The Bookman's Tale - Charlie Lovett

Peter Byerly is a shy, quiet young man who loves books and keeps to himself, but whilst away studying and working in the library at University in Ridgefield, North Carolina, in the 1980s, he one day notices a female student who he feels a strong and unprecedented attraction towards, and with whom he can finally be himself and find companionship. Amanda feels the same way; the two of them form a bond and a deep love grows between them. His other passion is formed at this time, too; he finds a joy in the repair and restoration of antiquarian books. 

As the novel opens, we meet Peter in the mid 1990s now living in a village called Kingham in Oxfordshire, England, without Amanda, who we know has now sadly died, and what happened is revealed over the course of the novel. Peter is bereft, and has been unable to face the routine of his daily life for many months. Eventually, now an antiquarian bookseller and on an outing to Hay-on-Wye, the famous book town in Wales, he uncovers a watercolour image, a portrait, in an old book. The image is of his wife, and yet it can't be; it's a Victorian picture. Shocked by the similarity, he endeavours to discover the history and origin of the portrait, and this search sets his life in motion again and leads him into the path of a potentially life-changing book-related mystery that takes him, and the reader, back to the days of Shakespeare. Whilst assessing the old book collection of a resident of Kingham, Peter stumbles across an incredible find that may just prove the provenance once and for all of what is, for some, one of the biggest mysteries in literary history; that Shakespeare really was the author of the plays attributed to him. The mystery plot in the novel explores whether Peter can prove the authenticity of his find, and if he will get himself and others killed trying to do so. 

This is an entertaining, suspenseful mystery tale that has a love of books at its very heart.  There is also a centuries-old rivalry, murder, forgery, and intrigue, with a strong and moving love story between Peter and Amanda underpinning it all; the discovery of the way they felt about each other was something neither of them had ever felt before and it changed their lives, bringing love and companionship to two previously lonely souls. It is touching how well the two relate to each other, how Amanda brings Peter out of his shell a little, and how he slowly comes to terms with her devastating loss. The author maintains Peter's social unease and effectively portrays how he gradually becomes braver and finds the strength that he will need if he is to see his quest through. 

I enjoyed the three different strands that make up the story; they were weaved together well and kept my interest. I liked the historical aspects and was entertained meeting characters from the past as we learned the history of the book in question; we are taken back to see whose hands it passed through, and where, and how it came to be where it was, and I really enjoyed this aspect of the narrative. This is an enticing story for bibliophiles. Also enjoyable was the journey around to different locations. It takes us from Hay-on-Wye, to the British Museum, via Oxfordshire, Yorkshire, Cornwall and North Carolina, too. 

It was a real escape and quite an adventure reading this novel. I read the bulk of it in the garden on a warm summer's day and it was ideal reading for escaping into and being entertained by; I was happy to allow for some of the convenient coincidences and twists in the story, and it was perhaps slightly too perfect an ending, but the adventure and history grabbed me and had me intrigued. I think reading it fairly quickly helped with keeping track of the three different time periods and holding the various events in my mind at once. It has encouraged me to want to go and read more about what is known of the lives of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. 

The author evidently has a real passion for, and knowledge of, his subject here - he's a former bookseller - which comes through in his enthusiastic telling of this tale, weaving passages on restoring books and details about the clever ways of book forgers into the narrative. Overall,  I thought that The Bookman's Tale was a really good read, an absorbing and fun literary-themed mystery. 

Published by Alma Books 

Thanks to the publisher for kindly sending a proof copy of this novel to read and give an honest review.

You can find the author on twitter @CharlieLovett42 and visit his website here.

The Shadow Year - Hannah Richell

'She just can't seem to shake the feeling that the old place is trying to tell her something.'

In this novel we meet Lila, an unhappy young woman who has suffered a devastating loss. She is struggling to cope with this; she suffers feelings of guilt, and her relationship with her husband Tom is under strain. She receives a mysterious, anonymous inheritance; a remote cottage in the Peak District. Intrigued, and looking for an escape, she decides to renovate the place, which is much in need of it. She finds traces of the previous occupants, and wonders about who they were, and why it seems like they left the cottage quite suddenly. Whilst there, she has a sense that she isn't alone, that someone may be watching her. 

Back in 1980, a group of five graduates spend a warm summer's day heading out to a remote spot in the countryside, where they discover a cottage by a lake in an idyllic spot. The place seems to be abandoned, and the seed of an idea is sown. They could spend a year here, before joining the rest of society, they could escape and live quietly and be as self reliant as possible. It seems like a dream and it starts well. But then as winter sets in and a visitor arrives, the realities become harsher and the strains being to show. 

The narrative switches back and forth between the two strands in alternate chapters, with the tale structured such that the writer has kept the months aligned, so that we read about December 1980 and then December in the present, which maintains the sense of the gradually passing year in each case, the changing seasons playing their part in the sights, smells and surroundings that form a backdrop to the story. 

What happens in the past is slowly revealed, and the repercussions on the present are also gradually shown. This writer gets to the heart of relationships and creates interesting characters representing both likeable and less pleasant aspects of human nature, and she places these creations in challenging situations. There's a strong sense of place and the cottage, lake and surrounds become almost like characters in themselves and it's easy to see how someone might become captivated by such a place.

Hannah Richell has weaved an involving tale that grows into an emotional, evocative read about secrets and about how people can be driven by motives of love, desire and jealousy, to act in a way that they think is for the best for others, whether that is the reality or not, and whatever the real, painful impact might be. I thought the plot was cleverly constructed and although I guessed at some of the mysteries within the story, I was certainly surprised by some as well. Though I would have preferred the story to have been a little shorter at times, overall I enjoyed escaping into this very readable story and discovering what would happen to the characters in this tangle of lives and how the two storylines would meet. 

Published by Orion

Thanks to the publisher for kindly sending a proof copy of this novel.

You can follow the author on twitter @HannahRichell and visit her website here.