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Lost and Found
It started with a letter...Carol is married to a man she doesn't love and mother to a daughter she doesn't understand. Crippled with guilt, she can't shake the feeling that she has wasted her life. So she puts pen to paper and writes a Letter to the Universe. Albert is a widowed postman, approaching retirement age, and living with his cat, Gloria, for company. Slowly being pushed out at his place of work, he is forced down to the section of the post office where they sort undeliverable mail. When a series of letters turns up with a smiley face drawn in place of an address, he cannot help reading them.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published February 21, 2013
21 people are currently reading
551 people want to read
About the author
Tom Winter
5 books20 followersTom Winter is a British writer living in Berlin. His work has been published in five languages. The hardback edition of his fourth book, In Search of Ethel Cartwright, will be published in 2024 by Corsair, an imprint of Little, Brown. The paperback will follow in 2025.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews
January 18, 2020
Life-affirming & fiercely witty tale of two people each struggling with disappointment or loneliness.
Tom’s Winter’s delightful debut is that rare thing: a book about the miseries of human life and what might have beens that manages to be both touching and fiercely witty. Set in the unassuming commuter belt of Croydon, the story connects - in a roundabout way - a woman trapped in a loveless marriage and desperate for a way out with a lonely widower approaching retirement who has lost his purpose. Original and quirky, Lost and Found is no simple tale of friendship but rather a series of soul-searching and unaddressed letters written by one person and an unexpectedly grateful recipient who takes the words in the letters to heart.
Thirty-eight-year-old wife and mother, Carol Cooper, is desperately unhappy and struggling to come to terms with the disappointment of her life. More to the point she is bitter as she approaches nearly twenty years stuck in a loveless marriage to Bob for the sake of their now seventeen-year-old dismissive daughter, Sophie, and is still being lambasted by her scathing mother. Witheringly honest about her failings and finally having found the courage to leave a life she loathes, a bombshell from Bob throws a spanner in the works. Left feeling powerless it is Carol’s best friend who encourages her to put her feelings down on paper, even if she ends up burning the resulting letters. But Carol does post her profoundly honest and very sweary letters, happy in the knowledge that if anyone were to read them them she will remain blissfully anonymous..
But Carol obviously didn’t bank on a dedicated Royal Mail worker with forty years service called Albert, whom in the days counting down to his retirement is tasked with handling (well, destroying) the undeliverable post, mainly to keep him gainfully employed. His colleagues see days of contented leisure ahead for Albert in retirement, but for a pensioner living in a grotty tower block whose sole friend is his cat named Gloria, Albert is feeling unmoored. Chancing across Carol’s letters is the beginning of a one-sided friendship between the pair, but as Albert treasures Carol’s letter and dreams for the future, he starts to rediscover his own purpose and conceive of a future beyond his working life.
On occasions Carol is brutally honest, particularly when she is dismantling the inadequacies of her family life but her circumstances are all too imaginable. Similarly Albert’s lonely widowhood and lack of connections with the outside world is a situation that is now depressingly familiar. It is only far later in the story that more detail is added to Carol’s brief relationship with the man she loved - not Bob - which adds clarity to her current domestic predicament, but I struggled to understand her rancour at teenage daughter, Sophie, which seemed beyond excessive and reduced my sympathy for her position. Some of the supporting cast err on the side of caricature, notably both Albert’s and Carol’s neighbours, but these are more than outnumbered by Albert’s well-drawn colleagues at the Royal Mail and the situational comedy moments in his workplace.
The novel opens strongly and ends on a high but the final third is noticeably slacker and does seem to flounder before the stories of Carol and Albert eventually meet. Worth reading for Winter’s memorable turns of phrase and a very clever denouement that provides hope for the future. Insightful and offbeat, Lost and Found avoids falling back on the twee and schmaltzy. Having read and been impressed by Arms Wide Open, the second novel from Tom Winter, his humorous and honest stories on the struggles of modern life come highly recommended.
Tom’s Winter’s delightful debut is that rare thing: a book about the miseries of human life and what might have beens that manages to be both touching and fiercely witty. Set in the unassuming commuter belt of Croydon, the story connects - in a roundabout way - a woman trapped in a loveless marriage and desperate for a way out with a lonely widower approaching retirement who has lost his purpose. Original and quirky, Lost and Found is no simple tale of friendship but rather a series of soul-searching and unaddressed letters written by one person and an unexpectedly grateful recipient who takes the words in the letters to heart.
Thirty-eight-year-old wife and mother, Carol Cooper, is desperately unhappy and struggling to come to terms with the disappointment of her life. More to the point she is bitter as she approaches nearly twenty years stuck in a loveless marriage to Bob for the sake of their now seventeen-year-old dismissive daughter, Sophie, and is still being lambasted by her scathing mother. Witheringly honest about her failings and finally having found the courage to leave a life she loathes, a bombshell from Bob throws a spanner in the works. Left feeling powerless it is Carol’s best friend who encourages her to put her feelings down on paper, even if she ends up burning the resulting letters. But Carol does post her profoundly honest and very sweary letters, happy in the knowledge that if anyone were to read them them she will remain blissfully anonymous..
But Carol obviously didn’t bank on a dedicated Royal Mail worker with forty years service called Albert, whom in the days counting down to his retirement is tasked with handling (well, destroying) the undeliverable post, mainly to keep him gainfully employed. His colleagues see days of contented leisure ahead for Albert in retirement, but for a pensioner living in a grotty tower block whose sole friend is his cat named Gloria, Albert is feeling unmoored. Chancing across Carol’s letters is the beginning of a one-sided friendship between the pair, but as Albert treasures Carol’s letter and dreams for the future, he starts to rediscover his own purpose and conceive of a future beyond his working life.
