The Bookman's Tale
“That must be something to discover a book that nobody's ever heard of or everybody thought was lost."
"It's every bibliophile's dream," said Francis, and Peter knew in a second that it was his own.” ― Charlie Lovett, The Bookman’s Tale
The Bookman's Tale by Charlie Lovett is a literary mystery with elements of intrigue and conspiracy. It is an extremely compelling narrative of one vintage bookseller's healing from the death of his beloved wife. The author, a former antiquarian bookshop owner himself, spins an engaging story that examines the impact of literature, the agony of dying, and the potential for redemption.
1995 at Hay-on-Wye, England. Peter Byerly is unsure of what brought him to a specific bookstore. He had been devastated by the loss of his cherished wife, Amanda, nine months ago. The young antiquarian bookseller moved to the English countryside from North Carolina in an effort to rekindle his love of collecting and restoring old books. Peter, though, is startled when a picture of Amanda jumps out of an eighteenth-century study of Shakespeare forgeries. Naturally, she isn't there. Clearly a Victorian work of art, the watercolor. However, the similarity is uncanny, and Peter gets fixated on discovering the image's history.
Peter communicates with Amanda's spirit, discovers the truth about his own past, and comes across a manuscript that might provide conclusive evidence that Shakespeare was the author of all of his plays as he follows the trail back first to the Victorian age and then to Shakespeare's time. Characters in Lovett's debut book are interesting, and the plot is intriguing. It is filled with everything, including romance, mystery, and book restoration. It was a pleasure to read and, since I love books about books, it is sure to have a place as one of my favorite reads.
4 comments:
Hi James, The Bookman's Tale sounds really good. I love books of course and I also enjoy historical fiction/time travel and it sounds like the author did a first rate job here. And that quote about finding a book no one else knows about or that has been forgotten strikes home. In libraries I often wonder should I go to a particular letter of the alphabet in the fiction section and pick out a book where I don't recognize the author or the title and just read that book and who knows. It could be a memorable experience.
Hi Kathy, The title of this book intrigued me but it took a while for me to start reading it. Once I did start I couldn't put it down. It has a bit of everything with antiquarian booksellers, a love story, and a mystery that connects with Shakespeare and whether he really wrote his plays. It is not great literature, but it's engaging and just right for a summer's weekend.
Yeah books about books (especially an antiquarian bookseller) like this seem quite enjoyable. And throw in the literary mystery part and it's probably hard to put down. I have not read this author before but I look for it.
thecuecard,
Definitely "hard to put down", this was an author I had never read previously.
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