This book is a delightful puzzle box that will ensnare fans of history, legend and cryptography.

I admit I have a weird obsession with any title that has the word ‘book’ in it, so one look at the cover of The Lost Book Of The Grail and I was sold. Any lover of books about books and historical mysteries will be intrigued by the blurb of this story by Charlie Lovett. Trust me, I was one of them… And I have been looking forward to read it for a while now. That’s why I was slightly disappointed to find myself having mixed feelings about The Lost Book Of The Grail instead. On one hand, there were quite a few things I did love about this book. First of all, there are many many bookish references, quotes and descriptions that will appeal to any bookworm. The smell of books, the library, the old manuscripts… I could just imagine being there in Barchester myself just by reading the detailed descriptions and I always love when that happens. I also really liked the idea behind this story and the mystery around the manuscript and the history of Barchester and its secrets is intriguing. BUT. Unfortunately, the pace is slower than a sleeping snail and I had a really hard time to stay focused and keep reading despite the fascinating history. In fact, the plot actually feels pretty chaotic with the unorganized flashbacks, guidebook quotes and random quotes from other books. I admit it does add an original touch, but it also slowed down the already slow pace even more and made the story flow considerably less and feel quite haltered. Another problem I encountered myself with were the characters. To be honest, I was never able to warm up to them and they mostly felt like cliches. The ‘old school’ Arthur and ‘modern’ Bethany have textbook clashing views on anything bookish and I didn’t feel they were inspiring. Also, I could have done without the romance… It didn’t add anything substantial to the story and only managed to make me enjoy the final part of The Lost Book Of The Grail even less. Another thing I struggled with is that the story, for being about a lost manuscript and the hunt to unravel the mystery before it’s too late, was actually quite uneventful and lacked suspense. I was really surprised by this, because when I read the blurb I thought their quest was going to be a whole lot more exciting. Oh well, we can’t like them all, can we?

Arthur Prescott, 40, professor at a small university, prefers spending time in the ancient cathedral library and losing himself in history (especially searching for clues to the resting place of the holy grail) to dealing with his students he is unable to connect with- students who call him by his first name often don't even read actual books any more... He would love nothing more than to go back to living in a simpler time, without the internet and all those newfangled innovations of this century and so often hides in his precious manuscripts, where he feels a deep connection to the past. All of that changes though when his entire world becomes threatened by a pesky American who was hired by a rich megachurch priest to hunt for old books, digitize them, and upload them to the internet so everyone can access them. At first, he is appalled by this intrusion and keeps arguing with the little baggage, but he soon discovers that he has to chose: stay stuck in the past, connected only to historic figures who have long ago been forgotten, or join the beautiful Bethany and his friends in the 21st century on a quest for a missing manuscript that could not only save Arthur's beloved cathedral from ruin, help discover a long-forgotten Saint the cathedral was originally dedicated to might, but might just lead to the holy grail...

I absolutely LOVED this book. I could completely lose myself in the story (I did, in fact become totally oblivious to my surroundings a few times only to be rudely pulled back to real life by annoying questions like "what are you laughing at so hard?") and I absolutely adored the characters, Arthur especially. The self-proclaimed bibliophile, bit of a loner, and someone who cannot imagine a live without books, quickly managed to weasel his way into my heart, and I loved following both his inner journey and his adventures in the big bad outside world. I can understand how people could easily be put off by him though. He can come across as a bit of a snob (I mean, he holds flaming speeches in front of his colleagues to berate one of them for his shocking cultural illiteracy when he discovers that he doesn't know who Jeeves is (in fact, you have to be a bit of a P.G. Wodehouse fan to appreciate some of his jokes), bemoans the fact that the university doesn't offer a single Shakespeare seminar, and is appalled that the library has been renamed "Media Center" and has become a place where students go to surf the internet and drink coffee), but I personally loved the man. He made me lough out loud with his dry humor (there's a scene where he writes a cathedral guide in the style of Gussie Fink-Nottle that was just hilarious!), and I found his worries relatable and endearing.

All in all, this was the perfect book for me: loveable characters, witty banter, a quest for a missing artefact... What's not to love?

I’ve been a fan of grail lore since I watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when I was 8 years old. I’ve seen it at least a hundred times I feel like, so needless to say, I am a huge fan of anything related to the Holy Grail and I LOVE cathedrals.

