I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

I’ve said it before: I’m a sucker for a good epistolary novel. I also love books about books. So I was thrilled to be approved for The Lost Manuscript by Cathy Bonidan, translated by Emma Ramadam.

Anne-Lise Briard is on vacation in a picturesque hotel on the French coast when she finds a manuscript in the drawer of the bedside table. A lover of literature, she reads it and is entranced, moved, and intrigued. There is an address tucked midway in the book, so she mails the manuscript back, unsure who might have written it, how long ago it was written, or how it could have ended up in the drawer.

The manuscript finds its way back to the author, who mislaid it many years ago, gave up on his writing career, and got on with his life. He has no idea how it ended up in the drawer. To add to the mystery, he didn’t finish the novel. Someone else did. And he has no idea how that happened either.

Anne-Lise is not going to let it end there. She is a people person with remarkable powers of persuasion. She begins to retrace, backwards, the progress of the manuscript through the years. She finds the people who have touched it, who it has touched, all of whom have a story to tell.

The novel within the novel is a love story, an unfinished one, that has the power to reawaken love and life in its readers. (I’m glad that excerpts from the novel in question are not included, because they no doubt would have been a disappointment.) The characters who played a role in passing it on all become part of the network working to solve the mystery of the manuscript’s trail and, most importantly, to discover the identify of the second author.

It’s a charming story full of good people who appreciate what books can do. Yes, it’s corny and not quite believable, but it’s lovely entertainment.

I loved this unique story! It’s told exclusively through letters and was executed perfectly. I have to give major props to the author, she was able to bring across the stories of multiple characters through this format and it could not have been easy! The writing is wonderful and almost lyrical in its quality. This was a fun book to read and each character was lovingly crafted. I enjoyed my time with this book and highly recommend! My thanks to the publisher for the advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

The Lost Manuscript by Cathy Bonidan is all about a book that has the power to change your life. After stumbling across a manuscript in a hotel, Anne-Lise Briard makes it a mission to find and connect with the author. But as she does, she opens a the door to not just one but a whirlwind of authors, each of whom held and helped along the manuscript in their own way. So what does it mean when a book changes your life — and what does it mean when authorship becomes collective? (TW: death, imprisonment, divorce and brief mentions of miscarriage and suicide.)

I found the premise for this one charming and intriguing. However, I wasn’t particularly enamored with the overall story. It kept me engaged, I chuckled a few times and there was a twist I didn’t see coming — yet, I couldn’t help feeling the emotional core didn’t really get to me at all. This book is supposed to be about the power of books to change your life and yet, I felt lukewarm toward this book. It may have been in part that the e-reader version kept me from feeling the warmth of the paper and the sound of a turning page that makes a book so lovable to me.

I think this book might hit differently for other readers — there’s a lot of about lost love, divorce and tragic circumstances that could resonate with you and make you identify with these characters’ journeys. For me, it didn’t quite hit the mark and I felt like I was observing the entire plot from above, instead of connecting personally with the characters.

The Lost Manuscript is out on January 12 (in 2021, which both doesn’t sound like a real year but that I’m also looking forward to a lot) and I think it’s worth a library checkout!

It was so easy to get immersed in this book with the writing style! It was such a great read and I can’t wait for release date to recommend it to everyone!

This is a good story with an interesting premise. I liked the way it’s written through correspondence of letters.
I recommend this book

Anne-Lise finds a manuscript left in a hotel room on the coast of Brittany and begins a search for the author when it has such a profound affect on her. It contains some different handwriting in it and when she finds the author, they discover the second half of the story was written by someone else. So begins their quest to find the people who had the manuscript in their hands and how it changed them. The story is told in letters written between the characters and their is humor, hope and a love of reading in the story that made for a happy read. I received a digital copy from the publisher through Netgalley for an honest review.

A vacation to Brittany leads Anne-Lise Briard on a complex journey through correspondence leading back 30 years. She finds a manuscript in the nightstand where she is staying, reads the book, falls in love with it and vows to return it to the author. A scrap of paper in the the book with an address has her sending it back to someone she thinks might be the author.