On occasions Carol is brutally honest, particularly when she is dismantling the inadequacies of her family life but her circumstances are all too imaginable. Similarly Albert’s lonely widowhood and lack of connections with the outside world is a situation that is now depressingly familiar. It is only far later in the story that more detail is added to Carol’s brief relationship with the man she loved - not Bob - which adds clarity to her current domestic predicament, but I struggled to understand her rancour at teenage daughter, Sophie, which seemed beyond excessive and reduced my sympathy for her position. Some of the supporting cast err on the side of caricature, notably both Albert’s and Carol’s neighbours, but these are more than outnumbered by Albert’s well-drawn colleagues at the Royal Mail and the situational comedy moments in his workplace.
The novel opens strongly and ends on a high but the final third is noticeably slacker and does seem to flounder before the stories of Carol and Albert eventually meet. Worth reading for Winter’s memorable turns of phrase and a very clever denouement that provides hope for the future. Insightful and offbeat, Lost and Found avoids falling back on the twee and schmaltzy. Having read and been impressed by Arms Wide Open, the second novel from Tom Winter, his humorous and honest stories on the struggles of modern life come highly recommended.
November 18, 2020
I'm not sure where I first heard about this book, giving me cause to add it to my shelves but it wasn't the gentle, light-hearted tale I'd anticipated.
What I did get was a story that was heart-breaking & sad yet very funny in a Sue Townsendish sort of way. The story revolves round two people both enduring different types of loneliness. Carol is stuck in a loveless marriage & to relieve her frustrations about her life she takes to writing anonymous letters & posting them. As they are addressed solely with a smiley face they end up in the "lost letters" department at the Post Office. Soon-to-be-retired Albert is given the task of sorting these rejects. Lonely & unwillingly to give up work, Carol's letters give him something to look forward to & a relationship builds between the two of them, albeit a rather one sided one - after all Carol has no idea anyone has read her letters!
Now I'm often disparaging about how things are wrapped up at a book's conclusion, & if anyone had told me how "Lost & Found" ended, I would have thought it sounded a like bad cliche..... & rather a twee one at that! In reality, I found it beautifully fitting & it left me with a sad smile & almost a lump in my throat.
What I did get was a story that was heart-breaking & sad yet very funny in a Sue Townsendish sort of way. The story revolves round two people both enduring different types of loneliness. Carol is stuck in a loveless marriage & to relieve her frustrations about her life she takes to writing anonymous letters & posting them. As they are addressed solely with a smiley face they end up in the "lost letters" department at the Post Office. Soon-to-be-retired Albert is given the task of sorting these rejects. Lonely & unwillingly to give up work, Carol's letters give him something to look forward to & a relationship builds between the two of them, albeit a rather one sided one - after all Carol has no idea anyone has read her letters!
Now I'm often disparaging about how things are wrapped up at a book's conclusion, & if anyone had told me how "Lost & Found" ended, I would have thought it sounded a like bad cliche..... & rather a twee one at that! In reality, I found it beautifully fitting & it left me with a sad smile & almost a lump in my throat.
February 22, 2013
For some reason I wasn’t sure I would like this book all that much, which only goes to prove that prejudging things is never good idea. Of course I was completely wrong; I enjoyed it enormously, gobbling it up with almost a tear and often a great big smile.
Lost and Found is the story of two lost people, Carol and Albert, strangers to one another, there is no earthly reason for their lives to cross. Carol is thirty eight, unhappily married to Bob and mother to a daughter she doesn’t really like or understand. Secretly yearning for a man she knew years earlier, at war with both her mother and her daughter, Carol seems to hate much of what she sees around her. Albert is a sixty five year old post office worker, living with his cat Gloria, and the memory of his wife who died forty years earlier. Filled with dread at the thought of his approaching retirement, Albert feels the world has no more use for him. As if to demonstrate this, Albert is put to work his last few weeks in the undeliverable mail office.
“There are a few seconds of stilted silence, Darren’s management training obviously never having prepared for moments like this.
Her forces another smile, ‘Albert, if you’ll follow me...’
He leads Albert away from the main work area, the building becoming quieter with every step.
They finally enter a small room full of dusty mail sacks. Up near the ceiling is one small window, the glass dirty and barred, the view of nothing but grey, wet sky.
‘The undeliverable mail,’ says Albert. ‘This lot’s nothing but rubbish.’
‘No, Albert, this is a …a Mail Redirection Facility.’ He says it without a hint of irony, even though the only redirection from here is to the nearest bonfire. ‘I thought you could spend your final weeks keeping on top of things’
Meanwhile Carol feels like walking away from her life, escaping to Athens. She feels she had wasted her life, married to wrong man, living the wrong life. However her husband is going through a crisis, the timing couldn’t really be worse. Carol’s friend Helen tells her to write a letter, a letter to the universe – get everything off her chest, and count her blessings. So Carol does, she writes a letter putting a smiley face on the outside of the envelope in place of an address. It is into Albert’s hands that Carol’s letter drops, and Albert reads it. Carol’s letters begin to give Albert’s life some purpose, and the writing of them begins to help Carol sort out her feelings about a lot of things that she really needs to deal with.
Albert is a character not dissimilar to Harold Fry in Rachel Joyce’s successful novel The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry – but I liked him rather more than poor old Harold. I adored Albert I have to say, his grief and loneliness is really touching, and felt very real. Sitting in front of a muted television for company and talking to his cat and his dead wife, who wouldn’t feel for this lost soul?
Lost and found is a good engrossing read, written with humour and suffused with some really poignant moments. The loneliness of unhappy or wasted lives, the need to connect with someone, with anyone is at the heart of this novel. I think many people will fall for Albert and Gloria, I must say I didn’t like Carol much - her years of unhappiness have taken their toll, so she is a character it is still possible to sympathise with.
This is author Tom Winter’s first novel, I am grateful to Corsair for sending it, and I suspect it will be a novel that does very well.
