His entry begins:It may sound a dreadful bore, but at the moment I am reading my novel The Bookman’s Tale. I’ve not read the full text for several months and I live in dread of being asked a question while on book tour and having to answer, “I don’t remember that bit.” However, I have several other books on my shelf either in process or recently finished.About The Bookman's Tale, from the publisher:
I loved Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Book Shop, which I originally picked up because the author, Robin Sloan, kindly contributed a blurb for my novel. The combination of a secret society involved with ancient books and the cutting edge of modern technology made the book fascinating to me on many levels—after all I collect old books but I love my technological gadgets. On a slightly unrelated note, I loved the first time I set this book on my bedside table and turned out the light—the jacket...[read on]
A mysterious portrait ignites an antiquarian bookseller’s search through time and the works of Shakespeare for his lost loveLearn more about the book and author at Charlie Lovett's website.
Guaranteed to capture the hearts of everyone who truly loves books, The Bookman’s Tale is a former bookseller’s sparkling novel and a delightful exploration of one of literature’s most tantalizing mysteries with echoes of Shadow of the Wind and A.S. Byatt's Possession.
Hay-on-Wye, 1995. Peter Byerly isn’t sure what drew him into this particular bookshop. Nine months earlier, the death of his beloved wife, Amanda, had left him shattered. Theyoung antiquarian bookseller relocated from North Carolina to the English countryside, hoping to rediscover the joy he once took in collecting and restoring rare books. But upon opening an eighteenth-century study of Shakespeare forgeries, Peter is shocked when a portrait of Amanda tumbles out of its pages. Of course, it isn’t really her. The watercolor is clearly Victorian. Yet the resemblance is uncanny, and Peter becomes obsessed with learning the picture’s origins.
As he follows the trail back first to the Victorian era and then to Shakespeare’s time, Peter communes with Amanda’s spirit, learns the truth about his own past, and discovers a book that might definitively prove Shakespeare was, indeed, the author of all his plays.
The Page 69 Test: The Bookman's Tale.
Writers Read: Charlie Lovett.
--Marshal Zeringue
Posts