I am also a fan of Charlie Lovett’s novels, and this latest book combined both grail lore, cathedrals, and Lovett’s charming prose. This book appealed to my love of English mythology and King Arthur, so I couldn’t pass it up for review when I saw it.

Arthur Prescott is happiest when surrounded by the ancient books and manuscripts of the Barchester Cathedral library. Increasingly, he feels like a fish out of water among the concrete buildings of the University of Barchester, where he works as an English professor.

His one respite from the never-ending committees is his time spent nestled in the library, nurturing his secret obsession with the Holy Grail and researching his perennially unfinished guidebook to the medieval cathedral.

But when a beautiful young American named Bethany Davis arrives in Barchester charged with the task of digitizing the library’s manuscripts, Arthur’s tranquility is broken. Appalled by the threat modern technology poses to the library he loves, he sets out to thwart Bethany, only to find in her a kindred spirit with a similar love for knowledge and books—and a fellow Grail fanatic.


Bethany soon joins Arthur in a quest to find the lost Book of Ewolda, the ancient manuscript telling the story of the cathedral’s founder that was last seen being carried away by a mysterious figure during one of Barchester Cathedral’s most dangerous nights.

As Arthur and Bethany peel back layers of history, they find themselves privy to important moments in the history of the Book of Ewolda—from the earliest days of English saints to the Norman invasion, the Reformation, the English Civil War, and on to the Victorian era and the blitz.

And when the future of the cathedral itself is threatened, Arthur and Bethany’s search takes on grave importance, leading the pair to discover secrets about the cathedral, about the Grail, and about themselves that neither expected (summary from Goodreads).

This book hit all my sucker triggers in literature. I loved the romance, small English town setting, history, Grail and Arthurian lore, as well as the religious history piece. It was everything I hoped that it would be! This book appealed to me on so many levels but in my mind, I was worried that because my expectations were so high that it might fall short in some area but it really didn’t. It hit all the high notes in my expectations for sure!

I loved the slow burn romance between Arthur and Bethany, it was just what I needed. Arthur was charming and lovable and while the romance wasn’t the focus of the book, it was a surprising element that I wasn’t prepared for. I thought the book was going to be more of a literary mystery so having the romance piece was nice and unexpected. At times Bethany was a little annoying for me, but on the whole I liked her just fine and the romance between the two was nice.

Lovett does such a great job at literary mysteries. I loved the ancient clues, bookish references, and all the mythology/lore. He does a great job at structuring a classic mystery with fun elements for book lovers. So far this is my favorite book by this author. He captured my imagination and sent me on a thrilling grail quest, I loved this book! Sure the story had some flaws and some of the little details were too convenient at times, but on the whole this was a fun read and I would recommend it to all book lovers and fans of historical fiction.

Oh and one final note…..the cover…..totally in love! It worked so well for this book and made me want to read it. The cathedral and trees/clouds were all done with what looks like old book pages and the green background is an old map. Clearly this cover indicates that the story is going to involve books in some way. I thought this cover was perfect for the story! Well done!

Challenge/Book Summary:

Book: The Lost Book of the Grail by Charlie Lovett

Kindle Edition, 329 pages
Published February 28th 2017 by Viking (first published 2017)
ASIN B01GDLYRGW
Review copy provided by: Author/Publisher in exchange for an honest review
This book counts toward: NA

Hosted by: NA
Books for Challenge Completed: NA
Recommendation: 4 out of 5

Genre: Historical fiction, mystery, thriller

Memorable quotes/lines: NA

I started recommending THE LOST BOOK OF THE GRAIL by Charlie Lovett before I had even read half of it. This is a complicated, yet charming, mystery story combined with a gentle romance (in the latter aspect, similar to The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion). The setting is Barchester, England, a fictional town which may sound familiar because it’s related to the writings of Anthony Trollope; there are even more literary references to P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves, to Arthur Rackham, and to others, including, of course, Malory's Morte d'Arthur and associated texts.

The main character in THE LOST BOOK OF THE GRAIL is curmudgeonly Arthur Prescott, about forty now, but introduced to the Arthur stories as a child by his grandfather, former rector of St. Cuthbert's and canon of Barchester Cathedral. Prescott's life has a distinct pattern (morning prayer and weekly walks, work as an English professor, research in the Barchester Cathedral library, Evensong or Compline) until Bethany Davis, younger (twenty-six), clever, and American arrives to digitize the manuscripts. She believes that "technology is exploding the possibilities for libraries" whereas Arthur says instead, "the only time I employ digital technology ... is when I use my fingers to turn the pages."

