldn’t have been so surprised to learn that Sally Page is the mother of another one of my favourite authors, Libby Page as The Keeper of Stories is the type of feel good fiction her daughter also excels in. That this is a debut novel is quite remarkable; clearly the talent for writing runs in the family and there’ll be some healthy competition going on from here on in!

This is very much a character driven storyline in which the protagonist Janice jumps straight off the page and into your heart. Living and working in the Cambridge area, Janice cleans for a few select clients and although she’s exceptionally good at her job that’s not what makes her stand out as an interesting, memorable character. Lonely, unhappy and trapped in a loveless marriage with few friends and little contact with her only son, Janice loves to collect other peoples stories. Everyone has a story to tell and it’s these stories that are the starting point for this wonderful novel. I’m a bit like Janice, fascinated by other peoples stories, thinking my own life is uninteresting by comparison which is why I so enjoyed listening to each individual tale. Some are comic, some are fascinating and others tragic but they all have the power to reel you in. However you might be forgiven for thinking this is going to be a random collection of individual short stories because that’s what it feels like at the beginning and you wonder how the author is going to link them together but please dismiss those thoughts. Before too long a connection between these stories and the characters who star in them emerges, by which point you’ll be well and truly hooked. That’s the point at which the storyline takes flight and Janice who’s always believed she has no story of her own to tell finally starts her find her own voice. That there are people out there who want and choose to listen to Janice, rather than her simply being a receptacle for other peoples stories is a revelation. It’s a game changer and a turning point in life as Janice discovers she’s not only an exceptional cleaner but an exceptional woman too! Funny, sad, poignant and hopeful this is an absolute joy and dream to read. Sally Page gifts her readers a novel that resembles a matryoshka doll in style, revealing a story within a story within a story and I found that really appealing.

As I’ve already hinted at it’s the characters who breathe life and soul into the storyline, each one a colourful, valuable addition and memorable in their own right. Amongst Janice’s clients are a well known opera singer, an upper class, rather mischievous widow, a mother and son lost in grief and Mrs YeahYeahYeah and Mr NoNoNotNow with their swearing (it does make sense I promise!) fox terrier Decius whom Janice loves dearly. Plus there’s the bus driver who looks like a geography teacher, someone who catches Janice’s eye but for me it’s Mrs B, Mrs YeahYeahYeah’s 90 something year old mother in law who steals everyone’s thunder. Mrs B is a character and a half and she reminded me of Elizabeth in Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club. Rude, obnoxious, well educated and well travelled and last but not least a damn good storyteller, it’s the friendship that develops between this cantankerous nonagenarian and the kind,caring, book loving Janice that eclipses everything else. It’s really beautiful and uplifting. When the wily Mrs B lures Janice into her world with a story of her own it’s just a matter of time before these two become as thick as thieves so that with Mrs B’s encouragement Janice eventually emerges from her shell a much happier woman. The ending is terrific with some behind the scenes plotting courtesy of Mrs B (who else?) turning the tables on those whose motives for change are highly unscrupulous. Plus some well meaning meddling on Janice’s behalf deserve further congratulations. Oh how I laughed and cheered as Sally Page closes the final chapter on such a glorious high note. I was sorry to bid farewell to these characters but felt I could walk away from them having been enriched by their existence.

This book will make a wonderful gift. It’s one of those books to cherish and treasure and come back to whenever you feel in need of comforting, or your mood needs boosting. I think it goes without saying that Sally Page has earned my seal of approval and I have no hesitation in recommending this title to fellow book lovers. Read this now, you’ll have a blast!

My thanks as always to the publisher OMC and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review.

Janice is a cleaner and during her work she collects stories from her clients. The one story she has never shared is her own. The she meets Mrs B , an elderly lady who has been a spy in her youth, and who wants to hear Janice's story.
Along the way, Janice leaves her husband, meets a bus driver and begins to live but will she tell her story?
I loved this book!

Isn’t it wonderful when you find a new favourite author? I absolutely loved every word in this beautiful novel and was sad when it ended (although the ending was just what I’d hoped for). Everyone who reads this will fall in love with Janice … and Mrs B … and Euan … and obviously Decius the terrier. A story about stories, with such interesting characters at the heart of them all. At times I laughed out loud, at times my heart was filled with love, and at times the serious topics made me want to cry. An amazing book that is beautifully and sensitively written. Oh, and Sally Page’s dad is a brilliant proofreader! Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC. Can I have another one like this please?

I really enjoyed The Keeper of Stories and immediately warmed to Janice who is the main character.
It was lovely to read a book set in Cambridge rather than the usual London!
Janice is an extraordinary cleaner who takes great pride in her work and really cares for her clients, spending time ensuring their needs are met with barely a thought for her own.
This is also true in her personal life but she’s massively taken for granted by her husband.
Janice is a collector of stories and shares fragments of them with us as we read on.
But what about her own story? That is a deep, dark secret that she can’t bring herself to share but will she?
I really enjoyed Janice’s interactions with her clients like when she bakes for Carrie-Louise and helps Fiona with her dollhouse project.
Decius the dog is by far my favourite character especially his “thoughts” via Janice often had me laughing out loud.
The friendship between Adam and the dog was really special.
Janice’s life begins to change when she meets Mrs B, a cantankerous woman with an interesting story of her own.
I loved the way their friendship developed.
At its heart this is a story of friendship and second chances.
I found the characters a real strength of this book and there were lots of them!
Sometimes that could be confusing, but in this case, each had their own little story which kept me interested.
There’s lots of heart-warming moments and funny anecdotes but this book doesn’t shy away from more sombre and serious topics such as suicide and domestic but does so in a really sensitive way.
I’m happy we got to know Janice’s story in the end, and with the overall ending (no spoilers here).

Janice is a hard working cleaner who does not recognise what a difference she makes to other peoples lives. She believes that as she listens to other peoples stories, her own story is insignificant: that is until she meets feisty Mrs B.
This is a wonderful collection of characters, situations and short stories, all brought together by unassuming Janice. I loved the flow of the stories and the author connected them , sometimes with just a random thought by Janice.
Janice is an unforgettable character and this book well worth reading.

I found this book quite slow on the whole and found that my interest waned a lot. It took quite a long time to get to Janice and her story which I enjoyed but would have liked more of.
I wasn’t sure about the story of Becky - the story focused on this a lot and I didn’t really see its importance to the rest of the novel.
The characters were charming especially Mrs B, who I loved and the last half of the book was generally very engaging.