The Stonehenge Letters

A Novel

By: Harry Karlinsky

Narrated by: John Wray

Length: 4 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

While researching why Freud failed to win a Nobel Prize at the Nobel Archives in Sweden, a psychiatrist makes an unusual discovery. Among the piles of papers in the "Crackpot" file are letters addressed to the executor of Alfred Nobel's will, written by several notable Nobel laureates - including Rudyard Kipling and Marie Curie - each offering an explanation of why and how Stonehenge was constructed. Diligent research uncovers that Alfred Nobel added a secret codicil to his will, a prize for the Nobel laureate who solves the mystery of Stonehenge.

Weaving together a wealth of primary sources - photos, letters, wills - The Stonehenge Letters tells the tale of a fascinating secret competition.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2014 Harry Karlinsky (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Reads like nonfiction

It is not written like a novel, it’s written like a biography. There is so much fact mixed with the fiction that it is hard to tell which is the historical fiction, and which is the history. Overall enjoyable, except that at the end there is an hour of afterword and short historical biographies.... which I know are actual facts.. but it’s supposed to be a work of fiction. I enjoyed reading it, but I finish out confused. Oh, and our narrator (the guy doing the research on Nobel) kind of disappears after the first chapter. We learn nothing about him, so I don’t know why he was introduced.

One of the best alternative history novels

This was a fascinating book that tells us almost as much about the narrator as it does the subject

Go For It

This is a delightful speculative novel based around the Nobel selection process and awards at the turn of the 20th century. It a little like listening to a fascinating lecture series by a doctoral candidate. In several cases it's difficult to isolate the point of divergence from actual history (minus one point, Karlinsky), which might send you off to do the research yourself, But this really isn''t a book for people who don't evaluate their sources.
Minor Spoiler:
There are happy little surprises throughout the second part of the book and following sections, as Nobel Laureates expound their hypotheses ranging from Kon-Tiki-like expeditions to the projected use of Carbon-14 dating.
I loved it.