The author admits he wrote the first half of the book, but has no idea who completed it. He lost the book 3o years ago in Montreal and has no idea how it wound up in Brittany. Intrigued by the mystery, Anne-Lise decides to track the book's life through the people who read it. A delightfully charming book that leads Anne-Lise to people and places she might never have known and learns the truth about the authors. A refreshing change of pace.

Pour yourself a chouchen in a large, frosted glass and be prepared to lose track of time as you delve into Cathy Bonidan’s recently translated novel, ‘The Lost Manuscript.’ Originally written in French and named ‘Room 128,’ Bonidan’s epistolary exchanges over a 6-month period have a strong potential for screen adaptation.

Anne-Lise Briard has just checked into room 128 of the Beau Rivage Hotel in Finistère on the west coast of Brittany, France, when she looks over to the night table and discovers a manuscript. Believing the previous guest absent-mindedly left it, Anne-Lise plans on alerting the staff at the front desk the next morning. Her plans change, however, when she reads the manuscript. Upon finding an address scribbled on one of the pages, she sends it off in the post, thinking she’s returning it to the forgetful author. When he responds, she discovers that not only is he the author, but also that he’d lost the manuscript 33 years ago in the Montreal airport!

What you’ll read next are letters exchanged between strangers, who become friends, and you’ll learn what happened to the manuscript from the time it was lost on a flight to Montreal on April 3, 1983 until Anne-Lise found it in France on April 25th, 2016. Bonidan has successfully achieved her purpose: a hope that readers would discover the magic ability of a book to bring people together. Each life that comes in contact with this manuscript is changed for the better and even the mention of it opens doors and faces light up. One woman recalls spending four years adding to the manuscript as she lived out what were to be her final days with a tumor only to discover that when she finished adding to it, her health had improved. You’ll read about an incarcerated criminal, a depressed woman on the brink, a tired mother, a lonely widower, a forgotten woman in a rehab facility, a tormented woman who loses her family in an accident and a middle-aged curmudgeon who are all tied to the manuscript. Long stripped of it’s envelope, the manuscript has been the centerpiece of a neighbourhood dinner party, forgotten on a beach, delivered to a library in the bottom of a box of donated books, stowed away in an attic for 10 years and tucked in a box of items belonging to a deceased stepfather. It’s travelled to America, Canada, Belgium, and France. If it could talk, I’ve often wondered what stories a lost item could tell upon finding it. Briard has successfully managed to do just that through the correspondence.
Briard has an amazing ability to recruit the reader into the search for those who have been in contact with the manuscript. All of a sudden you’ll notice the tone and greetings between the strangers improve and the communication become more familiar as you get swept up in the quest to retrace its journey. Briards unique premise, her writing style and her cast of colourful characters culminate in an unforgettable tale that will keep readers spellbound. I hope she plans on publishing the manuscript now that she has readers invested in its history.

Thank you to Cathy Bonidan, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this fantastic advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a beautiful and uniquely-written story. I was swept away by the mystery at the heart of the narrative. However, I struggled with the epistolary text. I also thought the letters themselves were verbose and overly poetic. The story may have been more enticing to readers if the letters were mixed in with narrative prose. For example, I would have preferred to see Anne-Lise's research and conversations with other characters from the perspective of a third-person narrative. I found myself wanting breaks from this one, rather than being engrossed in it. I'm happy I stuck with it through the end, though!

THE LOST MANUSCRIPT is an epistolary novel that focuses on the origins of a manuscript found in a bedside table of a hotel room in France. The story begins with a letter Anne-Lise, the woman that found it, to the man that wrote it nearly thirty years earlier. The mystery around how the manuscript came to land at the Beau Rivage Hotel deepens when the author admits to only writing half the book. If that’s the case, who finished it?

This is a very unique book filled with a cast of wonderfully odd and interesting characters. It was an enjoyable and easy read but I found I sometimes had to suspend a lot of disbelief around what was written in the letters in order to stay immersed in the story. That said, I was always rewarded when I persevered and that’s a testament to the strong writing.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the advance reading copy.

DNF - 25%

While I love an immersive epistolary novel, this one was not one of them. If I set a book aside and never feel the desire to pick it up again, I know it’s time to call it quits. I’ve read a number of epistolary novels that, when finished, I had completely forgotten that they were written solely in letters. Such as: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, Dear Mr. Knightley, and Evidence of the Affair. In fact, two of them are all-time favorites of mine. What separates those favorites from this story, is their ability to transcend the letter format and convince my mind that the story is playing out in front of me. Not once in the first quarter of The Lost Manuscript could I forget that I was reading correspondence. Instead of immersive, I lost interest.

