The Little Shop of Found Things

Brackston, Author of the beloved Witch series turns to time travel in her newest book. Xanthe and her mother take over a charming little antiques store in Marlborough, England. Xanthe has a special affinity for old things, she can tell who they belonged to and where they’ve been. When she picks up a seventeenth century chatelaine, she’s transported back to 1605, where she meets a ghost who demands that Xanthe fix a wrong that was done 500 years earlier. If she can’t put right the wrong, Xanthe will die. Bloodshed, tyranny, treachery and love await Xanthe in the past, a place she may decide she doesn’t want to leave.

This is the first book I have read by Paula Brackston, but it definitely will not be my last. The Little Shop of Found Things is an engrossing, cozy mystery. What makes it unique is that traveling through time is an essential element of the plot. There is a touch of romance in the story, but that is secondary to the main storyline which involves the main character, Xanthe Woodlake, and her attempts to save the life of a young servant girl. At the end of the book, the mystery has been resolved and the reader is left to hope that she has not heard the last from Xanthe.

A lush, magical journey that only Paula Brackston can take a reader on. For fear of spoilers, I would highly recommend to anyone that has enjoyed her other novels, as well as fans of Alice Hoffman,

Y’all, I know I wrote a review yesterday, but I was so engrossed by this book that I read it in one sitting, and I just have to share my excitement!

My excitement actually started when this book was announced. Paula Brackston is one of my favorite writers. Probably top three. Her books are a little niche-ey, but they are right up my niche.

Fear not, dear reader, this book breaks out of the niche and into full out universal appeal!

It has a lot going for it–time travel, true love, historical richness.

Xanthe, our protagonist, has grit, determination, and a tender heart that pushes her to do extraordinary things. She is at times hapless, but that made me root for her even more.

This is a love story, but not just one of romantic love. Love is woven into all parts of this book; there is the familial love that Xanthe has for her mother, Flora. The love that is shown by the cast of characters that welcome them into their little village, and the love that pushes Xanthe to fight for justice in a world 400 years in the past.

Brackston is a great story teller and one of her strengths is world building, but in an understated way. The magic is subtle and the descriptions of time and setting place you into the fantastical nature of the story seamlessly.

I especially recommend this book to those of you who like historical romance. Samuel Appleby, the architect Xanthe meets in her travel back to 1605, reminds me vaguely of Mr. Darcy, and what woman can resist that?

I’m very thankful to Thomas Dunne Books for providing me with an ARC for this title. The publish date is a little far out (October 2nd), but I wanted to get my review up here and on Goodreads as soon as possible, so as to get the good word out.

This a hands down 5/5 for me and I hope is for you, too!

Wonderfully descriptive with just the right mixture of mystery. The Witch's Daughter author Paula Brackston takes magical realism one step further with this new time travel tale.

I wasn't sure I was going to like this book at the beginning, but fell in love with the story. A time travel love story with some 16th century intrigue. It was well written and I was sad when the story ended. I would love to read a part two of the lives of the main characters. I highly recommend this for those who love clean, but not boring live stories.

New York Times bestselling author of The Witch's Daughter, has penned a delightful tale of magic and suspense. Xanthe and her mother Flora have had a tough go of it over the past couple of years. Starting anew, they have purchased an antique shop in the charming little village of Marlborough. Xanthe has a unique power to sense the history of some antique pieces. When she touches them, she can sense something of the people who once owed them. When she and her mother attend an auction at a local country manor she is drawn to a silver chatelaine that has a powerful hold on her.
The chatelaine leads her to an ancient jail cell built into the wall of their new garden. A ghostly figure living in the house threatens to harm Flora if Xanthe doesn’t go back to the 1600’s to rescue her daughter. Paula Brackston spins a compelling story with dimensional characters that is hard to put down. I look forward to reading this continuing series.

Many people, while wandering through antique shops, wonder about the use of certain objects and the lives of the people that owned them before. Xanthe Westlake can actually hear certain object's pasts when they "sing" to her. While browsing a nearby auction for new items to sell in their antique shop, one antique calls so strongly to Xanthe that she has to buy it. This silver chatelaine has the frightening ability to send her back in time. To save what she loves in her own time, she has to solve a centuries old mystery and rescue a young girl from an unjust death sentence.
I love the description of this book and I was so excited to get a chance to read it. The details of the architecture, decorations, and clothing of the 17th century were wonderful and brought the story to life. The way the book ended makes me hopeful for a possible sequel or series. Thanks so much to Paula Brackston, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

I'll be honest. I requested this book, not just for it's description, but for it's pretty cover and charming title. I was so happy that my instincts were on target with this book. This novel has it all: a great story, suspense, romance, and tons of historical details. Once I started it, I could not put it down!

