WU alum’s first novel falls flat

| Cadenza Reporter

“Lost and Found,” the self-published novel by Washington University alumnus Jeff Stepp, is essentially two stories.

First, you have the story of Jacob, a freshman at a university very similar to Wash. U. It is in these sections that the book comes alive; Stepp captures the spirit of Wash. U. well and is at the top of his writing game when dealing with the ins and outs of freshman year. The second plot, which revolves around Jacob’s Russian music history teacher Yuri and a lost piano score, is at best only mildly interesting and at worst clichéd and reminiscent of “The Da Vinci Code” in all the negative ways.

The entire ordeal seems forced; every character has a solid motivation and a decent backstory, but the idea of a lost piano score causing so much drama and strife just seems implausible. The dean of Arts & Sciences is painted as a one-dimensional archvillain in the style of an animated Disney character. He wants to steal the piano score from Yuri, for reasons both monetary and personal.

The relationship between Jacob and Yuri—sometimes like father-and-son, sometimes brothers—is well-developed and just realistic enough to drive the narrative home. However, “Lost and Found” is not an ensemble piece, and it seems inappropriate for Stepp to occasionally treat it as such. An editor’s pen should have cut out the brief segues into other points of view, including the professor’s cat, the dean of Arts and Sciences and Jacob’s love interest. It’s the story of Jacob and his music history professor, and it would be served better by sticking to their points of view.

Jacob himself feels real but not interesting; he could literally be any member of the freshman class. The highlight of the novel was a surprisingly poignant interlude about Parent & Family Weekend and the relationship between Jacob and his mother. Stepp is excellent at capturing the nuances of Jacob’s relationships with others; it is the other characters who seem flat and two-dimensional. His roommate Paul has a character arc, but a huge chunk of the actual change seems to be missing. Clara, Jacob’s love interest and floormate, seems like more of a concept or ideal than a person.

But once again, the central relationship between Jacob and Yuri is the most important one, and Stepp more than makes you believe in them. The ending is contrived, yet it features some of the best writing in the whole novel. “Lost and Found” is a fine first effort from Stepp, but an effort too unpolished and hit-or-miss.

Read a profile of author and alum Jeff Stepp.

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