A lady has issued a plea for people to help her find a precious book that she mistakenly donated to a new city bookshop.
The book, a copy of The Little Friend, by Donna Tartt, was mixed in with a heap of page-turners that Julia donated to the Age Concern charity shop in Kiln Farm last year.
“My mum gave me her books to look after, but last April I had a clear-out and accidentally donated one of hers,” she told MKFM.
“I didn't even realise until September last year when she asked me to bring it to her at the care home she was at.
“I couldn't find it, realised what had happened and ordered her a new one.
“I'll never forget the disappointment on mum's face when I handed it to her. It was a new edition, and obviously not the one that was significant. Shortly afterwards, she passed away.
“I was told by a relative to look through her books as she had left one for me with a message in it...”
Julia makes regular trips to the book shops in the area, hoping that it will turn up, but has sadly had no joy.
“I’m not sure what the relative meant by the message - whether mum had perhaps underlined a passage, or if she had written a note in the pages, or perhaps even left a note in the book itself.”
It was an original edition of The Little Friend which featured a doll head on the cover.
“It would mean the world to be able to get the book back and have that last connection with my mum,” she said.
Julia is appealing for anyone who might know where the book is, or who perhaps has it on their own bookshelf, to get in touch with MKFM.
