THE DEPARTMENT OF LOST AND FOUND

A predictable debut about a 30-year-old go-getter whose life is put on hold when she’s diagnosed with breast cancer.

Natalie Miller is senior aide to a Hillary Clinton–like New York senator—the job is tough, demanding and a bit underhanded. And so is Natalie. But the identity she’s carefully cultivated is no match for the big “C,” especially when the two things she depends on—the power of her job and her unchallenging boyfriend—disappear after her diagnosis. Although Natalie will admit she and Ned were hardly inseparable, no one wants to be dumped, especially at such a tumultuous time. And though Natalie would like to tough it out, Senator Dupris insists she take some time off during chemotherapy (of course, in her absence, Natalie loses her swank private office). Adrift without her professional position, Natalie decides to uncover why her past romances have failed. Disappointingly, the sections devoted to tracking old boyfriends are in diary form. The feedback from the beaus is the same: Natalie has always had priorities other than romance. Now afraid of dying, and that her chance for love may be over, she longs for both the one who got away (burgeoning rock-star Jake) and the one who may be Mr. Right, her second-best friend’s ex, Zach. In the midst of the expected boyfriend trouble and work trouble (she is being usurped by an underling) is Natalie’s battle with cancer, her chemotherapy, the loss of her hair and then both her breasts, the reaction of her friends and finally Natalie’s own growing ability to ask for help. The writing is chatty, often funny, but the obviousness of the plot—by the end, Natalie may have found true love—detracts from any poignancy derived from Natalie’s battle with illness.

Amiable gal stuff, aiming for, but not quite reaching, a higher plateau.