Review of THE MISSING TREASURES OF AMY ASHTON by Eleanor Ray (New Release)

 3.5 Stars

This book is for readers who enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman.

Amy Ashton once dreamed of being an artist, but the betrayal of her boyfriend Tim and her best friend Chantal eleven years earlier sent her life spiraling out of control.  Finding it difficult to trust people, Amy chooses to love things instead since they won’t abandon her.  She has collected a variety of things (cups, lighters, ashtrays, vases, wine bottles, newspapers), giving them a safe place where they are loved.  Her hoarding, however, means that there is virtually no free space in her home.

New people move in next door, and the two young boys, Charlie and Daniel, cause havoc in her backyard, inadvertently uncovering something that sets Amy on another search to find out what happened to Tim and Chantal when they disappeared.  Her investigation is assisted by Charlie and his father Richard.  Can she learn what happened to Tim and Chantal?  Can she learn to let go of things and make room for people in her life?

Via flashbacks, the reader learns about Amy’s relationships with Tim and Chantal and the events leading up to their disappearances.  What these flashbacks also reveal is the rationale for the items Amy collects.  She formed attachments to objects connected to a particularly meaningful memory, “surrounding herself with belongings that made her remember a past long gone.”  Since she doesn’t smoke, the collecting of lighters and ashtrays, for instance, was puzzling.

The book becomes a mystery when Amy becomes an amateur investigator determined to find out what happened to the two most important people in her life, “her lifelong best friend and boyfriend of ten years.”  The solution to the mystery is somewhat predictable, especially after Amy reconnects with an acquaintance from the past.  Unfortunately, a piece of the puzzle revealed at the end just doesn’t feel right; it seems unrealistic and the reader must suspend disbelief. 

Amy is an interesting character.  Though her administrative job is not her passion, she maintains a “carefully cultivated image of controlled competence” at work.  More than anything, she wants not to draw attention to herself, so she dresses in drab colours and avoids social interactions.  She is preoccupied with making sure “that no one would ever hurt her like that again” and protecting her collection:  “She had a responsibility to keep her beautiful possessions safe.  They trusted her.”  The flashbacks show her as a person full of life and humour; because of what happened, she has virtually no life so the reader cannot but feel sympathy for her.  Certainly she does not have a happy life; she admits that her collected treasures “made her feel almost happy at times.”

The message of the book is the importance of learning to let go of things that don’t matter.  Though she would be best to get therapy, Amy does start to realize that there are things that are suffocating her and she needs to remove items to make space for people:  “Real life needed space to grow.”  The book also emphasizes the importance of accepting people’s flaws.  After all, we all have baggage because “No one travels lightly through life anymore.’” 

Amy enjoyed books, “with stories where people made mistakes and learned from them and grew.”  That is a good description of this book.  It is quirky and heartwarming, reminding us that second chances are possible. 

Note:  I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.