Lost and Found is the story of two lost people, Carol and Albert, strangers to one another, there is no earthly reason for their lives to cross. Carol is thirty eight, unhappily married to Bob and mother to a daughter she doesn’t really like or understand. Secretly yearning for a man she knew years earlier, at war with both her mother and her daughter, Carol seems to hate much of what she sees around her. Albert is a sixty five year old post office worker, living with his cat Gloria, and the memory of his wife who died forty years earlier. Filled with dread at the thought of his approaching retirement, Albert feels the world has no more use for him. As if to demonstrate this, Albert is put to work his last few weeks in the undeliverable mail office.
“There are a few seconds of stilted silence, Darren’s management training obviously never having prepared for moments like this.
Her forces another smile, ‘Albert, if you’ll follow me...’
He leads Albert away from the main work area, the building becoming quieter with every step.
They finally enter a small room full of dusty mail sacks. Up near the ceiling is one small window, the glass dirty and barred, the view of nothing but grey, wet sky.
‘The undeliverable mail,’ says Albert. ‘This lot’s nothing but rubbish.’
‘No, Albert, this is a …a Mail Redirection Facility.’ He says it without a hint of irony, even though the only redirection from here is to the nearest bonfire. ‘I thought you could spend your final weeks keeping on top of things’
Meanwhile Carol feels like walking away from her life, escaping to Athens. She feels she had wasted her life, married to wrong man, living the wrong life. However her husband is going through a crisis, the timing couldn’t really be worse. Carol’s friend Helen tells her to write a letter, a letter to the universe – get everything off her chest, and count her blessings. So Carol does, she writes a letter putting a smiley face on the outside of the envelope in place of an address. It is into Albert’s hands that Carol’s letter drops, and Albert reads it. Carol’s letters begin to give Albert’s life some purpose, and the writing of them begins to help Carol sort out her feelings about a lot of things that she really needs to deal with.
Albert is a character not dissimilar to Harold Fry in Rachel Joyce’s successful novel The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry – but I liked him rather more than poor old Harold. I adored Albert I have to say, his grief and loneliness is really touching, and felt very real. Sitting in front of a muted television for company and talking to his cat and his dead wife, who wouldn’t feel for this lost soul?
Lost and found is a good engrossing read, written with humour and suffused with some really poignant moments. The loneliness of unhappy or wasted lives, the need to connect with someone, with anyone is at the heart of this novel. I think many people will fall for Albert and Gloria, I must say I didn’t like Carol much - her years of unhappiness have taken their toll, so she is a character it is still possible to sympathise with.
This is author Tom Winter’s first novel, I am grateful to Corsair for sending it, and I suspect it will be a novel that does very well.
January 23, 2013
When I got the book I wasn't sure what to expect, A romantic letter writer ? but no I was very pleasantly surprised to find it quite deep and a very compelling read.
Carol is the letter writer and it is a reluctant Carol who is the main character. The whole of her life laid bare so to speak. She is having problems with her home and work life and her best friend Helen seems to be no help although she does suggest writing a letter.
Albert is very near retirement and is a bit of a spare part in the office where he works and is stuck in a room on his own. He has no family only Gloria the cat. His story is linked to Carol when he reads her letters secretly.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading both their stories and how they entertwined I found my self laughing in places and in other shouting out in my mind when I thought Carol totally in the wrong direction. This was a fascinating story of how people live their lives and the ups and downs I would have liked to have found out how the last chapter came about though as I felt I had 'missed' part of the story.
Great book and great read.
This book was provided by Lovereading for me to review.
Carol is the letter writer and it is a reluctant Carol who is the main character. The whole of her life laid bare so to speak. She is having problems with her home and work life and her best friend Helen seems to be no help although she does suggest writing a letter.
Albert is very near retirement and is a bit of a spare part in the office where he works and is stuck in a room on his own. He has no family only Gloria the cat. His story is linked to Carol when he reads her letters secretly.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading both their stories and how they entertwined I found my self laughing in places and in other shouting out in my mind when I thought Carol totally in the wrong direction. This was a fascinating story of how people live their lives and the ups and downs I would have liked to have found out how the last chapter came about though as I felt I had 'missed' part of the story.
Great book and great read.
This book was provided by Lovereading for me to review.
January 2, 2016
Actual rating 2.5 stars.
When I was browsing the bookshelves in the bookstore about a month ago and discovered this book, it looked like a book that I could grow to love. Unfortunately I fear that I chose the wrong time to pick it up because I think that I didn't enjoy this book as much as I could have. I liked Tom Winter's writing style and I actually liked parts of this story but I really wasn't in the right frame of mind to enjoy it to the full potential.
The rest of my thoughts on this book can be found HERE.
When I was browsing the bookshelves in the bookstore about a month ago and discovered this book, it looked like a book that I could grow to love. Unfortunately I fear that I chose the wrong time to pick it up because I think that I didn't enjoy this book as much as I could have. I liked Tom Winter's writing style and I actually liked parts of this story but I really wasn't in the right frame of mind to enjoy it to the full potential.
The rest of my thoughts on this book can be found HERE.
May 16, 2024
A lovely story about two people who are both lonely in their own way. They are brought together by a series of letters that were never meant to be read.
February 3, 2016
‘It often appears as if some people spend their entire lives trapped, going round and round in circles but never arriving.’
Carol is deeply unhappy. She doesn’t love her husband Bob anymore and she struggles to understand her teenaged daughter at all. She feels her life is just passing by, that she has wasted it and that she has to do something about it. Matters are complicated when Bob discovers he is ill. Her friend Helen suggests writing it all down in a letter to at least express all she is feeling and get it out. Unsure about the idea at first, eventually she decides to do just that, and then sends the letter out into the world. She writes of the guilt, despair, frustration and sadness at her life and relationships.