What I Liked:

Historical Details:

The author must have done extensive research because the historical details of daily life in the seventeenth century are impressive. Everything from what people wore, to how one asked to use the restroom ("Where is the necessary room?") are a part of the story. These authentic details are what make me feel like the characters are really in that time, and are one of the pleasures of reading historical fiction.

Characters:

I really liked the main character, Xanthe, who has seen her share of injustice. This helps her to identify so strongly with Alice who is wrongly accused of stealing back in the seventeenth century. In order to save her (and her own mother in modern times), Xanthe must use her ingenuity to solve the mystery of why Alice is accused, and what has become of the stolen items. Xanthe is both practical and impulsive, which I find endearing.

Xanthe's mother, Flora, also has many challenges. She is in the middle of a divorce, and is fighting to maintain her independence despite having a chronic illness. I loved Flora's determination and how she rooted for Xanthe.

In fact, the mother/daughter relationship in this book is one that I liked very much. There are very few depictions of healthy adult parent and child relationships in fiction. While Flora does depend on Xanthe's help, she never takes advantage of her daughter or guilts her into helping out. Their obvious mutual affection and respect are what I will strive for with my own children.

Time Travel:

Any book about time travel risks losing the reader due to it's implausibility. This book solves that by taking time to really map out the logic in this universe. How does this work? How can Xanthe realistically pull off going back in time without being found out (and risk being deemed a witch)? Won't people in her own time question where she has been? The author answers all these issues, and that keeps the reader in the story.

Story:

The novel itself is has several parallels between the story in the present day and in the past. In both, Xanthe is an outsider trying to make her way. Xanthe has been seriously ill-used by her modern-day boyfriend, and has trouble trusting men. She also must decide if she can trust Samuel in the past. Xanthe was wrongly accused of a crime in the present, and Alice faces the same thing in the past. Of course, the consequences of being branded a criminal in 1600 were far more severe than they are now. But the idea of losing control of one's own life to a nameless judicial system is the same.

Despite all the exposition, the story was fast-paced and I could not stop reading. I was constantly worried that Xanthe would be caught out in both time periods.

I also really appreciated that, even though this is the first book in a series, the story line was wrapped up in this book. It is one of my pet-peeves that series books stop mid-scene without any resolution to the main problem! Thankfully, this did not happen in this book.

Romance:

There are moments where I could not stop but to draw comparisons to the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. The romance between Xanthe and a man from the seventeenth century is believable and heart-wrenching. But I also wanted to know if there would possibly be some heat between Xanthe and a certain young man in the present. After such an epic romantic experience, will Xanthe be able to love anyone else? Is she destined to pine away for a man long dead? This may be answered in future novels, as I am happy to say that this is the first book in a series!

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This book had me from the very beginning. I love that it kept me engaged the entire time. I couldn't wait to see how it ended. I would highly recommend to all my fellow readers. Thank you for the chance to review this book!

First can we agree this is a beautiful cover? As for the genre, Historical Fiction/Fantasy/Science Fiction/Adult Fiction. Yes, that is a lot but I don't know what to call it when the setting is present day England but there is a ghost and some time travel involved. All rolled into this wonderful book that I did not stop reading once I started. 

Xanthe Westlake and her mother Flora have had a rough time of it in London and have invested their life savings in an antique shop in Marlborough. Determined to make a new life and leave the past behind. Hard to do in an antique shop. Especially as we find out our Xanthe has some pretty awesome gifts.

Sometimes when she touches things she can hear them. Telling the stories of where they have been and what they were. When Xanthe picks up a chatelaine at an estate sale, it is doing more than singing to her. She is having visions and feelings of danger.

When she finds an odd-shaped building in the back garden, exactly where two ley lines converge, she is transported to the 1600's. When she returns she finds a not so friendly ghost waiting who threatens her and her mothers safety. 

Now Xanthe must return to try to save the ghost's daughter from the gallows. Along the way she meets a gorgeous architect and tries to save Alice and her mother.

The rest you will have to read yourself. I absolutely loved this book and am so glad there will be more of them.

Well Done!

