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

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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. You can say this i s kind of collection of short stories but it is told by a person observing it and giving it a shape and making the short collection into a novel. And most surprising and amazing is author’s note saying all these stories, both historical and real in book, are based on true stories.

She likes all the people she cleans for except for one married couple who work from home-“Mrs. Yeah Yeah Yeah” and “Mr. No, Not Now!” She does however, love the dog that she walks for them-Decius-a Fox terrier who walks on his toes like a ballerina, and has such an expressive face that she just KNOWS when he is saying to her-“Don’t say a word. Not a f***ing word.” or “WTF?”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? 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.’ 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. On a positive note, the book had some endearing simple messages, it was devoid of smut, death, and violence. If you don't read every day then you could rejoin this book with ease. Cleaner Janice knows that it is in people's stories that you really get to know them. From recently-widowed Fiona and her son Adam; to opera-singing Geordie; and the awful Mrs "YeahYeahYeah" and her fox terrier, Janice has a unique insight into the community around her. When Janice starts cleaning for Mrs B - a shrewd woman in her nineties - she finally meets someone who wants to hear her story. But Janice doesn't have a story to share. Mrs B is no fool and knows there's more to Janice than meets the eye. What is Janice hiding?

Everyone has a story to tell. But if you don't have one, you become a collector of other people's stories.” So why only three stars? Because I found the main character, Janice, pretty annoying and clueless. She is portrayed as a smart middle aged woman, but her actions are all on the contrary: she stays with her freeloading husband, she doesn't stand her ground with people that push her around, and miraculously, she is friends with many of her clients. Having said that - and if you are prepared to get past this - the stories are nice and the dialogues with the dog made me smile all the time.Mrs B is my favorite character. She, at first, looked difficult woman in her 90s but she is just lonely still missing her husband, and want to live on the college campus where her husband worked and they lived, until she dies. But her son has different ideas and he wants her to move to old age homes. It was sad to see no one understood her or spent time with her like Janice did. She looked frail but she is feisty and colorful character as she was spy when she was younger. I found myself aligning with her thoughts and beliefs. And what she did at the end is touching and heartfelt. I just wish I could live with this old lady. For some time now Janice has been collecting stories. She is a cleaner and she overhears lots of conversations because she is virtually invisible. It does not help that she has a husband of a thousand jobs. He is always coming up with hair-brained schemes as he eats into their savings mostly without even discussing it. He always refers to her as “just a cleaner” her job does not define her. With all these stories there is one story she neglects to think about is her own. This is mainly character driven plot. The book has a slow start but after finishing the book I feel it was good as it gave me time to ease into the story with introduction of Janice, the houses she works in and what story they have, her husband of many jobs, what employers she doesn’t like and how through those employers she met and started working for Mrs B who saw through her and could tell she too has a story. Janice believed she is keeper of stories, she doesn’t have her own at least not the one she will share with anyone but Mrs B wouldn’t let her keep it hidden. It was interesting to read each stories Janice collected, to find out how they end, and most of all what is Janice’s story. Cleaner Janice knows that it is in people’s stories that you really get to know them. From recently-widowed Fiona and her son Adam; to opera-singing Geordie; and the awful Mrs ‘YeahYeahYeah’ and her fox terrier, Decius, Janice has a unique insight into the community around her.