Meanwhile, Albert works at the post sorting office. He is a widower and is very close to retirement. His only real company is his cat Gloria. He is assigned to spend his remaining days at work in the room where the undeliverable mail ends up. One day whilst he is sorting through this mass of post without a home, he finds an envelope with a smiley face drawn on it, and he can’t help himself, he opens it and starts reading, and so the lives of our two lonely protagonists are linked. Carol’s letters, which are incorporated into the novel, become a reason for Albert to go on; he is intrigued by the person who could have written these words.
I felt very sad for Albert’s loss of his wife and the way it has dominated his life from then onwards, rendering him lonely. Carol seems equally lonely, despite having family around her, she doesn’t connect strongly with any of them and longs to escape. Through her honesty in the letters she writes, her true feelings are revealed. The complicated feelings she has for her husband are well expressed in a great passage where she likens her emotions to being on a plane: ‘I know I’ve said I don’t love my husband and I’m leaving him…but that doesn’t mean I don’t love him in broader, more general terms. It’s sort of like…like being on a plane. …Let’s just say our marriage was a very, very long flight and now the plane has crashed. The fact that I regretted getting on the plane, hated most of the journey, and now find myself in a place I don’t want to be doesn’t seem to matter any more. The point is, we survived. It’s hard not to feel a bond with someone when you’ve been through an experience like that.’
This is a story of guilt, regret and longing, of love and great loss, and loneliness that will make you ponder, but injected with a wit that will make you smile too. The author has written a moving, realistic and bittersweet tale detailing the highs and lows that befall people and the sadness that can blight our lives, yet the sense that there is always a connection to be made with someone, somewhere. I liked the little illustrations heading up each chapter too, each being related to the story.
I enjoyed reading this debut, I found it honest and stark at times, and at other times poignant, and I also find it amusing and sweet in parts. I felt that there were many aspects of the story and the characters that people might identify with.
Carol is deeply unhappy. She doesn’t love her husband Bob anymore and she struggles to understand her teenaged daughter at all. She feels her life is just passing by, that she has wasted it and that she has to do something about it. Matters are complicated when Bob discovers he is ill. Her friend Helen suggests writing it all down in a letter to at least express all she is feeling and get it out. Unsure about the idea at first, eventually she decides to do just that, and then sends the letter out into the world. She writes of the guilt, despair, frustration and sadness at her life and relationships.
Meanwhile, Albert works at the post sorting office. He is a widower and is very close to retirement. His only real company is his cat Gloria. He is assigned to spend his remaining days at work in the room where the undeliverable mail ends up. One day whilst he is sorting through this mass of post without a home, he finds an envelope with a smiley face drawn on it, and he can’t help himself, he opens it and starts reading, and so the lives of our two lonely protagonists are linked. Carol’s letters, which are incorporated into the novel, become a reason for Albert to go on; he is intrigued by the person who could have written these words.
I felt very sad for Albert’s loss of his wife and the way it has dominated his life from then onwards, rendering him lonely. Carol seems equally lonely, despite having family around her, she doesn’t connect strongly with any of them and longs to escape. Through her honesty in the letters she writes, her true feelings are revealed. The complicated feelings she has for her husband are well expressed in a great passage where she likens her emotions to being on a plane: ‘I know I’ve said I don’t love my husband and I’m leaving him…but that doesn’t mean I don’t love him in broader, more general terms. It’s sort of like…like being on a plane. …Let’s just say our marriage was a very, very long flight and now the plane has crashed. The fact that I regretted getting on the plane, hated most of the journey, and now find myself in a place I don’t want to be doesn’t seem to matter any more. The point is, we survived. It’s hard not to feel a bond with someone when you’ve been through an experience like that.’
This is a story of guilt, regret and longing, of love and great loss, and loneliness that will make you ponder, but injected with a wit that will make you smile too. The author has written a moving, realistic and bittersweet tale detailing the highs and lows that befall people and the sadness that can blight our lives, yet the sense that there is always a connection to be made with someone, somewhere. I liked the little illustrations heading up each chapter too, each being related to the story.
I enjoyed reading this debut, I found it honest and stark at times, and at other times poignant, and I also find it amusing and sweet in parts. I felt that there were many aspects of the story and the characters that people might identify with.
July 18, 2013
Lost and Found has been among my most anticipated books of 2013 and I knew I'd have to read it the minute I saw the synopsis. I seem to have a soft spot for bitter-sweet and touching stories and it definitely seemed like one. A few chapters in, however, I realized it is in fact a bit different from what I expected - but not in a bad way. Not at all. I actually found it really hard to put it down and, had it not been for me being ill at the time, I would have probably read it in one day.
The reason why I was taken by surprise, I suppose, is that I expected some sort of a love story or a story of a beautiful friendship. A tear-jerker, basically. I mean, it sounds like one, doesn't it? And while it is a sweet and occasionally moving book, I would have never predicted how funny it actually is. As odd as it may sound, for me most of the humour came from the protagonist, Carol, who's been trapped in an unhappy marriage for most of her life and her husband, Bob. Man, they're a hilarious duo. Bob is one of those guys who don't have the faintest idea about the fact that their marriage isn't working or in fact, hasn't been working for a long time. He lives in denial. On top of that, he acts like a big kid. Which, under normal circumstances, would really annoy me. And of course it's a sad situation too, isn't it? Living your life in a monotone way and with someone you shouldn't have married in the first place. Yet, through Carol's sarcastic thoughts and comments, somehow it all became entertaining.
Read more >>
The reason why I was taken by surprise, I suppose, is that I expected some sort of a love story or a story of a beautiful friendship. A tear-jerker, basically. I mean, it sounds like one, doesn't it? And while it is a sweet and occasionally moving book, I would have never predicted how funny it actually is. As odd as it may sound, for me most of the humour came from the protagonist, Carol, who's been trapped in an unhappy marriage for most of her life and her husband, Bob. Man, they're a hilarious duo. Bob is one of those guys who don't have the faintest idea about the fact that their marriage isn't working or in fact, hasn't been working for a long time. He lives in denial. On top of that, he acts like a big kid. Which, under normal circumstances, would really annoy me. And of course it's a sad situation too, isn't it? Living your life in a monotone way and with someone you shouldn't have married in the first place. Yet, through Carol's sarcastic thoughts and comments, somehow it all became entertaining.
