Lost Property (book)

"Lost Property" (ISBN 9780670029433, 2005) is a book by Australian author James Moloney.

Synopsis

The book is about Josh Tambling who is well loved and cared for by his parents. Josh and his mates have formed a grunge metal band and dream of being rock stars. But when he lands a holiday job in the Lost Property Office at Sydney’s Central station, Josh starts to sense the loss of some important things in his life. One is that his brother Michael has drifted off and won’t let anyone know where he is. The stress this is putting on his family grows, so when Josh discovers a clue to Michael’s whereabouts while handling lost items in his work, he sets out on his own to bring him back.

Josh Tambling is the son of a famous footballer and a very well-known radio station personality. He is in a band with his mates. He has a girlfriend named Alicia. During the holidays he will be working at the Lost Property office. At his first day a lady requests a cardigan and Josh gives it to her but she doesn't find what she wanted, a brooch. Josh's supervisor, Clive explains that sometimes they separate jewellery and other valuable items from bags and clothing. He finds a brooch in the safe where jewellery is kept and it belongs to the woman. She is overcome with emotion and explains that even though its of much value but is a family heirloom and very important to her. Here, Josh realises how important small things can be to people. He goes for a band practise with his friends and they meet Steve's sister, Gemma. The next night Josh goes to Alicia's house and goes into the pool. They play around and look at the stars and Josh confesses that he believes that the universe is big for no reason. His trust in God slowly decreases. He goes to work again and in the afternoon goes for another band practise. He talks to Gemma about the same conversation he had with Alicia and she responds that there is more out there than just a big waste of space. The band decide to go to the domain for New Year Eve. When they go Josh sits next to Alicia and Neven sits next to Gemma and their relationship is revealed. The bands play over the night and Alicia says she wants to go away. They go to the bushes and Josh kisses Alicia passionately and starts to take her shirt off and she says she doesn't want to do it in public. She tells him off and tells him they want to do it in a room all alone but Aliaica says that "He better not get her pregnant!". He realises she wants sex and they go back to the stage and Josh sees Neven kiss Gemma at 12 oclock. The next day Josh gets a condom.

That evening Josh finds himself dwelling on the last thing Clive said to him, which is “Don’t forget, if you find any lost property, even the small things can be valuable”. Josh is in the train home when he adheres to a calling, he starts picking up all the lost property in his carriage then follows on to do all the carriages then another train then another until he reaches Cronulla Station.