While pursuing an ongoing debate about the purpose of libraries (to share information or to preserve culture; to provide outreach and opportunity for creation of new knowledge or as a place for quiet contemplation), Arthur and Bethany discover a mutual interest in the Holy Grail. They set out to solve the mystery of a missing text thought to be written about the sixth century St. Ewolda and the cathedral's founding. Interspersed throughout the novel are accounts of previous monks and priests who lived and worshiped at Barchester. Those stories, ranging from 560 through the 1980's can be a bit confusing, but reinforce the idea of faith and community as well as reflecting English history. Some deal with the Reformation or Cromwell; others provide fascinating insights to medieval carvings or to less-known stories like the Glastonbury Thorn.

Mystery lovers will enjoy THE LOST BOOK OF THE GRAIL which has plenty of code-cracking, secrets and surprises and certainly deserves the starred reviews it received from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly.

In 1941, Barchester is attacked by Nazi bombers. The village rallies to save the collection of medieval manuscripts housed in the cathedral's library. When a choirboy grabs the first volume to save, it seems to float in midair, and the words are all exactly nine letters long. Soon, the smoke clears and he sees the book is not floating, but is chained to the bookcase. The boy wants to look at the book later, so he hides it away from the others. When the emergency has passed, he goes to retrieve the book, but he finds a cloaked figure has beaten him to it. Lovett weaves a tapestry connecting the past and present. It's beautifully written, funny, compelling, and just plain wonderful.

Since 2013’s “The Bookman’s Tale,” Winston-Salem-based author Charlie Lovett has consistently produced new and best-selling fiction that continues to woo not only the bibliophile — especially of the rare book loving variety — but readers who crave mystery, action and adventure.

So it was with that release four years ago, the followup “First Impressions: A Novel,” the slight divergence into Dickens’ with “The Further Adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge: A Christmas Carol,” and so it is today, with his newest release, “The Lost Book of the Grail.”

Set in Barchester, the cathedral city of Anthony Trollope’s Barsetshire County, “The Lost Book of the Grail” has all the elements you would expect of a novel taking place in that centuries old, albeit fictional, English landscape. There is history, romance, mystery and danger tucked into a universal quest.

In this new novel, Lovett skillfully moves between the 15th century and today, weaving a back story of the monks charged with protecting the Holy Grail, and a front story between the stuck-in-time Arthur Prescott, a researcher obsessed with the Holy Grail, and Bethany Davis, an American and millennial who arrives to move the cathedral library into the digital future.

With a satisfying and surprising conclusion, “The Lost Book of the Grail” is a literary mystery well-crafted. Lovett recently took a few moments from his current book tour to speak with the Mountain Times about the crafting of the novel. The interview that follows has been edited for clarity and length.

To hear Lovett in person, visit http://charlielovett.com/speakingevents/ for a list of his speaking events, including one at the Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem on March 16.
Tom: Your new novel centers on the search for the Holy Grail. Why is it, 2,000 years after the Last Supper, that we are still so fascinated by this Knights of the Roundtable adventure?

Charlie: I was thinking about this because I was working on a travel piece for The New York Times about Glastonbury. It has to do with the confluence of history, religion and mythology all coming together in these characters and these artifacts. On the one hand, we can trace them back historically and through medieval romances, but we can also trace them to these seminal places in Christianity, too. When you get all three of these working together, it lends a gravitas, a sort of mystery to these things that keeps the stories alive.

Tom: Your own search for the Holy Grail began unexpectedly, with an article in a 1971 Ladies’ Home Journal about a search for the Holy Grail — which you reference in your novel. Can you elaborate?

Charlie: Did you read the piece on salon.com (“My brush with the Holy Grail” at http://www.salon.com/2017/03/05/my-brush-with-the-holy-grail/)? Well, there’s actually more to the story since that piece came out (March 5). After it came out, a man contacted me on Facebook and said, You might want to join this Facebook group about the Nanteos Cup (considered by some to be the actual Holy Grail). So, I joined the group, and people were saying nice things about the article. I posted and said that, some day, it’d be a nice thing to get to see the actual cup. This guy wrote me back and said it’s on display at the Welsh national library through the summer. We are going to be there in April and May, so my wife and I made a reservation and we’re going to go over to Wales and spend a couple of days at Nanteos House, which is now this fine country inn, and we’ll go to the library and see the actual cup.