Read more >>
January 14, 2013
Truth-drawing, affecting and full of laugh-out-loud moments this enjoyable read is a real page-turner.
This brilliant debut novel captures quintessentially life in a snapshot, with acute perception and such remarkable effortless ease as to create a most realistic outlook. Full of wit, humor and brilliant premise this is a fascinating character-study of the ups and downs of any relationship. Remicent of ‘Wife 22’ and ‘Harold Fry’ this reaches out to a wide-readership, by ‘telling it how it is’ professing truism and realism to the core. Albert and Carol are both attractive, interesting characters whose connection is uncanny and inspired and whom you can easily relate to and empathize with. The letters contain such depth of emotion, thought-provoking profound meaning and openness that it was like piercing a hole in their heart and glimpsing inside. Swept away by the compelling tales of each individual character, I was so impressed by this ingenuous novel that is full of warmth, optimism and fulfillment. Undeniably spectacular, enchanting and totally absorbing this page-turner is a delight that I envisage will soon be met with many adoring fans.
Simply beautiful, charming and memorable this fantastic fictional book encapsulates the contemporary and current market. A light read that is ideal for taking on holiday, which is certainly an entertaining book that I shall be re-reading very soon.
*I received an ARC (Advance Reading Copy) of this book from the author, Via ‘Love Reading’ to read and review.*
www.lovereading.co.uk
This brilliant debut novel captures quintessentially life in a snapshot, with acute perception and such remarkable effortless ease as to create a most realistic outlook. Full of wit, humor and brilliant premise this is a fascinating character-study of the ups and downs of any relationship. Remicent of ‘Wife 22’ and ‘Harold Fry’ this reaches out to a wide-readership, by ‘telling it how it is’ professing truism and realism to the core. Albert and Carol are both attractive, interesting characters whose connection is uncanny and inspired and whom you can easily relate to and empathize with. The letters contain such depth of emotion, thought-provoking profound meaning and openness that it was like piercing a hole in their heart and glimpsing inside. Swept away by the compelling tales of each individual character, I was so impressed by this ingenuous novel that is full of warmth, optimism and fulfillment. Undeniably spectacular, enchanting and totally absorbing this page-turner is a delight that I envisage will soon be met with many adoring fans.
Simply beautiful, charming and memorable this fantastic fictional book encapsulates the contemporary and current market. A light read that is ideal for taking on holiday, which is certainly an entertaining book that I shall be re-reading very soon.
*I received an ARC (Advance Reading Copy) of this book from the author, Via ‘Love Reading’ to read and review.*
www.lovereading.co.uk
March 26, 2013
Carol is unhappily married to a man she doesn't love and mother to a daughter she doesn't understand. Stuck in a life she doesn't want and crippled with guilt, she can't shake the feeling that she has wasted her life. So she puts pen to paper and writes a Letter to the Universe.
Albert is a widowed postman, approaching retirement age, and living with his cat, Gloria, for company. Slowly being pushed out at his place of work, he is forced down to the section of the post office where they sort undeliverable mail. When a series of letters turn up with a smiley face drawn in place of an address, he cannot help reading them.
Sometimes when I read, I feel I am hovering above the story, acutely aware of the tactics of the writer, the outline, the plan. I wonder if this is the editor in me, or if it is simply the sign of a reader. With Lost & Found by Tom Winter, unfortunately, I was aware of a supreme lack of character.
Carol and Albert are both extremely unhappy, though Albert's unhappiness is much easier to understand. Feeling worthless and lonely with his impending retirement looming, Albert encounters well-meant but still hurtful comments from coworkers and nastiness from his neighbor.
Carol, on the other hand, tells us she is unhappy, but it's difficult to understand why. She has a teenage daughter who, on the whole, seems much better than many sullen, angry teens in books. Her husband seems simple but relatively kind. Yet she is devastatingly unhappy and plans to leave her husband until he divulges some life-changing news. She begins writing letters, and Albert looks forward to them in the way only a truly lonely man can.
Lost & Found is a wonderful example of how two readers can read the same book and come away with vastly different impressions. Leeswammes really enjoyed this book. While I did finish it relatively quickly, though, it wasn't a favorite. I found the characters (Albert being the only exception) wooden and irredeemable. The main impetus for Carol's angst isn't really revealed until much too late for me to empathize with her and understand her (often) mean-spiritedness toward her husband and mother. Without any background, the bitterness she feels toward both is difficult to see in any other light. The letters are the best part of this novel, and it would have been interesting to stick with Albert's perspective more and learn of Carol only through her letters.
This novel has been compared quite a lot on Goodreads to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harol Fry, another novel I wasn't particularly charmed by. Lost & Found, though, is a simpler (and less preachy) attempt to explore those whose unhappiness is so profound that the only means of hope is escape.
Albert is a widowed postman, approaching retirement age, and living with his cat, Gloria, for company. Slowly being pushed out at his place of work, he is forced down to the section of the post office where they sort undeliverable mail. When a series of letters turn up with a smiley face drawn in place of an address, he cannot help reading them.
Sometimes when I read, I feel I am hovering above the story, acutely aware of the tactics of the writer, the outline, the plan. I wonder if this is the editor in me, or if it is simply the sign of a reader. With Lost & Found by Tom Winter, unfortunately, I was aware of a supreme lack of character.
Carol and Albert are both extremely unhappy, though Albert's unhappiness is much easier to understand. Feeling worthless and lonely with his impending retirement looming, Albert encounters well-meant but still hurtful comments from coworkers and nastiness from his neighbor.
