I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
I really liked the concept of this book. I think this has a lot of promise to be a really good series or movie. The fact that one manuscript follows people and we see their interactions through letters is beautiful
I found it difficult to keep track of all of the characters at times. This might be because of the audio format.
Overall I'm going to give this story a 3/5 stars. I enjoyed the premise and the overall plot is an interesting one.

This book was cute! I liked the premise of an abandoned manuscript spanning time and space and bringing people together

The Lost Manuscript follows a novel that was left behind on a journey through many different hands until it reaches Anne-Lise Briard who finds it in the night table of her hotel. She adores it and determines she will connect with the author, which she does by sending a message to the address that is found in the pages of the book. She uncovers a mystery that she is determined to unwind -- where this book has been and who wrote it's mysterious ending.
I love books and a book about books is top of my reading list, but this book was sadly disappointing to this reader. The entire book is written in letters between characters. Cleaver! Love it! But it wasn't executed in a way that kept this readers attention. It got better 1/2 way through, but even the big reveals fell flat for this reader. I wanted to love it, but I can only say it was a cute idea, that maybe could have been hashed out better. On a positive note, the 4 narrators did a great job and I loved listening to the French accents!
Thank you for Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for allowing me to preview this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re travels-lust is about to knock you over and your mind is spinning from everything wrong in the world today, stop what you are doing right now and listen to this amazing audio. Epistolary in form, it takes no time to become both attached and nostalgic. And the narrators are amazing!

We begin mid-act when our heroine delivers the manuscript she found back to its rightful author. But she also smells a buried story and begins digging with wild abandon. The reader meets one charming—sometimes sad—link after another until all becomes clear. In the meantime, the finder, author, and friends (and co) unravel while the reader cheers them on the better days and understanding.

Just as with the found manuscript, this story and its opinionated continental subjects stick with you and make you curious and hopeful. What a breath of fresh air. Take Elegance of a Hedgehog and mix with a rom-com version of Dangerous Liaisons, and poof, a wholly original offering.

The Lost Manuscript by Cathy Bonidan (Author), Élodie Yung (Narrator), Rupert Degas (Narrator), Cecile Delepiere (Narrator), Jean Brassard (Narrator)

The Lost Manuscript is such a touching story and the audio version allows us to hear the written words of this epistolary novel. So often we read a book that gives us the spoken narrative but in this case, we listen to a book of written letters. The experience is lovely and hearing the various voices of the narrators made me feel I was right there with each letter writer. 

When Anne-Lise Briard finds a manuscript in a bedside table drawer in a hotel on the Brittany Coast, she embarks on a journey to find the author of the manuscript. She finds that the author wrote the first half of the manuscript thirty years ago but that someone else wrote the second half of the manuscript. Two other people have also added to the pages. Anne-Lise, and the friends she makes along the way, work to find out the author of the second part of the manuscript, over the next six months. As can often happen with the written word, some words are misinterpreted on this journey of discovery, as the various players in this story communicate with each other through letters.

During these six months, people's lives change. Anne-Lise finds that the manuscript affected the lives of others during the thirty years that it has been "missing", just as it is changing the lives of those who are involved with it in the present day. This is a quiet, reflective story and I enjoyed listening to the letters. It did take an effort for me to understand the accents of the narrators but those accents make the book even more interesting. This was a buddy read Jayme and DeAnn and getting to discuss this story seemed to fit well with the story itself. 

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for this ARC.

The Lost Manuscript
By: Cathy Bonidan

I was immediately drawn into this epistolary novel (in audio format), about a "lost manuscript".

Anne-Lise Briard, was on vacation on the coast of Brittany, at The Beau Rivage Hotel (room 128), when she discovers a manuscript in her bedside table drawer. She is so moved by the story contained in the pages of the manuscript, that she decides she will try to contact the author. Tucked into the pages of the manuscript, she finds a note, with an address, (but no name). Anne-Lise decides to return the manuscript to this address, with a note explaining that she found this in her hotel room, and she hopes to return it to the author at this address (the first letter of 87 letters).

She in turn, receives a letter from Sylvestre Fahmer, the man who penned it (the manuscript), and he confesses that he actually lost it 30 years prior on a flight to Montreal, half completed, and he did not write the second half. Anne-Lise writes back to Sylvestre that she is intrigued, and, if he did not mind, she would try to discover who completed his manuscript. That is when the third voice of the audiobook is introduced, Anne-lise's friend Maggy, who is living in Brittany, They join forces to trace the journey of the manuscript. The fourth and final voice is William, whose family is linked intimately to the manuscript.

