The Lost Ticket Freya Sampson Berkley August 30, 2022
Libby arrives in London dumped, homeless, and unemployed. On her way to crash with her demanding sister, she meets elderly Frank on the bus. He tells her that in 1962 he met a girl on the number 88 bus with red hair just like hers who changed his life. They made plans for a date at the National Gallery, but Frank lost her number. For the past sixty years, he’s ridden the same bus trying to find her. Libby is inspired to action and, with the help of unlikely companion Dylan, she papers the bus route with posters advertising their search. But Frank’s dementia progresses quickly and their chance of finding the girl on the 88 bus is slipping away.
Libby’s going through a painful breakup with her long-term boyfriend, and her relationship with her patronizing sister who has taken her in is equally stressful. Connecting with Frank allows Libby to throw herself into something and the two of them come to mean a great deal to one another. Along the way she meets his caregiver, punk-styled sweetheart Dylan, who stole the show for me.
I read this book in two sittings. Libby’s family and her ex-boyfriend were too awful to be believable and the big misunderstanding a bit of a stretch, but overall it’s a charming story about life choices and found family.
I received an arc from NetGalley
The setting here was great. I usually read books set 200 years earlier than this one. Do you like contemporary or historicals set in London?