Of Things Gone Astray is a fascinating debut novel by Janina Matthewson. This is such an unusual story, an unusual method of telling it — days later, I am still thinking about it.

This is a story about loss – about the things we lose, what they mean to us, and how we replace them. The characters – Delia, Cassie, Anthony, Jake, Marcus, Mrs. Featherby, Robert – have all lost something important to them. This isn’t a book about losing your car keys or misplacing a library book. Robert has lost his job. He wasn’t fired or laid off; he went to work one morning and the building was gone. The company, the people – all of it, just disappeared. Cassie has lost her sense of direction; one morning, she headed out to the corner store and got hopelessly lost, spending hours wandering through the city where she has lived all her life. Mrs. Featherby woke up one morning to find that the front wall of her home was gone.

Over the chapters, we come to understand what these things mean to the characters. Mrs. Featherby is a very private person, very proper and dignified, and being observed from the street, having people stop and look at her house and even speak to her – it’s horrifying. Delia begins to realize that she hasn’t just lost her sense of direction on the streets, she’s lost it in her life. She’s lost her drive and her life has become kind of aimless. She meets Anthony, a widower who is losing touch with his son, Jake. They quite literally do not see each other when they are in the same house. It’s an extreme sort of estrangement, as they both deal with their grief.

The stories tangle and overlap in intriguing ways. Secrets are revealed. We find out more about the characters and what brought them to this point. Some of the stories wrap up neatly; others leave us hanging. And as I said, days later, I am still thinking about it, thinking about these characters. I love a story that lingers! I want the characters to get under my skin and stick to my brain and keep me up at night. It’s a great debut novel and although I have no idea what Matthewson might do to follow this up, I know that I’ll be interested in reading it.

My copy of Of Things Gone Astray is an Advanced Reader Copy, provided free of charge.