The Keeper of Lost Things explores the psychology of pop culture, specifically the impact of popular music. At the center of Anthony’s emotional life is the powerful impact of a single wax phonograph record, the 1934 Al Bowlly recording of the Ray Noble song “The Very Thought of You.” Initially Laura believes, because of the lyrics of the song—a lovestruck fellow easily drifts off into thinking about the woman he loves—that the song has something to do with the long dead Therese. As Anthony reveals to her, the song returns him to what was perhaps the last emotionally complete moment in his life, the last time he was entirely content: the night before his father shipped off to war, never to return. He and his parents danced a slow impromptu foxtrot to the Bowlly recording, which happened to be playing on the radio. In the narrative present, when the song plays unexpectedly (and without explanation) in Padua, its haunting melody returns Laura to the reality of Anthony’s vast discontent and the tragic unfinished business of the lost medallion.

Because of the increasingly expansive reach of entertainment technology—via recordings, radio, television, and now the Internet—popular songs have become an essential element of virtually every person’s emotional life.