The Bookman’s Tale
A Novel of Obsession
By: Charles Lovett
Available in paperback in May
What could be better than art history, interwoven with literary history, coupled with the mystery of Shakespeare’s true identity?
This enticing combination may be one reason The Bookman’s Tale by Winston-Salem’s Charles Lovett has created such a stir in the book world. It contains all of the above and more as we meet Peter Byerly, an antiquarian bookseller, as he returns to England in despair over the death of his beloved wife, Amanda.
While browsing in a book shop in a small village in Wales, he is startled when a Victorian-era miniature of Amanda falls out of an 18th century volume of Shakespearean forgeries. The gorgeous watercolor is signed by an unknown artist (B.B.), who, as Peter searches for his identity, becomes Peter’s mission on a fascinating journey back to 16th and 19th century England.
The novel is a dandy read as you meet real people who lived in Shakespeare’s London in the 1580s and two literary families who feuded in England in the late 1800s. Along the way Peter becomes obsessed with finding an early copy of Pandosto, a prose work written in 1588 and acknowledged as the source for Shakespeare’s The Winters Tale.
His search takes him to the British Museum several times, to an ancient church and to a remote cottage where he sleeps fitfully in the barn while his unwelcoming host is brutally murdered. He also becomes a restorer of rare books, sharing with the reader the process which requires patience as well as skill.
He and a friend are almost murdered in his quest for an early copy of Pandosto, in particular one with marginalia purportedly scribbled by Shakespeare when writing The Winter’s Tale. Peter believes Pandosto could be the “Holy Grail”, establishing the Stratford-born Shaksper as the true author of the matchless works.
Charles Lovett’s experience as a Shakspearean actor and teacher and his deep understanding of the world of antiquarian bookselling lends authenticity to The Bookman’s Tale. His interest in the authorship mystery also adds an element that may send readers on their own search for the true author of the greatest literary works of all time.
See the article: Shakespeare’s True Identity