The Bookman's Tale

A Novel of Obsession

By: Charlie Lovett

Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd

Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

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. The young 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 18th-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.

©2013 Charlie Lovett (P)2013 Penguin Audio

Great book!!!!

The narradora voice is very sexy, the book very elegant!
Loved it!
Thrilling story!
Excellent end of a great story!

Enjoyed most of the book but the ending was too predictable

I enjoyed the beginning. It jumped around in time which worked well. Then it got a little suspenseful. That was good but then it got predictable.

Book club

Great book for book club discussion
Recommend narrator who brought the book to life.
Some of the secondary characters were rather one detention but took very little away from the story.

Wonderful listen

Some scholarly stories can be tedious, especially when Shakespeare is involved. Everyone has their own pet theory, but this story is about the characters not the bard. Best book finding mystery I have listened to or read in a while.

A good performance

The main character isn't likeable so it is always a literary challenge to bring out the likeable factor of a protagonist as such. Overall a decent read.

Loved it

Loved this book and another by the same author. Reader was great. Interesting story. Would listen to more by this author.

Thoroughly enjoyed it.

What did you love best about The Bookman's Tale?

It was a perfect combination of historical fiction, mystery, and romance. A masterful performance made the characters quite believable.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Amanda, Peter"s wife. She had a strong yet gentle nature.

Which character – as performed by John Bedford Lloyd – was your favorite?

Amanda

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me cry. I felt their love for one another and their deep connection. I also felt their sorrow.

Any additional comments?

I learned a little history about William Shakespeare, as well as some his contemporaries.

3 time periods cleverly woven together

This was a slow start for the first several hours, but then took off into a fascinating tale of love, history & mystery.

Just OK. Not what I was looking for.

Over-long and a bit too contrived for my taste. The main relationship comes off as a variation of "Love Story." It didn't help that the reader made it sound like I was listening to a book for young-adults. Only finished it because I was doing long-distance driving.

Pleasant light diversion

I didn't think that this book was terribly well written, but I did enjoy the small glimpse it gave of an antiquarian bookseller's world as well as the author's literary mystery. I listened to the book, and while the narrator's voice was quite beautiful, his pacing was terribly slow. I actually had to speed up the recording to one and a half times its normal speed--something I've rarely had to do.