Jane Austen, Mysterious men and Bookselling: The Bookbabe Reviews First Impressions by Charlie Lovett

                                         

       

Howdy Bookies, I am back with yet another review of something Jane Austen related. A few weeks ago I read First Impressions by Charlie Lovett; a book that questions the true authorship of Pride and Prejudice. What bought me to this book was the fact that I had read and  LOVED Lovett's The Bookmans Tale last year. This book was definitely not a disappointment.  Basically the books main character Sophie Collingswood is an Austen fan, and general book lover. She gets caught up in the mystery of the murder of her beloved uncle and a mystery involving her beloved Austen; with a bit of romance and danger added in. What I really loved about this book, like Lovett's other novel, is that the characters are 100% relatable. Sophie is everything you love in a  bibliophile; she is intelligent, well read, overly protective of  books, and quick on her feet. Sophie comes from a seemingly well to do family that had a long history of publishing in its blood. However, her father is not a fan of books, or even reading. He finds the family library to be unnecessary, basically it is a waste of space and since most of the books are first editions of collectables they can be sold off to the highest bidder. The only person standing is his way is Sophie's beloved Uncle. Who won't allow his brother to sell even one book in the family library. Sophie's uncle is the reason she loved books; he is the reason she is found of old books and behind her as she studies Library sciences at Oxford. So when he suddenly is found dead in his flat Sophie just can not seem to accept the cause of this demise. She is determined to prove that someone murdered him; in fact, the quest almost costs her her life. 

What I really loved about the book was that it bounced back from Sophie's time period to the regency period, in which, Austen lived. Lovett writes in Austen's voice so beautifully that it made me feel like I was re-reading one of my favorite novels. He made Austen come alive in a way that I have never seen other authors do. Another thing that was extremely impressive was the balance of innocent romance and suspense. There was just enough romance to make you swoon and enough suspense to keep you up at night wanting to finish the book in one sitting. I am happy to say that I took my time reading this book so that I could throughly enjoy it. It was the well developed characters and the artful balance of romance and suspense that lead me to give First Impressions 5/5 stars on Goodreads. 

I definitely see this book becoming one I give away to fellow Austen fans.

Favorite Quotes:

"A bibliophile raised in a family that does not know the word...that's me"

(it was this moment that let me know Sophie was set to be my literary BFF of the moment)

"A good book is like a good friend. It will stay with you for the rest of your life. When you first get to know it, it will give you excitement and adventure and years later it will provide you with comfort and familiarity. And best of all, you can share it with your children or your grandchildren or anyone you love enough to let into its secrets"

"Let me ask you this, Miss Austen. Are you able to prevent yourself from writing?"

"Indeed not. I find that my stories will not cease to crowd all other thoughts from my mind until I have committed them to paper"

"...Then, Miss Austen, let there be no doubt about it - you are a novelist"

"It is only when we attach happiness to those things which are worldly and unimportant that our lives become corrupted"

For more information of this book go to www.goodreads.com

Please be sure to follow me at www.facebook.com/thebookbabeofde and www.delawarebookaddict.blogspot.com

My Fall 2015 to Read List

                      

             My Fall 2015 Reading  List

1) World After by Susan Ee

2) Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

3) First Impressions by Charlie Lovett

4) Eve by Wm. Paul Young

5) The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion

6) Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

7) Salt & Storm by Kendall Kulper

8) Siddhartha by Herman Heese

9) Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

10) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

11) Inferno by Dan Brown

12) Lover Unbound by J.R. Ward

13) 1984 by George Orwell

14) Kalona's Fall by P.C. and Kristin Cast

The Bookbabe Reviews: The Bookman's Tale by Charlie Lovett

When I first started this book I really did not know what to expect; I took it upon myself to avoid reading reviews this was to insure that I would not be tainted by what others thought of the book. This book is a book of three stories; its about a young man grieving the lost of his first love and wife. Its a tale of lost documents and books; its a tale about the lies people are willing to tell and sometimes murder for. My favorite things about this book was the complexity of the main character Peter Byerly. Peter is a young man trying to find his way back after the sudden death of his wife Amanda. He abandons his home in South Carolina and ventures across the pond to England and a small cottage to get away from everything. While there he finally decides to venture out and ends up in a small bookshop where he comes across a watercolor of a woman that looks like Amanda. While some people would have just thought that finding the photo was an uncanny coincidence; Peter can't let it go. This leads him to a watercolor society meeting in London where he crosses paths with Liz Sutcliffe; an editior that is working with an author on a book that is linked to B.B. The mysterious artist that created the watercolor that Peter just some happened to have discovered. The tale takes us on a journey between the time of Shakepeare, 1995 England, and Ridgefield college in the 1980's. Well we are getting flash backs we are learning more about out main character and the mystery that surrounds forged documents, an extramartial affair and blackmail. The beauty of this book is that it is a book for book lovers; if you love a good mystery, a beautiful romance or a book about over coming grief and anxiety then this is the book for you. I can definitely say that I would recommend and perhapd have a give away from a copy of the book. 

Other Books by Charlie Lovett:

First Impressions: A Novel of Old Books, Unexpected Love, and Jane Austen

Favorite Quotes from the Book: 

"....all sense of dread and panic banished by the simple act of losing himself in an old book"

"Well," said Francis, "forgery is telling lies. And no matter how good a liar you are, if you tell enough of them, you can dig yourself a hole so deep that the only way out seems to be murder"

Overall rating: 4.5 stars