I just love the book cover for The Lost Manuscript by Cathy Bonidan! As a reader and writer, I especially loved this book. Anne-Lise finds a manuscript in the side table at a hotel, and naturally she reads it. Who wouldn’t?

She loves the book so much that she sends a letter to the address in the book, hoping the author will write back. When he writes, he tells her how he lost the manuscript years ago. Apparently, he wrote half the book and someone else wrote the second half. Who is the other author? Anne-Lise is determined to find out.

The synopsis:

When Anne-Lise Briard books a room at the Beau Rivage Hotel for her vacation on the Brittany coast, she has no idea this trip will start her on the path to unearthing a mystery. In search of something to read, she opens up her bedside table drawer in her hotel room, and inside she finds an abandoned manuscript. Halfway through the pages, an address is written. She sends pages to the address, in hopes of potentially hearing a response from the unknown author. But not before she reads the story and falls in love with it. The response, which she receives a few days later, astonishes her…

Not only does the author write back, but he confesses that he lost the manuscript 30 years prior on a flight to Montreal. And then he reveals something even more shocking—that he was not the author of the second half of the book.

Anne-Lise can’t rest until she discovers who this second mystery author is, and in doing so tracks down every person who has held this manuscript in their hands. Through the letters exchanged by the people whose lives the manuscript has touched, she discovers long-lost love stories and intimate secrets. Romances blossom and new friends are made. Everyone’s lives are made better by this book—and isn’t that the point of reading? And finally, with a plot twist you don’t see coming, she uncovers the astonishing identity of the author who finished the story.

This is an enjoyable and beautifully written book, it’s a treat to read such a lovely story!

Don’t miss this one, coming out in January, pre-order here!

This was a quick and easy read, a lovely distraction and an enjoyable story. Writing this book in letters gave an interesting perspective and the mystery of where the book had been all this time and who had finished it was enjoyable without being too intense. I did not love the two main characters, but I have little to dislike about them as our knowledge of them is limited to what they choose to share in their letters.

This epistolary novel focuses on Anne-Lise who finds a manuscript in a hotel drawer and returns it to the author, only to discover that the author lost the manuscript thirty years ago and someone else wrote the ending of his book. The story then follows Anne-Lise on her quest to discover who wrote the ending as she uncovers everyone who has been in possession of the manuscript over the years.

First, I think it should be noted somewhere that this is an epistolary novel! I went into the story very excited by the premise and had no idea the whole thing would be told in back and forth letters. I think personally because of the narrative format I found myself quite bored. Based on the premise I think was trying to force myself to like this more than I actually ended up liking it.

After awhile this book felt like characters just revealing their traumas to each other that have never met (and realistically would never just write these things in a letter to a stranger!!!). Also, some of the wording within the letters seemed very unbelievable as well. Like, you wouldn't wax poetic (again-in a letter to a stranger!) about nature or speak in metaphors the way these characters often did. This just gave the story an overall sense of unbelievablility that I ultimately couldn't overcome.

In terms of characterization, I found that every character had the same narrative voice in their letters and so I never felt attached to any of them. Now, this may be a direct result of the translation from French, but I can't be sure. The story becomes less about the manuscript and more about the lives of those that it touched (which was obviously inevitable you can't wax on about a manuscript changing hands for over 200 pages) But if you don't care about the characters then you don't care very much at all! Also, Anne-Lise was highly unlikable in my opinion. She's so pushy. For example, after receiving letters from the author to stop pursuing the mystery she's just like "I DON'T CARE!!" and keeps on going! Not cool and she was super hard to like or relate to at all. She also muddled up her best friend's budding relationship by saying the man she was interested in was interested in another woman?! No, just nope.

Side note: If there isn't a smattering of snarky dislike for Americans is it really even a French novel?!