Netgalley/October 2nd 2018 by Thomas Dunne Books

A captivating read

I received this copy through Netgalley.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Normally I don’t read time travel books, but I just clicked with the opening pages and really liked the characters and the setting and quite honestly couldn’t put the book down.
Xanthe and her mother Flora have just purchased a dusty old antique shop in Marlborough, a lovely historic town in Wiltshire, England. Purchasing stock for the shop, Xanthe comes across an old chatelaine that she is mysteriously drawn to. Back in the shop she encounters a ghost. The ghost has been waiting centuries for someone to save her daughter. She pretty much blackmails Xanthe to go back in time to save her daughter, or she will harm Flora, Xanthe’s mother. The chatelaine is the link to the time travel. This book is the first in a new series that I look forward to reading.
This book could be for young adult as well as general adult. There is romance, adventure, suspense. No offensive language. .

The Little Shop of Found Things is a charming and magical read that I immensely enjoyed. While it is a story based on time travel, it is not at all sci-fi. Some have compared it to Outlander and while I never read the books and only saw a little of the TV series, I can assure you that The Little Shop of Found Things does not contain the muskets, guns and sexual violence found I’m Outlander but does have the romance.

This book drew me right in with the opening sentence and held my attention until the last page:

It is a commonly held belief that the most likely place to find a ghost is beneath a shadowy moon, among the ruins of a castle, or perhaps in an abandoned house where the living have fled leaving only spirits to drift from room to room.

Xanthe Westlake has a special talent— the ability to touch an object and learn about a person or event. As such, she is in the perfect business — she and her mother Flora have just bought a quaint antique shop that they plan to rejuvenate and restore. What they didn’t know is that their purchase included a ghost who is determined that her daughter’s wrongful death in the seventeenth century, be averted by changing history. It is up to Xanthe, by using an antique silver chatelaine, which allows her to travel back in time, to right this wrong or else, as the ghost informs her, harm will come to her mother Flora.

I enjoyed reading this book and found Xanthe to be a genuine and likable protagonist. I particularly relished her adventures in the seventeenth century because the descriptions of the places as well as the explanations of the norms and etiquette were fascinating. Due to Brackston’s writing skills, I really felt as if I had been transported back in time along with Xanthe. The adventure and mystery element kept me turning page after page, unable to put the book down.

The writing is excellent and the pacing is perfect — I never felt bored. The language spoken in the seventeenth century is markedly different from present day and the reader will find it authentic. Brackston has a talent for clever writing and winsome analogies.

Willis was a man of few words, and not given to taking them out for an airing often, but they passed the miles companionably enough.

She held hope to her breast like a tiny bird which must be grasped tightly yet with such care, lest one crush it to nothing through fear of losing it. Hope was all she had.

I am very excited that there will be another book in the series but worry how I will wait because I want to read it now! I would really like to see Xanthe returning to the same time period but could understand if a new adventure takes her elsewhere. This is the first book I have read by Paula Brackston and because I loved it so much, I plan to read more of her books as soon as possible.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

I could not put it down! One of my favorite 2018 reads!

Xanthe has a gift--she can tell the history of an object whenever she touches it. After she takes over an antique store, she touches an object and ends up traveling back in time. She becomes embroiled in a mystery and a desperate effort to save a young girls life.

If you enjoy cozy mysteries, this is the book for you.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I've been a devoted fan of Paula Brackston's books ever since I read "The Witch's Daughter" and I knew that her latest novel would be wonderful. I'm happy to say I was right! "The Little Shop of Found Things" is inventive and beautifully written. Brackston vividly depicts the main characters in her hallmark way so that they come to life. She masterfully creates historical periods most readers will be unfamiliar with and her attention to detail makes the book an utterly compelling read. I loved "The Little Shop of Found Things" from start to finish. You will too! I now eagerly await the sequel!

Paula Brackston has another hit on her hands with Xanthe and The Little Shop of Found Things. Every world she creates, the reader wants to be in, every character we want to be friends and her newest novel is not different. There are two sets of mothers and daughters that show what a mother will do for her daughter as well as the other way around. Family is feature a lot in Paula Brackston's book and not always a conventional one and not always an easy one, but always with love at the heart of it. This book is narrated by Margaret and Xanthe as they are taken on a journey to find the lost, including themselves and I cannot wait until the second book comes out to see where the journey continues. Little Shop will sing to the reader as all the found things do to Xanthe. This review is possible by St. Martins Press and Netgalley for providing an ARC for this review.

