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

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Thus begins the narrative, effectively capturing the personality of lead character Janice, a woman in her late 40s who works as a cleaner in other people’s homes. Janice relishes others' stories and has a fondness for collecting them, not for gossip but to feel like she's part of their stories and gets to know them better. When she gets a new job cleaning for Mrs. B, a shrewd and formidable lady in her 90s, Janice finally meets someone who wants to know her (Janice’s) story and what she’s hiding beneath that effective cleaner façade. Will Janice share the story that she has kept buried for so long? 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.’ Fictionophile’s OCTOBER 2023 Reading Wrap-Up #bookblogger #MonthlyWrapUp#Fictionophile October 31, 2023 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. 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 - Kindle edition by Page, Sally The Keeper of Stories - Kindle edition by Page, Sally

Cleaner Janice is a recent addition to the cast of marginalised women toiling on the margins of society that have been populating recent literary fiction output. Janice is so sympathetically drawn that readers will want to root for her from the beginning. Trapped in a stale marriage that has run its course and seemingly devoid of a story of her own, Janice instead collects the anecdotes of the colourful, idiosyncratic people she cleans for - until one of her clients becomes interested in her story after all, But what will happen when Janice starts reflecting on who she actually is? After studying history at university, Sally moved to London to work in advertising. In her spare time she studied floristry at night school and eventually opened her own flower shop. Sally came to appreciate that flower shops offer a unique window into people’s stories and she began to photograph and write about this floral life in a series of non-fiction books. Later, she continued her interest in writing when she founded her fountain pen company, Plooms.co.uk. 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 BAfter studying history at university, I moved to London to work in advertising. However, in my spare time I studied floristry at night school and eventually opened my own flower shop. I soon came to appreciate that flower shops offer a unique window into people’s stories and eventually I began to photograph and write about this floral life in a series of non-fiction books. Later, I continued my interest in writing when I founded my fountain pen company, Plooms.co.uk. Another key theme in The Keeper Of Stories is friendship. As Max and Emilia travel through Deltora, they form strong bonds with the people they meet along the way and rely on each other for emotional support. This reinforces the importance of friendship as a source of strength and comfort in difficult times. Life-affirming, hopeful fiction that can definitely fit into the 'Uplit' genre, this wonderful novel will definitely be on my list of 'Best Books of 2022'. Highly recommended!

The Keeper of Stories by Sally Page Book Review The Keeper of Stories by Sally Page Book Review

To pass the time while she’s scrubbing a toilet, dusting or doing a task that the home owner despises she notices her clients talk and she puts together their stories. Janice’s head is full of her stories, she has been doing this for as longs as she can remember, some having meaning and others are floating around in her mind.This was a well-written story that really focuses on characterisation. It is what I would consider an ‘observational’ drama, and this feeds into Janice’s character as a ‘story-teller’ or, as some may call her, a bit of a gossip. For Sally, it happened like this. ‘One day, in 2016, I woke up and had the idea for a story. I thought that I’d really like to try and write it and, as I did so, I discovered that I absolutely adored writing creatively and just couldn’t stop.’ Life-affirming, hopeful fiction that can definitely fit into the ‘Uplit’ genre, this wonderful novel will definitely be on my list of ‘Best Books of 2022’. Highly recommended! This is such a character driven tale and testament to the writing, I was not confused once as to who was who. The care that Janice provides to each of her clients is special - just like she is. There are some wonderful characters but it would be remiss of me not to give a big shout out to Mrs B and Decius the swearing fox-terrier. As Janice cleans and cares, she collects the essence of conversations she hears - some are special and many are very funny - but all very believable and relatable. 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.