The Secret Collector – Abigail Johnson

Published By: Pan
Pages: 304
Released On: 24/04/2025

When an elderly eccentric collector and a troubled teen become each other’s only hope of getting their lives back on track, what can possibly go wrong?

Alfred is an elderly widower who uses antiques and collectibles to fill the hole in his heart left by his late wife. Kian is a lost teen who has been let down by the care system and finds it difficult staying on the straight and narrow.

After Kian throws a brick through Alfred’s window, the shock sends Alfred to hospital and a social worker to his home, where his hoarding becomes impossible to ignore.

Begrudgingly, and at the request of the authorities, they both agree to enrol Kian on a restorative justice programme, helping to make Alfred’s home liveable again. The only problem: Alfred doesn’t want to throw any of his treasures away, and he certainly doesn’t want Kian for company.

What unfolds is a surprising and delightful journey of two characters who help each other more than they ever could have anticipated and, along the way, form the unlikeliest of friendships.

*****

Thanks to Chloe Davies and Pan for the gifted proof of this title in return for an honest review.

Okay so I fell in love with Alfred. By the end of the first page I absolutely adored him. I showed my friend the synopsis and she said it reminded her of the movie Up, which of course means I was thinking of him as Carl Fredricksen the whole time.

Kian is the other main character and I really felt for him. Where Alfred is the protagonist I suppose you could call Kian the antagonist. But he’s just been dealt a really bad hand, and things just keep going wrong for him and he doesn’t know where to turn, and so he often does the worst things. Him and Alfred were so good for each other.

I did have a thought when reading this, that the majority of books I read have a female main character, or the majority of the characters are female, so to have a book with two male leads, with the females taking a back seat, was unusual for me but very interesting.

It reminded me a little bit of Matt Coyne’s Frank and Red. The ages are different but there’s a similarity with the older and younger generations butting heads but teaching each other things. It also reminded me of Eleanor Ray’s Everything Is Beautiful, which is also about an individual who collects/hoards things to make them feel better.

It is so easy to read that I’d read half of it before I even knew it. It’s gentle and so lovely, sweet without being too sickly, so heartwarming, and just so lovely that I was completely lost in it.

It’s about redemption, second chances, friendship, family being what you make of it, forgiveness, illness, grief, loneliness, opportunity – it’s just got everything and it wraps you up in a nice warm cosy blanket of lovliness.

I think this is Abigail’s debut book. If it is, it’s such an accomplished piece of work. It’s just such a happy, uplifting read that you can’t help but feel more upbeat after reading it.

There is a plot, obviously, and it’s good, but for me this book excels in its character studies.

It’s perfect for those who want a feel good book but don’t want the usual happily-ever-after boy-meets-girl kind of read (although I do love them too). I leant it to my Mum to read – keep in mind she’s not an overly big reader – and she read it in a day.