108. The Bookman’s Tale

Rating:  ☆☆1/2

Recommended by:   Heather Ringoen

Author:   Charlie Lovett

Genre:  Historical Fiction, Mystery, Fiction

355 pages, published January 1, 2013

Reading Format:  Book

 

Summary

The Bookman’s Tale opens in 1995 in Hay-on-Wye, England. Newly widowed antiquarian bookseller Peter Byerly is perusing old books in a local shop when he discovers a mysterious portrait from the past century that looks just like his deceased wife Amanda.  As he follows the trail through the Victorian era and then to Shakespeare’s time, Peter talks to 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.  

 

Quotes

“The best way to learn about books, … is to spend time with them, talk about them, defend them.”

 

“He embraced the ache. It reminded him that Amanda was real. For the first time in his life, he knew exactly what he was aching for.”

 

“Like a subscription to a magazine, thought Peter. The period during which I am allowed to be happy has expired.”

 

My Take

I love books (obviously) and as a lover of books, I thought I would enjoy The Bookman’s Tale more than I did.  While there are some interesting aspects to the story, especially the parts that deal with the issue of whether Shakespeare was the author of the works attributed to him, those small sections were not enough to overcome the confusing and convoluted “mystery,” the one dimensional character development and the tedium involved in slogging through this book.