So, that was a story that followed me around for a really long time. It seems like it demanded to be included if I was going to write a novel about both cathedrals and sort of searching for old secrets and artifacts and things like that.

Tom: “The Lost Book of the Grail” is your most ambitious novel to date. You’ve managed not only to write a thrilling mystery set in Anthony Trollope’s fictional Barsetshire County, but a history, a love story, a religious discourse on the existence of God and, of course, you continue to elevate the conversation about the evolution of book publishing. You skillfully weave these elements into a well-paced story. During the writing, did you ever worry that you were branching out too far?

Charlie: I didn’t necessarily worry about that because when I’m working on a novel, those aren’t really the things I’m thinking about. Those things will emerge out of the process, and the process for me is, tell a good story. That always remains front and center. Now, when we come back and edit it, and it’s time for editorial work, my editor might say to me, I’d love to have more about the history of libraries, how that whole thing evolved. So, we try to work some of that in. But, for the most part, to me, most of that needs to emerge organically out of the storytelling. … You create these characters, and if you have one character who never goes to church and believes in God and another character who always goes to church but doesn’t believe in God, sooner or later they’re going to have an interesting conversation.

Tom: As with your most recent novels, “The Bookman’s Tale” and “First Impressions,” “The Lost Book of the Grail” takes on the debate of e-books versus printed books. It was telling that a character in “The Lost Book of the Grail,” Bishop Atwater, voices a similar debate — in the 15th century — between printed books and handwritten manuscripts. The discussion about how we consume books is not a new one, is it?

Charlie: I really wanted to back the camera up and point out that this is nothing new. We’ve been moving from one medium to the next ever since we’ve moved off of cave walls. And, there was a big debate in the 15th century. A lot of people thought then that now that books were going to be so much less expensive and so much easier to acquire, there would be no need for universities if John Doe could out and buy a book.

Tom: If only!

Charlie: Last I heard, universities are still hanging around. Of course, at that time they didn’t see a need for college basketball! You’re right, it’s not a new debate. I get asked lots of times, are you on Arthur’s side (printed books) or Bethany’s side (digital media). The reason that the first scene between them where they’re having a discussion about physical books and electronic media was so much fun to write is that I kind of agree with both of them. They both make some really good points. I didn’t see one of them as the good guy and one of them as the bad guy.

Tom: I’ve noticed an evolution in your writing since “The Bookman’s Tale” about the convergence of digital books. As a former rare book dealer, your love for the printed book is manifest, but in the “The Lost Book of the Grail,” you come closer to an acceptance that both printed and digital media can form a symbiotic relationship. Is that fair?

Charlie: That’s a fair assessment because of Bethany’s character bringing so much of that to the hunt, as it were. I do the same thing. In the process of working on this book, I went and visited English cathedrals. I reviewed medieval manuscripts and toured medieval libraries. But, I also used a traditional library’s newspaper archive. I used a scanned copy of the Winchester Manuscript (of “Le Morte Darthur”) to look at. I used digital resources, as well as physical resources.

There are some areas in which I think the physical will always prevail, one of those being, ironically, long-term storage of information. We just know it works really well. You can print 10,000 copies of some information and distribute it all around the world, and it’s immune from any one individual fire or bankruptcy or collapse of government.

On the other hand, if you know what particular piece of information you’re looking for and you want to find that piece of information, digital media is going to win. I can look through 14 million pages of English newspapers in 10 seconds, looking for a particular combination of words.

They both have very powerful uses, and we ignore either one of to our peril.

Tom: Canonical music plays a large part in the story, which is fitting for a novel set in an ancient cathedral town. Your knowledge obviously extends beyond summary research for a novel. How did you develop this expertise?

Charlie: Singing in a church choir for many, many years is the main way. The choir I sing in, we do evensong. … In terms of getting beyond just the names of composers and things like that, there’s not really any substitute for actually having sung the music.

Tom: One of the most important elements, and, I would think, one of the most difficult parts of writing a Grail story, is the ending. Can you, without giving too much away, talk about how you came to your story’s conclusion?