Carol, on the other hand, tells us she is unhappy, but it's difficult to understand why. She has a teenage daughter who, on the whole, seems much better than many sullen, angry teens in books. Her husband seems simple but relatively kind. Yet she is devastatingly unhappy and plans to leave her husband until he divulges some life-changing news. She begins writing letters, and Albert looks forward to them in the way only a truly lonely man can.
Lost & Found is a wonderful example of how two readers can read the same book and come away with vastly different impressions. Leeswammes really enjoyed this book. While I did finish it relatively quickly, though, it wasn't a favorite. I found the characters (Albert being the only exception) wooden and irredeemable. The main impetus for Carol's angst isn't really revealed until much too late for me to empathize with her and understand her (often) mean-spiritedness toward her husband and mother. Without any background, the bitterness she feels toward both is difficult to see in any other light. The letters are the best part of this novel, and it would have been interesting to stick with Albert's perspective more and learn of Carol only through her letters.
This novel has been compared quite a lot on Goodreads to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harol Fry, another novel I wasn't particularly charmed by. Lost & Found, though, is a simpler (and less preachy) attempt to explore those whose unhappiness is so profound that the only means of hope is escape.
February 26, 2013
‘Lost & Found’ was a very enjoyable read with it’s perfect synchronicity of poignancy, sadness but cut through with a biting wit. We are absorbed into the world of Carol, an ordinary middle-aged woman who has reached a momentous decision to leave her huband, the affable but essentially dull Bob. But Bob’s got bad news of a medical nature, and Carol becomes trapped, her only outlet being her emotive outpourings in letter form addressed to the universe, and intercepted at the local Royal Mail depot by Albert, a lonely man on the cusp of retirement. As Carol’s yearning for freedom and feelings of resentment intensify, Albert becomes further entangled in this stranger’s life, whilst struggling to keep a grip on his own, but are they destined to meet? Through well crafted characterisation and a book that encapsulates so many of the frustrations of everyday life and growing older, Winter immerses us completely in the complications of these people’s lives. We observe the regret of opportunities lost and old loves lost as Carol and Albert navigate the channels of other’s selfishness and the unsatisfactory nature of their own lives which is so touching and heartfelt, but the whole book is juxtaposed with a savage wit that had me laughing from the second page and throughout. The humour not only adds a lightness to the whole thing, but the nature of the humour adds a greater level of pathos to the whole affair and works incredibly well. The plot is well paced and as the story rotates between Carol and Albert there is no feeling that one is more engaging than the other as they work seamlessly in tandem. Personally, I was a little unsure of the ending but would stress that overall this was a clever and engrossing snapshot of modern life, and the fear of being alone, but also more poignantly, in a marriage feeling alone.
Very similar in style to ‘The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry’ and the wonderful ‘The Thoughts and Happenings of Wilfred Price..’, Tom Winter has created a genuinely unputdownable book that pivots the reader emotionally from the outset. A wonderful debut...
Very similar in style to ‘The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry’ and the wonderful ‘The Thoughts and Happenings of Wilfred Price..’, Tom Winter has created a genuinely unputdownable book that pivots the reader emotionally from the outset. A wonderful debut...
May 5, 2013
This is a beautifully written, very witty, poignant story which I really enjoyed reading. It took me no time at all to read it, but somehow I found myself utterly immersed in the stories of Carol and Albert respectively, and hopeful for them that things might change or pick up for them in some way. I was immersed from the moment the story opened and was soon utterly lost in their lives and problems. In a lot of ways, I could identify with Carol, but I couldn't really get where all her hatred came from. There was something so petty about it all - but then, maybe that was the point. I couldn't get how she could dislike Bob so much - there didn't seem that much to dislike about him, but perhaps he was just driving her up the wall and perhaps the point of it was that he wasn't the man she wanted him to be. I liked the character of Albert, and Gloria (the cat) was very vividly brought to life. There were some good twists in the story and some good parallels between Carol's life and Albert's. There is no real redemption in this story, I felt, in the end, and I can get where readers are coming from when they say that the story is depressing. However, it was so easy to read, so easy to empathise with the characters, that I found it very hard to dislike this story on those grounds alone. I think maybe what I found was that - like Bob - it's so inoffensive that I found myself liking it.
August 15, 2018
I bought his book due to its link with letters which seemed rather interesting as i also love to write letters, plus the cover was very appealing too! haha!
Its a duel sided story of Carol and Albert, One a married mother to a teenage daughter who isn't happy with her marriage or indeed her life. The other, a elderly and lonely post office worker who is due to retire who yearns for a platonic connection with someone since his wife passed away 40 years before.
Even though they don't know each other personally, they are connected and over time indirectly help each other through honest letters written by Carol and sent with no address to the universe of sorts- where they end up in the undelivered mail section. This is a way to get her thoughts and emotions out into the open with out having to tell someone directly. Albert, the postal worker,discovers these letters and follows Carol's emotional and sometimes erratic outbursts as her life twists and turns.
I really enjoyed this story which was very relatable and sometimes very emotional. I found myself sympathizing with the main characters at some points then disliking them at others which makes them very human in my opinion. Over all the story progressed well and i really liked the ending. Would recommend to anyone who like contemporary, emotive reads.
Its a duel sided story of Carol and Albert, One a married mother to a teenage daughter who isn't happy with her marriage or indeed her life. The other, a elderly and lonely post office worker who is due to retire who yearns for a platonic connection with someone since his wife passed away 40 years before.
Even though they don't know each other personally, they are connected and over time indirectly help each other through honest letters written by Carol and sent with no address to the universe of sorts- where they end up in the undelivered mail section. This is a way to get her thoughts and emotions out into the open with out having to tell someone directly. Albert, the postal worker,discovers these letters and follows Carol's emotional and sometimes erratic outbursts as her life twists and turns.
