The Lost Story

Inspired by C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, this wild and wondrous novel is a fairy tale for grown-ups who still knock on the back of wardrobes―just in case―from the author of The Wishing Game.

As boys, best friends Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell went missing in a vast West Virginia state forest, only to mysteriously reappear six months later with no explanation for where they’d gone or how they’d survived.

Fifteen years after their miraculous homecoming, Rafe is a reclusive artist who still bears scars inside and out but has no memory of what happened during those months. Meanwhile, Jeremy has become a famed missing persons’ investigator. With his uncanny abilities, he is the one person who can help vet tech Emilie Wendell find her sister, who vanished in the very same forest as Rafe and Jeremy.

Jeremy alone knows the fantastical truth about the disappearances, for while the rest of the world was searching for them, the two missing boys were in a magical realm filled with impossible beauty and terrible danger. He believes it is there that they will find Emilie’s sister. However, Jeremy has kept Rafe in the dark since their return for his own inscrutable reasons. But the time for burying secrets comes to an end as the quest for Emilie’s sister begins. The former lost boys must confront their shared past, no matter how traumatic the memories.

Alongside the headstrong Emilie, Rafe and Jeremy must return to the enchanted world they called home for six months―for only then can they get back everything and everyone they’ve lost.

About the Author

Meg Shaffer is the author of the bestselling novel The Wishing Game. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky with her husband, author Andrew Shaffer, and their two cats.

Reviews

“This wildly imaginative book speaks to every reader who yearns for a more magical world.” ―Thao Thai, author of Banyan Moon, a Today show "Read with Jenna" pick

"If our sad, brutal, cynical, cowardly, unkind, exhausting world is too much for you, if you'd like to dream instead of a parallel world where love and loyalty and friendship are the magic that transforms the least of us into genuine heroes, then Meg Shaffer's The Lost Story is the book you've been waiting for. And here's the real magic. When you return from that enchanted place to the world you wanted to escape from, you'll find it's changed. Why? Because you have" ―Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls

"Readers will find this an absolutely immersive pleasure to read. Shaffer delivers an unforgettable and nostalgic experiene, expecially for fans of The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis or fairy-tale retellings" ―Library Journal (starred)

"Meg Shaffer's The Lost Story is a gorgeously wrought tale of yearning, grief and hope ... Layered atop it all, a delicious smattering of meta-narrative keeps the story feeling less like a tragedy and more like the warmhearted fairy tale that it is, reminding us that there is likely a happy ending (at least of sorts) waiting for us at the end of it all" ―BookPage (starred review)

"Shaffer manages to capture the joys and magic of childhood innocence alongside the wisdom that comes with age and the heartache and scars that make it difficult to go home again. The taut mystery keeps the pages of this love letter to the fantasy genre flying. Readers will be transfixed." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Dimensions: 15.9 x 3.8 x 23.3 cm