Charlie: It’s a tricky thing, and you’ve read the end of the book, so you know. But, to be honest, my “answer” is that it came from an idea I’ve had for a really long time. It was a “what if” I had a long time ago that I thought maybe some day could be a novel. The novel it ended up being was wildly different from anything I had ever imagined. But, the one thing that stayed the same was the “what if” — that’s the secret that Arthur is on the trail of and eventually finds out.

For one thing, it seemed a very different way of looking at this confluence of myth, mystery and religion: The different ways that the Grail might manifest itself as unexpected. I hope readers will go, ah, I never thought about that one. That was tricky — there’s so many Grail stories out there.

Tom: You handled that question well.

Charlie: I’m down in South Carolina now (on book tour) and the trick is, how do you talk about a book full of secrets without giving anything away!

Tom: Something else you handle extremely well is the dialogue in your new book. I love the speech Arthur gives to the library committee.

Charlie: I’m channeling there every person who’s ever been frustrated with a committee and wanted to get up and say what they really thought, but didn’t think they could. That’s sort of like, all of us. Everyone’s secret fantasy committee speech is the one Arthur gives.

Tom: Recently, John Grisham publicly complimented “The Lost Book of the Grail” and named you as one of the experts in helping him research his upcoming novel. Was your assistance in the form of rare book knowledge?

Charlie: Yes. He had actually come to an event in Winston-Salem, sponsored by Bookmarks, which I’m involved with. I had done the Q&A with him and had a chance to visit with him backstage, and (later) he started to email me with these questions about rare books. He told me about the book he’s working on and I had the pleasure of reading the manuscript a couple of months ago and offer a few, little ideas in deep background. Obviously, not about characters or plot, just the rare book details. He’s such a nice guy and it was very kind of him to take a look at my book as well.

Tom: You’re nearing the middle of your book tour for “The Lost Book of the Grail,” and you will be speaking on March 16 at Wake Forest University. What can we expect from that event?

Charlie: This particular one, because it’s in the rare book room, I imagine we will have some rare books! They brought some rare books to my opening, and one of the ones they bought was the 1634 edition of (Sir Thomas) Malory’s “Le Morte Darthur” that Arthur is so obsessed with. So, there will certainly be rare books.

But, my presentation I describe as slightly ADD: I introduce the main characters and I read the first scene with Arthur and his head of department to show you what a frustrating life he’s leading. I read the scene where he first meets Bethany and a couple of other tidbits, but I also try to talk about how these little elements come together to create a story. Like Anthony Trollope or the Nanteos Cup you mentioned. At the end of the presentation I put on the screen this collage of items, including things like that Ladies’ Home Journal and the Arthur Rackham picture and other stuff. People are always shy about asking the first question, so I say, if you want to ask the first question, all you have to do is point at one of these things on the screen and I’ll tell you what it has to do with my book. So, that’s been a lot of fun because every day people point at something different. It keeps me on my toes.

Tom: I know your new novel has only been out about three weeks, but can you tell me what you're working on next?

Charlie: A couple of different projects. One is a middle grades book, which is done. … And, I’m taking notes on broad background ideas for what I hope will be my next “grown-up” novel. It’ll be a little bit of a departure for me. There’ll still be old books and mystery, but a lot of it is going to be set in New York City, early 20th century. That’s very different research for me, because if you’re setting a book in a medieval cathedral, you can go sit in a medieval cathedral — they’re still there. But, the New York City of 1906 really isn’t there anymore.

Thank you, Netgalley, for this arc! I'm a book nerd, and so I definitely loved this story. My first Charlie Lovett novel ... and it won't be my last!

I first fell for Lovett's work whilst reading "First Impressions" a few years back. I loved the way that Lovett created characters that were relatable and a story about book lovers all in one. When I picked up this book, I knew that adding the Holy Grail and Arthurian lore into the story would just add to the story and I was right. While I had a little trouble with Arthur to begin with, I came to really enjoy the luddite with a worship for books. I also continually enjoy Lovett's ability to build a good mystery. I was practically racing to finish the book by the end because I was so engrossed I couldn't put it down. I lost sleep because I needed to finish it. While I did find myself more intrigued with the mystery of "First Impressions" (and as a Janeite, there's really no way around that), I was very glad to pick up and read Lovett's newest novel and look forward to the next!