I really enjoyed this story which was very relatable and sometimes very emotional. I found myself sympathizing with the main characters at some points then disliking them at others which makes them very human in my opinion. Over all the story progressed well and i really liked the ending. Would recommend to anyone who like contemporary, emotive reads.
March 11, 2015
I started this book last night and by the time I put it down, I cared so much about Albert and Carol that I picked it up again the minute I woke up, and finished it. That has to be a sign of good writing! I found myself completely caught up in Carol's and Albert's journeys (hate that word but in this case it's appropriate).
The only reason this doesn't get five stars is that I didn't like the ending. Once Carol finally makes her decision, things start moving too fast and I felt the author was in too much of a rush to wrap things up. .
Also, when Albert finally decides to write a letter (though not to Carol!), I really, really wanted to hear how he came to that decision, and I really, really wanted to read that letter. Then I would've liked the story to end with us seeing That would've been much more satisfying to me than the all-ends-wrapped-up-neatly epilogue.
The only reason this doesn't get five stars is that I didn't like the ending. Once Carol finally makes her decision, things start moving too fast and I felt the author was in too much of a rush to wrap things up. .
Also, when Albert finally decides to write a letter (though not to Carol!), I really, really wanted to hear how he came to that decision, and I really, really wanted to read that letter. Then I would've liked the story to end with us seeing That would've been much more satisfying to me than the all-ends-wrapped-up-neatly epilogue.
October 20, 2013
Carol is unhappy in her marriage to Bob and has a poor relationship with her daughter, for whom she has endured and stayed. She is just on the point of (finally) telling her husband she wants to leave him, when devastating news is received.
Carol then pours out her feelings in a series of letters, which she posts, unaddressed, and they are separated out at the sorting office where they are read by Albert, a postman on the verge of retirement. Albert, meanwhile, is widowed and lonely, living in a tower block next to a bullying neighbour, with only a cat for company.
Whilst this has all the ingredients for a poignant and moving read, somehow it just didn't quite work for me. Albert is totally unbelievable as a character - he's only 65 but is depicted as if he were 85, whilst Carol is just downright irritating, as, to be honest, are all the other characters, and the novel is related in what sometimes passes for a witty and humorous voice, but this does not always work.
All in all this was somewhat disappointing.
Carol then pours out her feelings in a series of letters, which she posts, unaddressed, and they are separated out at the sorting office where they are read by Albert, a postman on the verge of retirement. Albert, meanwhile, is widowed and lonely, living in a tower block next to a bullying neighbour, with only a cat for company.
Whilst this has all the ingredients for a poignant and moving read, somehow it just didn't quite work for me. Albert is totally unbelievable as a character - he's only 65 but is depicted as if he were 85, whilst Carol is just downright irritating, as, to be honest, are all the other characters, and the novel is related in what sometimes passes for a witty and humorous voice, but this does not always work.
All in all this was somewhat disappointing.
April 23, 2016
I write this review thanking a very good friend for recommending me this great book! It was a pleasant, compelling and emotional read that drew me in from the very beginning and connects you with each of the characters. I really enjoyed Carol and Albert, two strangers on completely different paths and stages in life. Carol is a middle aged office worker on the verge of asking her husband for a divorce and has no idea how to communicate with her teenage daughter. Albert works for Royal Mail and is in the last months of retirement, living alone with his cat. Frustrated with everything, Carol’s friend recommends she puts her thoughts onto paper and posts them not thinking anyone would read them, but Albert does as part of one of his last jobs of cleaning up undeliverable mail. This is an entertaining, enjoyable read that I would not hesitate in recommending……
December 22, 2016
Impossible to connect with either of the two main characters.I asked myself many times whilst reading this book "how likely is that" ? .. and the downright nastiness seemed totally overdone. Altogether a rather frustrating read.
January 5, 2013
Received my copy today from Waterstones and couldn't put it down! Harold Fry but with a much better story and better characters-excellent!
July 24, 2021
Carol is a 38 year old married mother of one who is bored with life and her marriage. She feels like her daughter doesn't like her - not that she likes her much either - and finds herself wanting change.
Desperate to end her marriage, Carol plucks up the courage to do it one evening only for her husband to tell her that he's found a lump and is fearing the worse.
Confiding in her best friend Helen, Carol is encouraged to write a letter to the universe expressing her thoughts and feelings and then burn it.
Although Carol at first thinks this is a terrible idea, once she gives it a go, she finds herself pouring her heart out on paper, writing things she would never say out loud. But intsead of burning the letters, she decides to post them with nothing but a smiley face on the envelope. Little does she know that although they're not addressed to anyone, her letters will go a long way to helping someone.
Albert is facing his last few weeks working for the Royal Mail - a job he has valued for decades, but while some people would be counting down the days, he's dreading it. A widower of 40 years, all that waits for him is in his quiet flat in a rough neighbourhood is his cat Gloria and a grumpy neighbour.
Faced with sorting out the undeliverable mail in the back office in a job most people would hate, Albert knows he's being pushed to the side until his last day, but determined to continue doing a good job, he embraces his new role.
While sorting out the mail into different piles, one day Albert comes across an envelope with no address on it, just a smiley face and although it goes against protocol, he opens it and finds himself reading the words of a total stranger who somehow he feels connected to.
This connection, albeit on paper suddenly gives Albert a new lease of life.
I struggled to get into this book at the start, but the more I read it I really enjoyed it, but felt that the ending let it down. It didn't seem to connect to the rest of the story and I felt it could have been much better than it was.
Desperate to end her marriage, Carol plucks up the courage to do it one evening only for her husband to tell her that he's found a lump and is fearing the worse.
Confiding in her best friend Helen, Carol is encouraged to write a letter to the universe expressing her thoughts and feelings and then burn it.
