Unclaimed Baggage

by Jen Doll

Doris-a lone liberal in a conservative small town-has mostly kept to herself since the terrible waterslide incident a few years ago. Nell had to leave behind her best friends, perfect life, and too-good-to-be-true boyfriend in Chicago to move to Alabama. Grant was the star quarterback and epitome of "Mr. Popular" whose drinking problem has all but destroyed his life. What do these three have in common? A summer job working in a store called Unclaimed Baggage cataloging and selling other people's lost luggage. Together they find that through friendship, they can unpack some of their own emotional baggage and move on into the future.

• ISBN10: 0374306060
• ISBN13: 9780374306069
• Publish Date: 18 September 2018
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 23 December 2022
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 3.5 Stars

I am going to start by saying, that I love the concept behind this book. Three teens, who are trying to find how they fit in this world are brought together, and a wonderful and unlikely friendship forms. I was totally onboard with the underlying concept of this book.

I wanted to run for president of the Doris fan club from chapter 1. I loved her voice and her quest to be a connector. It was very beautiful and altruistic, and I thought it was wonderful, that she wouldn't let setbacks keep her from being true to herself and doing the right thing.

I was a fan of the friendship, which developed quickly between Nell and Doris. Being the lone liberal in a conservative town cannot be easy, and it was great that the universe brought a "yankee" into Doris' world.

Shortly thereafter, Grant joined the group. Doris had a past with Grant, and it was not a good one. However, because Doris' goal was to be a "connector", she showed him grace and welcomed Grant into her small circle. Thank goodness she did, because Grant's life was in turmoil. I really appreciated the way Doll handled Grant's addiction. We saw how it affected him and those around him, and I liked that she did not shy away from the ugliness of it.

Though Doris was struggling with past pain and losses, it was Grant's situation, which really broke my heart. His confusion, denial, and guilt made me want to give him a hug. I was so proud of any progress he made, and utterly downtrodden when he failed, but I never stopped rooting for him.

The store was such a source of fascination for me. I looked forward to getting in new shipments, and sorting through people's lost things. The process was fun, and there was even a little mystery suitcase. This suitcase had a few highlights, which I thought were fairly brilliant in the way they tied into our characters' struggles. But what really, really delighted me, was the backstory of the bag, and it's connection to Doris. I love when authors do that sort of thing.

Yes, I liked many, many things about this book, but I did feel like the author was a bit heavy handed at times. I understood that Doris was the lonely liberal, and I did appreciate that Doll tried to point out that not all southerns or christians are bad, but she turned what was initially a really light hearted and amusing story into something much more dramatic. There was also one liberal darling that seemed forced into the story, when it was initially introduced, whereas many of the others worked more organically with the story.

I will commend Doll on deftly combining the three POVs, and delivering an entertaining story, which had a lot of depth and was packed with some fantastic characters.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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