The letters made the story a bit jerky in my opinion and it starts getting hard to track how the manuscript moved through peoples lives and you end up going back and getting letters not in any kind of sequence that the manuscript moved and I started to feel a bit jumbled. I also predicted the ending of who wrote the final chapters and it took the drive out of the story. (I think the word "twist" is used too liberally to hook people in to reading a book, because I genuinely didn't feel like their was a twist here...just a logical conclusion.)

I think this story would be wonderfully suited for a TV show or movie adaption and I would probably watch the heck out of it. I feel like on screen you would be able to see everyone's emotions and the places they travel to as well which would bring the story to life a bit more. I would still recommend this book if it sounds interesting to you, or you are looking for a light, fast-paced beach read.

I’m rating this 3.4/4 stars. It was uniquely different. Multiple different POV and characters story’s within the storyline to keep you wanting more.

I truly loved how this book brought multiple people together that had it not been for reading this book or the letters sent; they would never have met.


The way books can find a way to bring people together, to change someone's life is magical. This is why I love books. This is exactly what this story is about. It's a unique storyline, something I haven't read before.

My questions with the story since finishing are:

What is Anne Lise's secret? It seemed like we found out everyone's past and why this book changed them but her. What was the reason that spurred her on to keep this search going? There was an exert to someone looking up her past, but unless I missed it, there didn’t seem to be any real sort of explanation. I know someone eluded to a possible affair she had but is that the only reason then?

I am just left with a lot of questions, which I don’t typically love. However, the book and storyline are unique. The way the text in the story brings people together is what this community is all about. I wish we got more of the information from the “so-called book” to feel what they all felt with them.

This was a very enjoyable story that will appeal to fans of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I read it on one cool, rainy afternoon, and it was the perfect escape. Recommended to anyone interested in books, reading, writing, and the mysterious, random connections between strangers.

It's common to find things others have left behind. But Anne-Lise finds something truly extraordinary - a manuscript so moving that she is compelled to find the author and understand how this novel made its way into her life. Imagine her surprise when the author, Sylvestre, says that he lost the manuscript years ago, and that the ending to the novel was written by someone else. Anne-Lise sets out on a journey across Europe to create the chain of ownership of this lost manuscript, finding connections in unexpected places and new friends across the continent.

This is a book I really needed during COVID times - in our isolated quarantine bubbles, it's easy to forget how interconnected our world is. Anne-Lise was a good protagonist, and I liked that the epistolary structure of the novel gave us good insight into many minor characters as well. Although the book was a bit slow in the middle, I loved the heartwarming conclusion. If you love books, this is a lovely read with some unexpected surprises.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was definitely a quick and easy, lighthearted read and a good pastime for a few hours! The letter format of the story is really interesting and something I had never really seen before. The format made it memorable, but it wasn't my favorite book.

I received an advanced reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great premise and a pretty good novel. I think with some editing it could have been even better. Enjoyed the story. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher!

First of all, a HUGE thank you to NetGalley/St. Martin's Press/Cathy Bonidan for this ARC! I'm delighted to have read it and to provide an honest review.

"The Lost Manuscript" is told through a series of letters between Anne-Lise, who finds a manuscript that has been lost for three decades while on vacation, and the author, who it turns out only wrote the first half of the manuscript. Together, though worlds apart, they embark on a journey to find the author of the second part of the manuscript through writing to many other people whom this manuscript has touched. Three things come to mind with this story: fresh stationery, the coast of France, and wholesomeness.

So here's the thing - this book wasn't really for me. And I truly blame that on myself because I just cannot get into epistolary novels no matter how hard I try (and I really have tried). And I love writing letters, so it's a bit depressing that my love for them doesn't translate to novels. Because of this, I found myself quite bored reading this, even though it's fast-paced and was a quick read.

That being said, I think the premise is absolutely darling. The characters are loveable and well-written. I always admire authors who can write the way characters write to be so distinct that you forget one author is writing (say that five times fast). I actually think this novel would make a fantastic movie or TV show, and I would 100% tune in! Although it was a tad dramatic and fluffy, I liked the journey and the concept, but I think I liked the idea of liking this book more than I actually liked it.

Would I recommend it? Yeah! I think if you like epistolary stories and you need a good summer-beach read, this would 100% work for you. I'm sad to not have enjoyed it the way it was meant to be enjoyed, but I still think it deserves a solid 3/5 stars.