Book Beginnings (3)

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays

The idea, as stated on the host's blog, is 'to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.' There's a hash tag #BookBeginnings for twitter etc too, and a master linky list on the host's blog. I've got a couple of books on the go at the moment so I've just picked one out to mention here.

My Book Beginning

The Bookman's Tale by Charlie Lovett (Alma Books)

Hay-on-Wye, Wales, Wednesday, 15th February 1995

'Wales could be cold in February. Even without snow or wind the damp winter air permeated Peter's topcoat and settled in his bones as he stood outside one of the dozens of bookshops that crowded the narrow streets of Hay. Despite the warm glow in the window that illuminated a tantalizing display of Victorian novels, Peter was in no hurry to open the door. It had been nine months since he had entered a bookshop; another few minutes wouldn't make a difference.'

I like this opening; I can feel the cold and imagine this man stood on one of the streets in Hay. A wonderful place for a booklover, so a very alluring setting for a novel, and we have intrigue straight away as to why this man hasn't been in a bookshop for so long. I'm really looking forward to reading more of this novel. 

The synopsis from the Alma Books website:

After the death of his wife, Peter Byerly, a young antiquarian bookseller, relocates from the States to the English countryside, where he hopes to rediscover the joys of life through his passion for collecting and restoring rare books. But when he opens an eighteenth-century study on Shakespeare forgeries, he is shocked to find a Victorian portrait strikingly similar to his wife tumble out of its pages, and becomes obsessed with tracking down its origins. As he follows the trail back to the nineteenth century and then to Shakespeare’s time, Peter learns the truth about his own past and unearths a book that might prove that Shakespeare was indeed the author of all his plays.

Guaranteed to capture the hearts of everyone who truly loves books and literature – in particular the golden age of Shakespeare, Jonson and Marlowe – The Bookman’s Tale is a sparkling novel and an engrossing exploration of one of literature’s most tantalizing mysteries.