Although Carol at first thinks this is a terrible idea, once she gives it a go, she finds herself pouring her heart out on paper, writing things she would never say out loud. But intsead of burning the letters, she decides to post them with nothing but a smiley face on the envelope. Little does she know that although they're not addressed to anyone, her letters will go a long way to helping someone.
Albert is facing his last few weeks working for the Royal Mail - a job he has valued for decades, but while some people would be counting down the days, he's dreading it. A widower of 40 years, all that waits for him is in his quiet flat in a rough neighbourhood is his cat Gloria and a grumpy neighbour.
Faced with sorting out the undeliverable mail in the back office in a job most people would hate, Albert knows he's being pushed to the side until his last day, but determined to continue doing a good job, he embraces his new role.
While sorting out the mail into different piles, one day Albert comes across an envelope with no address on it, just a smiley face and although it goes against protocol, he opens it and finds himself reading the words of a total stranger who somehow he feels connected to.
This connection, albeit on paper suddenly gives Albert a new lease of life.
I struggled to get into this book at the start, but the more I read it I really enjoyed it, but felt that the ending let it down. It didn't seem to connect to the rest of the story and I felt it could have been much better than it was.
May 15, 2020
Promising but Disappointing
I would have given it 4 stars for the premise, the writing style and the humor - if not for the ending. While the twists in the last two third were good, the loose ends were only tied in the last two pages. And the way they were tied to the central characters left me regretting staying up till 2AM (and
earlier foregoing playtime with my baby).
Liked: It is an easy read. Albert is adorable. We root for the two characters to meet. Do read it for its perceptive take into our humanity, loneliness and the rawness of feelings and fears that connect us all.
Disliked: The aura of negativity. EVERY single character except Pat was a "sad loser", it's as if the author wrote it in a bout of depression. Carol's sarcasm was barely tolerable, but we still wanted her to be happy (spoilers ahead) aside from the decision she takes in the end. Also, there was nothing much about the characters we rooted for! Carol influenced Albert, true. How did Albert really influence Carol??
I might not read it again but I am grateful to have read this one.
I would have given it 4 stars for the premise, the writing style and the humor - if not for the ending. While the twists in the last two third were good, the loose ends were only tied in the last two pages. And the way they were tied to the central characters left me regretting staying up till 2AM (and
earlier foregoing playtime with my baby).
Liked: It is an easy read. Albert is adorable. We root for the two characters to meet. Do read it for its perceptive take into our humanity, loneliness and the rawness of feelings and fears that connect us all.
Disliked: The aura of negativity. EVERY single character except Pat was a "sad loser", it's as if the author wrote it in a bout of depression. Carol's sarcasm was barely tolerable, but we still wanted her to be happy (spoilers ahead) aside from the decision she takes in the end. Also, there was nothing much about the characters we rooted for! Carol influenced Albert, true. How did Albert really influence Carol??
I might not read it again but I am grateful to have read this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 29, 2020
An easy and underwhelming read about a dysfunctional Croydon family. Carol has been unhappily married to Bob for years; he now has testicular cancer. Their teenage daughter, Sophie, barely acknowledges her parents.
Carol begins to write letters addressed to no one to offload her feelings, and they are dumped in the ‘undeliverable’ pile at the PO.
Widower Albert, due to retire and lonely is given the job of sorting out the pile of undeliverables and becomes obsessed with Carol and makes it his mission to discover who she is.
It’s mildly amusing, too sentimental and described by The Daily Mail as ‘..off beat and moving’ Hmm... ‘nuff said.
Carol begins to write letters addressed to no one to offload her feelings, and they are dumped in the ‘undeliverable’ pile at the PO.
Widower Albert, due to retire and lonely is given the job of sorting out the pile of undeliverables and becomes obsessed with Carol and makes it his mission to discover who she is.
It’s mildly amusing, too sentimental and described by The Daily Mail as ‘..off beat and moving’ Hmm... ‘nuff said.
December 23, 2024
3.5/4 ⭐
An enjoyable fast paced read, started off strong, wavered slightly last 1/3 but last few pages ended well.
A humorous, heartfelt, honest debut about a lady unhappy in life and a widow nearing retirement.
Realistic/true to life for many in the way it was written. Tom writes openly in Lost And Found and at times I must admit I was abit put off with the honesty of Carol and her feelings and the way she was voicing them.
Would recommend as I think this would appeal to many 💕
An enjoyable fast paced read, started off strong, wavered slightly last 1/3 but last few pages ended well.
A humorous, heartfelt, honest debut about a lady unhappy in life and a widow nearing retirement.
Realistic/true to life for many in the way it was written. Tom writes openly in Lost And Found and at times I must admit I was abit put off with the honesty of Carol and her feelings and the way she was voicing them.
Would recommend as I think this would appeal to many 💕
August 5, 2020
I wanted to like this, but the miserable characters made it difficult. Started skimming it from page 100... Carol in particular is really unlikeable. I know it was meant to be funny in a sad kind of way, but it came across as a pathetic kind of sadness. Meh.
October 18, 2023
Don't judge this book by its cover and especially the description on the back for it isn't the cute story you may think it is. Instead it's witty, very sad and desperate at times and it has a beautiful ending.
November 21, 2024
I loved the premise of this book and its story, but my God, how depressing was it! None of the characters were likeable, well apart from Albert (and Gloria), and they all hated each other - not sure if Winter did this on purpose mind. I've never read anything else by him, so I can't compare.
March 18, 2017
Probably a three star book but the excellent ending dragged it up to a four. Great central characters.
November 26, 2017
This book was generally a goid quick read. The ending was really sweet and very fitting
December 12, 2022
Läste den här för längesedan. 2013, 2017? Jag minns den fortfarande o tyckte att den var Fantastisk! med ett underbart fint omslag
August 22, 2025
Slow moving and quite bleak, with very little to redeem it other than a few funny moments at the beginning.
July 24, 2020
I really liked the story at the beginning, but it didn't turn out the way I hoped.
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