The Lost Story: A Novel

Inspired by C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, this 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.

“A wild and magical adventure that makes for a perfect cozy fantasy read, reminiscent of the childhood books we grew up loving.”—HuffPost

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.

Story Locale:Fantastical land, Shenandoah

Series Overview: “The taut mystery keeps the pages of this love letter to the fantasy genre flying. Readers will be transfixed.” –Publishers Weekly“A spiritual epilogue to C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia.” —Bookpage (STARRED REVIEW)"Readers will find this an absolutely immersive pleasure to read. Shaffer delivers an unforgettable and nostalgic experience." —Library Journal (STARRED REVIEW)

Publication History:Ballantine HC (7/16/2024)

About the Author

Meg Shaffer is the USA Today bestselling author of The Lost Story and The Wishing Game, which was a Book of the Month finalist for Book of the Year, a Reader’s Digest and Washington Post Best Book of the Year, and has been translated into 21 languages. Meg holds an MFA in TV and Screenwriting from Stephens College. She lives in Kentucky with her husband and two cats. The cats are not writers.

Author Residence: Louisville, Kentucky

Author Hometown: Owensboro, Kentucky