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. ( )

The Little Shop of Found Things by Paula Brackston. Following Xanthe and her mother Flora as they start a new life from scratch, Xanthe discovers a new facet to her peculiar talent of being able to discern information of previous owners of the antiques they sell. Normally, this is only in flashes and feelings, but this chatelaine is providing much more and there is a dire mystery that only she can solve. Overall, this was a quick and enjoyable read, but for my own tastes, I felt that the pacing was too slow. I will most likely read the next novel in the series. 3.5/5 stars. ( )

The Little Shop of Found Things by Paula Brackston
BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS:
Print: 10/16/2018; St. Martin's Griffin, First Edition; ISBN 978-1250072436; 320 pages.
Audio: COPYRIGHT: 10/16/2018; PUBLISHER: MacMillan Audio; DURATION: 12:49:49; PARTS: 12; Unabridged; FILE SIZE: 366683 KB
Feature Film or tv: No. At least, not yet.

SERIES: The Little Shop of Found Things. Book 2

Major characters:
Xanthe Westlake – primary character—young lady with special gifts
Flora Westlake — Xanthe’s mother—Antique Shop’s primary owner
Samuel Appleby – An architect in the 17th century
Alice Merton—A maid in the 17th century
Margaret Merton – Alice’s mother
Geraldine (Geri) – The owner of the teashop across from the Antique shop
Harley – The owner of the Three Feather’s pub
Liam – A guitar playing automotive enthusiast

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
I confess. I DO judge a book by its cover. I saw this one in Barnes and Noble and was instantly intrigued, so I checked it out online from Overdrive/LAPL and I was not disappointed! I love Xanthe! She shares all of my interests—even the little chatelaine, that enchants her when she “meets” it, strikes a chord (I was once enchanted by a tiny fountain pen (which I now own) that had been made to hang from a chatelaine.)

AUTHOR:
Paula Brackston. According to Wikipedia, “Paula Brackston (aka P. J. Brackston, P. J. Davy, and Mabli Roberts) is the New York Times bestselling[1][2] author of The Witch's Daughter and other historical fantasy novels. She also writes the fantasy crime Brothers Grimm Mystery series under the pseudonym P. J. Brackston.[3][4]”

NARRATOR:
Marisa Calin. According to Wikipedia, “Marisa Calin is an American-born English actress, writer and producer.”

GENRE:
Fiction; Fantasy; England; Historical Fiction

LOCATIONS:
Marlborough; Wiltshire Countryside; Great Chalfield

TIME FRAME:
Contemporary; 17th Century

SUBJECTS:
Antiques; Psychometry; Time Travel; Occult; Romance

DEDICATION:
"For Melanie: Celebrating fifty years of friendship. Here’s to another fifty!”

SAMPLE QUOTATION:
From Chapter 1:
“It is a commonly held belief that the most likely place to find a ghost is beneath a shadowy moon, among the ruins of a castle, or perhaps in an abandoned house where the living have fled leaving only spirits to drift from room to room. To believe so is to acknowledge but half a truth, for there is a connection with those passed over to be found much nearer home. Every soul that once trod this brutal earth leaves their imprint upon the things that mattered to them. The things that they held, the things that once echoed to the beat of their hearts. That heartbeat may yet be felt, faint but clear, transmitted through the fabric of those belongings, linking us to the dear one long gone through however many years have passed. Or at least, some may feel it. Some can hear its fluttering rhythm. Some can sense the life force that once thrummed through the golden metal, or gorgeous gem, or even the tattered remnant of a wedding gown. Some have the ability, the sensitivity, the gift to be able to connect to those lost ones through these precious objects.
Xanthe Westlake was such a person. The tall, young woman with the tumble of golden curls falling about her shoulders was possessed of that special gift. She had been barely eight years old when first it had shown itself. On that particular day she held a small silver teapot, turning it over in her hands, smiling brightly.
“You like that, Xanthe?” her mother, Flora, asked.
She nodded, running her fingers over the intricate filigree pattern on the cool silver. “It’s a happy teapot,” she told her.
“Really? How do you know?” “Because I can hear it singing,” she said, holding it up. “It was a present from a sailor to his daughter. He’d been away at sea for a long, long time, and when he came home he gave her this, and she made tea for them both. She loved her father very much.”
“Wow,” her mother said. “You got all that from the teapot?”
At the time, she must have thought such a proclamation merely the product of a youthful imagination, but later, when she inquired as to the teapot’s provenance and discovered that it had originated in Spain and been part of a sea captain’s estate, well, then she began to take notice of her child’s opinions. From that day, she started giving Xanthe things to hold to see if they would “sing” to her. And sometimes they did. And so her daughter would accompany her on buying trips to hunt for treasures. There was never any question but that she would go into the family business.”

RATING:
5 stars. Well done. I have a new author to explore! (New to me, I mean.)

STARTED READING – FINISHED READING
2-24-2022 to 3-7-2022 ( )

The Little Shop of Found Things by Paula Brackston was a fun read involving time travel, romance, ghosts and antiques. Mother and daughter, Flora and Xanthe Westlake move to the market town of Marlborough in Wiltshire and plan to open an antique store. Although Flora is the lover of antiques and Xanthe prefers singing for a living, it is Xanthe that some pieces sing to and draw her into their story.

One particular piece that they acquire speaks loudly to Xanthe and it, as well as a very forceful ghost directs her to time travel to the 1600s in order to help a young girl who has been accused of theft and is in danger of being hung. The ghost is the mother of this young girl and she threatens to harm Flora unless Xanthe can get her daughter proven innocent and freed. Xanthe must figure out what happened and how it can be fixed. She is aided in the present by the handsome Liam and in the past by the dark and brooding Samuel.

The Little Shop of Found Things is the first of a trilogy so I am expecting that Xanthe will be doing more time travel in the next books. And although Liam seems very interested in her, it is obvious that she is drawn to the 17th century and Samuel. I am looking forward to continuing on with the trilogy and finding out what happens. ( )

Story was a little tedious in the middle, I wished we had a name to the dude that nicked Xanthes car so maybe that way he could be the bad guy instead of a small plot device to link Liam to her. I also feel that Alice should’ve been blackmailed or was a scapegoat of someone else who stole the items but nope that didn’t happen.

Other then that I do feel bad for Samuel, he was a decent fellow and I liked him a lot, more so than Liam, (it would be interesting to see if Liam is his descendant tho) and I do like the 17 century songs being introduced to us (American here) and the history was well interesting. It was also fun seeing the characters dialogue go from 17th century to modern day English as well, just proves how language evolved from the years. ( )