FICTION
“The Bookman’s Tale: A Novel of Obsession”
By Charlie Lovett
Viking, 352 pages, $27.95
AUTHOR APPEARANCE
Charlie Lovett reads and signs "The Bookman's Tale" 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, June 5. Free. Georgia Center for the Book, DeKalb County Public Library, 215 Sycamore St., Decatur. 404 370-8450. www.georgiacenterforthebook.org Also 6 p.m. Thursday, June 6, Horizon Theatre Blue Room, 1083 Austin Ave. NE, Atlanta. 404-528-1477, www.horizontheatre.com
Charlie Lovett combines four interconnected stories in one novel. The structure is unusual, bordering on a fiction writer’s high-wire act. Some readers are bound to love the daring intricacy. Others may find the novel akin to the high-wire walker who ends up falling into the safety net — dramatic, but ultimately unsuccessful.
Whatever a given reader thinks about the novel’s structure, “A Bookman’s Tale” has plenty of richness to offer. Lovett renders the realms of William Shakespeare from the 16th and 17th centuries, offering informed passages (some entirely fictional, some grounded in real life) about whether Shakespeare actually wrote the most quoted plays in history — or whether somebody else using the name of Shakespeare is the actual genius. The Shakespearean play that figures most directly in the plot is “A Winter’s Tale.”
The additional story lines are set during the late 19th century, as forgers capitalize on Shakespeare mania; and two story lines from the late 20thh century. One involves Peter Byerly, the novel’s protagonist, as he is transformed from a shy, nerdy college student into a loving husband who is as obsessed with rare books as he is with his rare wife; the other involves a murder mystery related to rare books and Shakespearean author controversies.
If that sounds like a lot to absorb, it is. But Lovett, who splits his life between North Carolina and the British town of Kingham (used as a setting in the book), is deft at juggling plots and eras. Readers willing to become time travelers as well as amateur Shakespeare scholars will appreciate the deftness.
It is common to hear the admonition that novelists should write about what they know. Lovett, whose ancestry includes the founders of Coca-Cola and Lovett School, follows that advice. A former antiquarian bookseller, he shares knowledge about that vocation within the novel that is both welcome and interesting. Lovett posits that all antiquarian booksellers are searching for a Holy Grail. In the novel, the Holy Grail is related to Shakespearean documents.
Because there are so many story lines to potentially spoil, composing this book review requires special “anti-spoiler” vigilance. When a murder mystery becomes part of the plot, the opportunities to inadvertently spoil a reader’s experience multiplies. There is no point in revealing the identity of the murderer, except to say it is not who Byerly suspected from the time he discovers the dead body.
But I can reveal that Bylerly’s young wife dies suddenly and while the marriage is still developing; Lovett tells readers quickly that Byerly is a grieving widower. What Lovett does not reveal until near the end of the book is the cause of Amanda’s death. The love story created by Lovett is sweet and emotionally charged. Readers who are in love with love will surely find the sweetness satisfying. Readers who have never experienced pure love will perhaps scoff at the idealized portrayal. Getting to know Amanda on Lovett’s pages is a pleasure, but she is so close to perfect that suspension of disbelief might prove impossible. That Lovett decided to make her an heiress to a family fortune reduces her believability quotient even further.
The passages set during the 19th century are sometimes as dense as the passages about Peter and Amanda’s love are airy. A mildly didactic novel can be a welcome addition to a reader’s education, and Lovett has conducted plenty of research about Shakespearean advocates and detractors and forgers. In an Author’s Note at the back of the book, Lovett explains which characters in his novel are more or less historically accurate. The temptation might be to skim some of those passages because of their density.
One thing is clear: Experts may disagree, but Byerly, the novelist’s creation, unambiguously believes that Shakespeare was Shakespeare.
About the Author
