Janice can’t recall what started her collection. Maybe it was in a fragment of conversation overheard whilst cleaning? Before long, Janice notices 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… 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! And the writing is pretty good, it is engaging and the flow is just perfect for this kind of book, which is way out of my comfort zone and therefor quite difficult to rate and review. So begins a charming tale that shows us how literature (and dogs) can bring people together and enrich their lives-and that sometimes the people you are overlooking can have QUITE an interesting story to tell!

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 make

Christmas Gifts

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. 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.

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.’ I fell in live with Janice almost straight away. This is a beautifully written book. Janice's life stories are gleaned from the clients that she cleans for. She cares about her clients and their stories but we don't know much about Janice, but she does have a deep dark secret that she's unwilling to share. This is a character driven story. This book wasn't quite what I was expecting, it was much better. Everyone has a story to tell. But if you don't have one, you become a collector of other people's stories.”

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Basically, this is a sweet book that means very well and has its moments of sunshine. But it could have been so much more had it been handled differently. I don’t know how I would have felt about this had I read it, but I know that the audiobook was certainly a wonderful way of getting to know this story. The characters are well rounded and developed. Janice is so lovely but has a devastating past that controls her, along with her waste of space husband. Euan is a bus driver who looks like a geography teacher; he is kind and caring and likes Janice. Adam, a twelve-year-old who has recently lost his dad to suicide, is heart-breaking, his pain is evident, and he needs to lash out and then learn to live his best life. ABOUT 'THE KEEPER OF STORIES': 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. Not that she’s complacent. ‘I’ve always worked to support myself and my family,’ she says proudly. ‘I feel that even if it all stopped tomorrow, I’d do what I’ve always done and go out and get a job.’ [ends} This one was a bit of a slow burn, but I did enjoy it and might just add “Vanity Fair’ to my reading pile now.