The lost book of the grail by Charlie Lovett. I could have enjoyed this more than I did. There were a few parts in particular where I felt the story sweeping me along, but I resisted, so I could stay outside the story and observe critically. The hang-ups I found, which are minor, would have been less apparent had I immersed myself completely.

I found the underlying plot difficult to believe. The main character isn't religious but he has invested his life in searching for the Holy Grail. Without the one, you really can't have the other. This made the whole story less plausible.

While the main character was likeable, he's kind of shallowly-drawn. I mean, the crochety small-town university lecturer who prefers silent archives and enjoys his bachelorhood is... almost too easy. I feel like the author relied on tropes and stereotypes a bit too much, didn't challenge himself to create a unique, vibrant character. It is incredible, unbelievable, that a not-too-old man in a story set in 2016 doesn't have an email account or know how to send an attachment. I think the character is probably drawn this way *in order to* appeal to likely interested readers-- people who bemoan the very exisence of eBooks and accuse the library of throwing away hardcovers so that we can buy DVDs.

Finally, the story set-up matches almost exactly The bookman's tale: a long-time-ago story which jumps forward in time, giving snippets but not the whole story; a modern-day story about a guy who is a little lost but finds love; the two stories told in alternating chapters. My objection is that the story structure matched his work too closely. It felt so exact, it's like the author used book one as a template and just substituted the new story's details.

I really enjoyed it; it's definitely a 4-star book at least. I just expected so much more from the author.

Lovett continues his theme of literary mysteries in The Lost Book of the Grail. Previous books have dealt with lost Shakespeare and Jane Austen. This time, Lovett explores new metafictional heights in the most literary grail quest I’ve ever encountered. The Lost Book of the Grail tells the story of Arthur Prescott’s meticulous progress through the library of Barchester Cathedral’s library to find any clues that would prove his grandfather correct: that the holy grail is somewhere in Barchester. Along the way, he has help from a talkative American digitizer and his fellow bibliophiles.

The Lost Book of the Grail opens with a surprising bit of action. One night in 1941, German bombers—lost on the way to London—dropped bombs on Barchester Cathedral. (Fellow readers might recognize the name Barchester from Anthony Trollope‘s Barsetshire novels.) A young choir boy is pressed into service to help rescue books from the cathedral library before they’re destroyed. After rescuing the books, he spots a mysterious man stealing one of them. We then jump ahead to 2016, where Arthur Prescott is working on a guidebook to the cathedral. At least, that’s what he’s supposed to be working on. In reality he’s seeking any information about St. Ewolda, the local Saxon saint, and trying to find more evidence that the holy grail might have made it to Barchester in the early middle ages. His grandfather earnestly believed that the grail had somehow come to their out of the way county before disappearing from the historical record.

This introduction might make the book sound like another The Da Vinci Code, but it’s a lot slower and a lot funnier than Dan Brown’s novel. Arthur is the consummate luddite. He loathes the modern era and prefers to spend this time in the cathedral library, reading medieval Latin. He, at first, considers the presence of Bethany an intrusion of the worst kind. She’s there to digitize the manuscripts and books in the library at the behest of an American billionaire. She’s very talkative and loves taking tangents—but she can also argue Arthur to a standstill, which he enjoys in spite of himself. Just reading their dialog is delightful.

While Arthur and Bethany work their way through the historical clues, we get brief scenes from previous centuries that let us know that we’re on the right track. Centuries ago, a monk from Glastonbury asked the monks at St. Ewolda’s to hide a treasure. Since that time, one guardian has kept the secret safe from vikings, Henry VIII’s monastery breakers, and Roundheads. Now the big danger is lack of funds for restoring a cathedral that’s starting to fall apart. The race to find something to save the cathedral before the library is sold off provides a bit of tension among all the page turning.

If you’re the sort of person who gets excited about research, The Lost Book of the Grail will be absolute catnip. If you’re the sort of person who loves characters who bicker before and after they realize they love each other, you’ll have a good time with this book. If you’re a little squeamish about religion, well, this book will still be pretty enjoyable.

I received a free copy of this book from Edelweiss and NetGalley for review consideration. It will be released 28 February 2017.

This book wove two tales together - one in present day and one from the long ago past. The juxtaposition of the two main characters and their discussions on the roles of books, libraries, and digitized information was wonderful. I also enjoyed the exploration of faith and doubt.