The Bookman's Tale

By Charlie Lovett

Book Overview

A mysterious portrait ignites an antiquarian bookseller's search through time and the works of Shakespeare for his lost love 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 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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670026476
• ISBN13: 9780670026470
• Release Date: May 2013
• Publisher: Viking
• Length: 353 Pages
• Weight: 1.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.3" x 6.3"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

Literary genius!

One of the best books I’ve ever read! A must read for true book lovers! It is the perfect mixture of history, mystery, suspense and romance spanning centuries and locations. I normally read books very quickly, but this book was so intricately and wonderfully written I would read a chapter then take a ten minute break just to soak it all in. The farther into the book you get, the more of a page turner it becomes. And the ending!! The ending of this book wraps up all loose ends in a way that left me so satisfied. The Bookman’s Tale surpassed all expectations I had for it. I will definitely be keeping my copy of this book!

A great historical fiction

It has mystery and made me become enchanted with the historical fiction genre.