You can say this i s kind of collection of short stories but it is told by a person observing it and giving it a shape and making the short collection into a novel. And most surprising and amazing is author’s note saying all these stories, both historical and real in book, are based on true stories. Mrs. B wants Janice answer a question before she agrees to the help-“If you could only take one novel with you to a Desert Island, what would it be?” and when Janice responds “Vanity Fair” -Mrs. B agrees to hire her. Thus begins the narrative, effectively capturing the personality of lead character Janice, a woman in her late 40s who works as a cleaner in other people’s homes. Janice relishes others' stories and has a fondness for collecting them, not for gossip but to feel like she's part of their stories and gets to know them better. When she gets a new job cleaning for Mrs. B, a shrewd and formidable lady in her 90s, Janice finally meets someone who wants to know her (Janice’s) story and what she’s hiding beneath that effective cleaner façade. Will Janice share the story that she has kept buried for so long? The people are so real all totally believable a fabulous selection of British eccentrics .I particularly loved the ex spy Mrs B from her first appearance disguised in kimono and hat with mouldy cherries on the top

EXCERPT: She can’t recall what started her collection. Maybe it was in a fragment of conversation overheard as she cleaned a sink? Before long (as she dusted a sitting room or defrosted a fridge) she noticed people were telling her their stories. Perhaps they always had done, but now it is different, now the stories are reaching out to her and she gathers them to her…THE AUTHOR: After studying history at university, I moved to London to work in advertising. However, in my spare time I studied floristry at night school and eventually opened my own flower shop. I soon came to appreciate that flower shops offer a unique window into people’s stories and eventually I began to photograph and write about this floral life in a series of non-fiction books. Later, I continued my interest in writing when I founded my fountain pen company, Plooms.co.uk. There are so many wonderful stories in The Keeper of Stories that I really want to sit down and listen to this all over again. Despite telling herself she has no story, Janice teases the reader every now and then, revealing snippets of what is in fact a very real story, one which she has kept hidden for so long, one with which she has punished herself for years. Ultimately, she faces her demons and finds her inner lioness. I really enjoyed this book. I was drawn in by the beautiful cover and the title; the blurb intrigued me enough to request the title and I was not at all disappointed! Mrs B is my favorite character. She, at first, looked difficult woman in her 90s but she is just lonely still missing her husband, and want to live on the college campus where her husband worked and they lived, until she dies. But her son has different ideas and he wants her to move to old age homes. It was sad to see no one understood her or spent time with her like Janice did. She looked frail but she is feisty and colorful character as she was spy when she was younger. I found myself aligning with her thoughts and beliefs. And what she did at the end is touching and heartfelt. I just wish I could live with this old lady.

The Keeper of Stories is a superb book - brilliant in fact - one to certainly treasure. I found it to be beautifully written with such heartfelt emotion across a wide cross selection of themes and characters. I simply love the concept of collecting stories whilst unknowingly unraveling one kept so close to your own heart. Sally has penned an intelligent yet thoughtful book that is sure to endear itself to many readers. Janice is a cleaner who collects stories. However, she doesn’t know her own worth. She doesn’t think she has her own story until she meets Mrs B. She finally learns her value and her own story and can choose to create her own story as she wishes.

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She wants to hammer home with true conviction that she is the story collector. That she gathers stories because she doesn’t have a story. She wants to shout this loudly to drown the little voice within her.’

If you ever feel like you need some light entertainment in between more serious or painful reads, then this is the right book for you. I certainly felt I could do with such a book and it filled that craving nearly perfectly. Euan is lovely. He is bus driver who watched Janice going to her work regularly and eventually formed friendships with her that developed into feelings. He is caring, calm, gentle, and lovely person. There was so much depth to his character. I wish I could know him earlier. He is perfect soul mate to Janice. I loved how he made Janice realise there can be more than one story for a person, brought happiness in her life and made her realise she desrves it. This is mainly character driven plot. The book has a slow start but after finishing the book I feel it was good as it gave me time to ease into the story with introduction of Janice, the houses she works in and what story they have, her husband of many jobs, what employers she doesn’t like and how through those employers she met and started working for Mrs B who saw through her and could tell she too has a story. Janice believed she is keeper of stories, she doesn’t have her own at least not the one she will share with anyone but Mrs B wouldn’t let her keep it hidden. It was interesting to read each stories Janice collected, to find out how they end, and most of all what is Janice’s story.Everyone has a story to tell. But what if you don’t have a story? What then? If you are Janice, you become a collector of other people’s stories.’ Cleaner Janice is a recent addition to the cast of marginalised women toiling on the margins of society that have been populating recent literary fiction output. Janice is so sympathetically drawn that readers will want to root for her from the beginning. Trapped in a stale marriage that has run its course and seemingly devoid of a story of her own, Janice instead collects the anecdotes of the colourful, idiosyncratic people she cleans for - until one of her clients becomes interested in her story after all, But what will happen when Janice starts reflecting on who she actually is? The ending of the book was beautiful. I enjoyed how things came together; enough was left to the imagination while most things were cleared up. There are some really beautiful lines in the book, the most memorable being the ones related to stories. Sample this: “ Every man should leave a story better than he found it.”

Everyone has a story to tell. But if you don't have one, you become a collector of other people's stories.” Ultimately, I wasn’t sure what to expect of this book at first. I did think I was in for a romance read but this absolutely didn’t go the way I had anticipated. It is very different from my typical trope but I have to admit, this absolutely got me out of the reading slump I had been in.If you’re looking for something a little light-hearted and not overly taxing, I would recommend you grab a copy of this book. For some time now Janice has been collecting stories. She is a cleaner and she overhears lots of conversations because she is virtually invisible. It does not help that she has a husband of a thousand jobs. He is always coming up with hair-brained schemes as he eats into their savings mostly without even discussing it. He always refers to her as “just a cleaner” her job does not define her. With all these stories there is one story she neglects to think about is her own.

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The lead character, Janice, is the key to this eclectic cast of characters and she is superb. Quiet and unassuming, ‘just a cleaner’, who goes about her everyday life gathering other peoples stories. I simply adored Janice - she is pivotal not only to the other sub stories sprinkled throughout but also to the great life lesson in finding your very own story. Mrs B is no fool and knows there is more to Janice than meets the eye. What is she hiding? After all, doesn’t everyone have a story to tell? Review heartfelt, and perfectly written Women-Centric fiction Climax is amazing and very realistic with all revelations, Janice’s fear and guilt, Mr NoNoNotYet finding out about Janice and his mother’s conspiration. There is so much happening between climax and end and I suggest you pay attention to this part most and also to Janice and Mrs B’s conversations. I loved how author wrapped all stories. There is no happily-ever-after endings for all of them but it’s satisfying and uplifting. So begins a charming tale that shows us how literature (and dogs) can bring people together and enrich their lives-and that sometimes the people you are overlooking can have QUITE an interesting story to tell!