Lovely book. Xanthe Westlake is a young woman making a new start with her mom setting up an antique shop in a new town. She has a special gift where she can sense items that a deceased person has a special attachment to and finds herself on course for an unbelievable mission when she finds herself drawn to a chatelaine being sold at auction. She experiences some much needed emotional healing thanks to meeting a Mr. Samuel Appleby. Very fetching read.

I received an ARC of this book from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

I give this book 5 stars. The Little Shop of Found Things by Paula Brackston is spectacular! Paula did an outstanding job painting a vivid picture of the story and characters, it made me feel like I was in the book. The story has delicious morsels of magic, whimsy, history, time travel, and romance; I could not put it down! Can we get the next book in this series soon, please?

I loved this book and the characters in it. I'm sincerely hoping that there is a sequel to it. If you like time slip novels, a bit of romance and a good story then this book is for you.

Couldn't put this book down and I definitely didn't want it to end. I'm curious to see if there will be another book because I can see these characters coming back on the page for at least another story. It was beautifully written, captured me from the very get-go and had me wanting more by the last word.

From the author of the The Witch’s Daughter comes a brand new time bending adventure story that will make you never look at antiques in the same way again.

Without giving away any spoilers, this story follows a Mother & Daughter duo as they attempt to rebuild their lives in rural England by opening up an antique shop. What follows is a magical silver piece with a sordid past , a violent ghost, ley lines, a good old-fashioned love story, English politics, and proper English gentleman.
The author’s use of descriptive language to evoke a charming English village and its previous centuries old history, not only transports the main character, but also transports the reader to another time and place.

The strong relationship between the main character Xanthe and her Mother Flora was a nice added break from stories about estranged parents and dysfunctional families. It’s what kept the reader anchored to the present but also floating to the 17th century sub plot as well. It is their mutual love that drives the story forward like an old-fashioned carriage, a little bumpy, but reliable nonetheless.

The supernatural aspect of the story was tasteful and effective as were the bits of romance. Readers will appreciate the female characters who were each strong in their own ways appropriate to their statuses. The main character Xanthe is a heroine, with her mud-stained cheesecloth rags she rescues an innocent young girl from her terrible fate, and in doing so, rescues a part of herself that she lost after enduring her own terrible fate prior to moving to Marlborough.

We see how this charming English village of Marlborough evolved into a more modern version of itself but still retained the same type of personalities even after hundreds of years. This made the story more believable, as the past and present are always interacting with each other and it is those long forgotten items and discarded antiques that are some of the greatest witnesses of history. If we started treating them as such, as opposed to a price tag, we would develop a greater appreciation for the present.

Be careful not to hold onto this book too tightly, for you might find yourself transported to 17th century England…oh and if you do, a minstrel is always a good disguise.

Interesting premise, lovely setting, good characters, looking forward to seeing where the story goes next.

The Little Shop of Found Things is a fabulous new book by Paula Brackston. I absolutely loved the story, so well written, full of action, history, love, mystery, split time and unusual time travel. It certainly left me wanting more of Xanthe and Samuel. Now I can hardly wait for the next book in this series. My thanks to the author, the publisher and netgalley for making this book available to me to read and review.

Intersecting ley lines provide a mystical energy source for Xanthe, a psychometric, to travel in time to see the people who “sing” to her through the antiques she and her mother sell. With this premise, Paula Brackston’s new series will certainly provide readers with many delicious tales of time travel and romance.

Ms. Brackston’s latest story is abounding in historical detail. Her writing style really draws you into the story. The present-day characters in the small English town of Marlborough are delightful. The ease with which Xanthe and her mother, Flora, become part of the community made me long for life in a small, cheerful town. From the teashop owner, to mechanic to pub owner and history buff, each of the secondary characters made the story richer. There were a couple instances of unexplained tertiary characters that left me wanting. Was the character meant to set the tone of the scene? Was it part of an abandoned story line that didn’t get edited? Either way, nothing was added to the story by the inclusion of the character, nor did it detract much from the novel.

I thoroughly enjoyed the historical romance as well as the present-day playful banter between Xanthe and Liam, a handsome, young mechanic in town. The charming mother-daughter story is quite sweet. I love Flora’s upbeat, positive attitude. Both the past and present have their own antagonists who are at cross-purposes. This creates a complex conflict spanning centuries.

I fell in love with Paula Brackston’s writing when I happened upon The Witch’s Daughter at my library. I’ve ready many of the author’s books since, and her storytelling never disappoints! The Little Shop of Found Things is a delightful time-travel story with just the right amount of romance and mystery to be a truly engaging read.