The Little Shop of Found Things

The Little Shop of Found Things by Paula Brackston,
Xanthe and her mother acquire an antique shop in Marlborough, a peculiar place ideal for starting anew. Xanthe possesses an extraordinary gift; she can hear objects “speak” to her, learning their histories and calming restless spirits. The property they purchased harbors its own ghost, which Xanthe soon discovers. This spirit endangers her mother, compelling Xanthe to act in order to protect her.

I'm still dabbling in Historical Fiction because, I'll freely admit, it's a genre that intimidates me. It might be irrational, but when I don't know much about the time period the book is set in I get anxious. I'm worried that I'll be lost. So when I started The Little Shop of Found Things, and found myself in the tiny town of Marlborough, I was utterly enchanted. Xanthe and her mother immediately felt like home. The people she met in town felt like family. Brackston made me feel like this was a story I belonged in, and it was wonderful.

Granted, this was all before Xanthe actually sent off on her historical adventure. However, even when she did find the chatelaine and discover she could travel back in time, I never had a moment where I felt out of place. This story makes it easy to follow along, no matter how much you know about the 1600's. Xanthe's character is sweet, but determined. She's someone who you would follow forever. It helped that Brackston puts all manner of intriguing people in Xanthe's path as she navigates the 1605 version of her new home. The fact that there was also no heavy romance present, but simply the sweet outline of one, made me smile. I won't spoil, but Samuel Appleby is definitely one of my favorite people in this book.

In terms of pacing, this story does an excellent job of gently leading the reader by the hand. There's no hurry, but neither did I ever feel like things were dragging. Xanthe spends just enough time in each location to make it feel realistic. I loved how she consistently had to remind herself of what a person of her standing would say, and do, in that time period. It felt like Brackston had a lot of fun fitting Xanthe's fiery personality into an older world where women were better seen and not heard. It made this a lot of fun to read.

Rambling aside, I'll simply say that this book was a treat. I wasn't expecting to love it, and yet the story was so easy to get lost in that I soon found I couldn't stop reading. Accessible historical fiction like this, stories that reach out and pull you in, is exactly what I've been looking for. I'm so pleased that I discovered The Little Shop of Found Things.

I wanted to like this but I think it just wasn't my cup of tea. I love stories about time travel and I love fantasy. But I don't usually love stories where someone just time travels to the past and then it just feels like a historical novel with a fish out of water.