The Finding of Martha Lost by Caroline Wallace

Martha is lost.

She’s been lost since she was a baby, abandoned in a suitcase on the train from Paris. Ever since, she’s waited in station lost property for someone to claim her. It’s been sixteen years, but she’s still hopeful.

In the meantime, there are mysteries to solve: secret tunnels under the station, a suitcase that may have belonged to the Beatles, the roman soldier who appears at the same time every day with his packed lunch. Not to mention the stuffed monkey that someone keeps misplacing.

But there is one mystery Martha cannot solve. And now the authorities have found out about the girl in lost property. Time is running out - if Martha can’t discover who she really is, she will lose everything…

Title:        The Finding of Martha Lost
Author:    Caroline Wallace
Published By: Transworld Digital
Date:        March 10th 2016
Link:        UK: Amazon  US: Amazon

My Review

This is the most unusual and imaginative book I think I've ever read. It's about a girl who was, as a baby, abandoned in the Lost Property office of Lime street station in Liverpool. She was brought up by a fanatical woman known as 'Mother' who was very cruel to her, violently and emotionally in that she was always very vague about how much she knew about Martha's past and had instilled fear into the young girl by telling her the devil was going to get her. She also made Martha feel totally unlovable.

Martha is so sheltered from the outside world and her innocence is very touching. It was easy to fall in love with her and totally believable that the other regulars at Lime Street would be so protective of her.

I'm from Liverpool and so loved all the references to the places that were mentioned and the accent and certain words that only scousers say.

I was fascinated by the story of Mal Evans which apparently is true that he did work for the Beatles and he was shot dead in L A, I'd never heard of him before so that was interesting.

All in all I would say that this book was a gentle quirky magical fantasy of a foundling called Martha who accepted people for who they were and just wanted to find out who she was. I thoroughly enjoyed being on her journey with her and meeting those unusual people that she became close friends with, all of whom were lost in their own way.

This reminded me a little of the film Hugo.

Sincerely

Book Angels x

About the Author

Caroline Wallace worked as a lecturer for several years before turning her hand to fiction. She lives in Liverpool with her husband and their many children.