The Keeper of Stories: The most charming and uplifting novel you will read this year!

Product Information

This book was a different read to my normal, but i loved it, ir reminded me of my childhood when my dada would make up stories of Hobgoblins and leprechauns in the woods..... She can’t recall what started her collection. Maybe it was in a fragment of conversation overheard as she cleaned a sink? Before long (as she dusted a sitting room or defrosted a fridge) she noticed people were telling her their stories. Perhaps they had always done so, but now it is different, now the stories are reaching out to her and she gathers them to her ...

The Keeper of Stories – HarperCollins Publishers UK

She wants to hammer home with true conviction that she is the story collector. That she gathers stories because she doesn’t have a story. She wants to shout this loudly to drown the little voice within her.’Janice is a cleaner, the best in Cambridge. She also collects stories, of both those she works for and people she encounters in her life. Her personal life is not easy and little by little it is revealed why this is the case. This is mainly a book about friendships and about how the past can impact your future. The story is well told and emotions are dealt with sensitively and realistically. Janice comes to realize her worth as the book progresses and starts to let friends into her world .

The Keeper of Stories - HarperCollins Australia The Keeper of Stories - HarperCollins Australia

It’s about the friendship between her, a runaway vicar who is 57 and an older man called Malcolm,’ says Sally. ‘It’s a bit of a love story, as well as being about friendship.’ The people are so real all totally believable a fabulous selection of British eccentrics .I particularly loved the ex spy Mrs B from her first appearance disguised in kimono and hat with mouldy cherries on the top As her writing star rose, Sally’s agent was delighted to find that the treasure trove of other novels. Sally is currently in a giant editing phase, as she readies them for publication.Janice is a cleaner. She sees many things as she goes about her work and feels everyone has a story to tell- just one that makes them who they are. She really doesn't like her husband any more- he has had almost a job for every year she has known him and she finds him dull and tedious so she finds life in other people. When she goes to clean for Mrs B, she finally meets someone who wants to know her story- but does she have one? The Keeper of Stories" is about human nature with all its flaws and inconsistencies. A fabulous story about storytelling and about guilt. It showcases people who are selfish and narcissistic as well as people who are kindness personified. It also portrays the blessings of friendship, and the influence parents have over their children, both good and bad, and the love of a good dog (with a foul mouth). Absolutely spellbinding…Warm-hearted, thoughtful, funny, and yet deeply poignant.” – Celia Anderson, author of 59 Memory Lane I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel from One More Chapter/ HarperCollins UK via NetGalley at my request, for my own reading enjoyment and the writing of this review.

The Keeper of Stories: The most charming and uplifting novel The Keeper of Stories: The most charming and uplifting novel

Janice is a cleaner, she's married to Mike and they have a grown up son Simon. Janice spends her days catching buses, cleaning people’s houses, some of her customers are nice to her and others don’t consider she’s a human being and has feelings. This book is very different from what I expected but in a good way. I really enjoyed reading the various stories and I was sad to reach the end of the book. I highly recommend it as it’s a very good read. There are so many wonderful stories in The Keeper of Stories that I really want to sit down and listen to this all over again. This book really isn’t something I would’ve found organically and chosen for myself to read, but I was actually pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it in the end. If you want something a little bit different, and you’re the kind of person who makes up a little narrative about every stranger they people watch on public transport - you might really like this one.Odd as it may sound, it works!Janice is a cleaner, ‘an exceptional cleaner’ who, as she goes about her daily life, collects stories, other people’s stories, which she collates in her mind. She believes that it is only through people’s stories, you can really get to know someone. These two women develop a strange friendship as each tries to help the other. Mrs B.’s son is trying to force her out of her home and Janice, having been pushed to the limits of tolerance, ‘has a bit of a turn’ and leaves Mike. She is surprised by the people who tell her ‘it’s about time’. The lead character, Janice, is the key to this eclectic cast of characters and she is superb. Quiet and unassuming, ‘just a cleaner’, who goes about her everyday life gathering other peoples stories. I simply adored Janice - she is pivotal not only to the other sub stories sprinkled throughout but also to the great life lesson in finding your very own story. Mrs. YeahYeahYeah – is married to Mr. NoNoNotNow. They are very wealthy and snobbish. They are the owners of the fox terrier that Janice loves and that is the only reason she continues to clean their house. Stories are the lifeblood of our collective spirit, the way we remember who we are and where we come from.”

The Keeper of Stories | Sally Page | 9780008453503 | NetGalley The Keeper of Stories | Sally Page | 9780008453503 | NetGalley

If you ever feel like you need some light entertainment in between more serious or painful reads, then this is the right book for you. I certainly felt I could do with such a book and it filled that craving nearly perfectly. The Keeper of Stories is a superb book - brilliant in fact - one to certainly treasure. I found it to be beautifully written with such heartfelt emotion across a wide cross selection of themes and characters. I simply love the concept of collecting stories whilst unknowingly unraveling one kept so close to your own heart. Sally has penned an intelligent yet thoughtful book that is sure to endear itself to many readers. 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. There are some fascinating characters in the book, almost all of whom are Janice’s clients or their family members. There’s Fiona, a grieving widow, and her teenaged son Adam who is still learning to face life without his father. There’s Geordie Bowman, a rich and famous opera singer with a generous heart. There’s Mrs. YeahYeahYeah and her husband Mr. NoNoNotNow, thus named by Janice for their catchphrase. But no character is as wonderful as their fox terrier Decius. The way the author has brought Decius to life is so brilliant, you won’t help but fall in love with him and his f-bombs. ( Oh yeah, a dog who cusses! 😂) Janice herself is pretty well-sketched, what with her love for books and her constant worries about things both great and small. She comes across as a really interesting character.Before long she noticed people were telling her their stories. Perhaps they always had done, but now it is different, now the stories are reaching out to her and she gathers them to her… In all honesty, this is a gentle read where not much happens. But, actually, I quite appreciated this story for the absence of twists and turns. The scenes between Mrs B and Janice were dominated with dry wit and sarcasm which I thought added to the entertainment of the story. It is definitely a novel about character personalities over everything else, and this reinforces the slower pace of the book. She collects other people's stories but keeps very quiet about her own. Will the bus driver, who looks like a geography teacher, manage to get it out of her? For that to happen, she'd have to meet him properly, maybe over coffee. The Keeper Of Stories is a captivating exploration of themes such as family and the power of storytelling. It wasn’t heavily publicised but seemed to sell by word of mouth,’ says Sally. ‘I’m sure it’s got a lot to do with the world we’re in; people had come out of Covid and there was a lot of bad news in the media. I think people wanted something warm, where ordinary people’s stories are told in an optimistic way.’