I loved this story so much. By the end of the novel, a group of people who never would have met, became fast and true friends. This demonstrates the power of a story. I loved the 4 voices of the audiobook, it really added to the enjoyment of the novel. I especially loved the epistolary format. Finally, I really enjoy when my home, #montreal pops up in the books that I read!

Thank you #netgalley, @dreamscapemedia and Claire Bonidan for my copy of #thelostmanuscript in return for my honest review. #5stars.

Translated to English.

Anna finds a manuscript in the bedside table in her hotel room, she is able to track down the author. The entire audio is based on manual correspondences to many different folks. The book gets quite convoluted, but it should be a little creative as this manuscript has been missing 30 years and evidently this manuscript provides a deep meaning or insight to all/most who have read it.

The audio provides multiple (four) narrators, which really brings this story to life.

The audio is rather short, 5 hours and 20 minutes. Honestly takes quite a different approach from other books/audios and in my opinion, definitely worth a listen.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author/Cathy Bonidan and the publisher/Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to review the advance review copy of this audiobook. Audio publication date is 12 Jan 2021.

My first 5⭐️ Audible for 2021!

This book will not be for everyone, as it is an epistolary novel-a literary work told completely in the form of letters-87 to be exact.

BUT, I loved it!! ❤️

I wasn’t sure how this would translate to an AUDIBLE, by I honestly felt that the EXPERIENCE of this book was ENHANCED because I LISTENED to it!

Dreamscape Media assembled a CAST of narrators, so EACH character had their own unique voice. Although read in English, the novel takes place primarily in France, and the names of people and places are pronounced authentically, at the start of each letter, transporting you to Europe.

By the end of the novel, I felt like I knew each of them, and that if I traveled abroad, tracked down the addresses and knocked on the doors, that they would be opened by those I had just read about.

And, I may have to test that theory, because I will miss spending time with them!

The book begins with Anne-Lise Briard booking room 128 at the Beau Rivage Hotel, for vacation, at the tip of the Brittany Coast, and opening her bedside table drawer.

Inside, she finds an abandoned manuscript, and she cannot help but to read it.
The words move her, so when she finds an address HALFWAY between the pages, she feels compelled to make sure that it is returned to its author.

A few days later, she hears from Sylvestre Fahmer, the man who penned it, and he confesses that he actually lost the manuscript 30 years prior on a flight to Montreal, half completed, AND that he didn’t write the second half.

Captivated by this mystery, Anne-Lise recruits her best friend, Maggy to play “Watson” to her “Sherlock” as they try to track down who has had it for the past thirty years and how it made its way into room 128.

Lyrical and Magical!
The story as captivating as that COVER ART!

I HIGHLY recommend listening!

The story was enjoyable and I liked the characters and how the story developed although I feel like the book should've been. longer

I adore epistolary novels (a story told in written letters). Perhaps it’s the nostalgia since I grew up when handwritten notes and letters were all we had? It’s very rare that a book in this format doesn't work well for me, especially when it’s an audiobook with an exceptional full cast, such as The Lost Manuscript..

This elegantly written novel starts out when Parisian Ann-lise is vacationing in Brittany and discovers a 30-year-old manuscript in the bedside table and becomes utterly enchanted by it. Through some notes jotted down, she does some sleuthing and manages to track down the author. This begins a series of beautiful letters written between the two.

We are then taken on a magical journey of discovery through literature. I was completely absorbed into the story and finished it in a day. It showed how this one manuscript made such momentous impacts in so many lives all over the world. As avid readers, we know just profoundly books and stories can impact us, so it made this that much more beautiful and touching.

While there are quite a few wonderful characters introduced throughout this story, it was easy to follow as the full cast did a phenomenal job of bringing their characters to life.

If you are a fan of epistolary novels, such as This is How You Lose the Time War and
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, you should absolutely give this a shot.

Thank you Dreamscape Audio, St Martins Press, and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

⭐⭐⭐💫

Many thanks to dreamscape_media, netgalley, and stmartinspress for providing me with an audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed listening to the audio. With the multiple narrators- it was easy to distinguish the characters. The story is told through a series of letters and emails, so it was really fun hearing it being read out loud. There are some parts where it was a bit unbelievable, but overall, it did not take away from the story.

What really makes this book special is how a lost manuscript was able to connect people together. It goes to show the power of storytelling and words.

It has a Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society feel to it, so if you loved that book as much as I did, I think you will also enjoy this!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Audio for allowing me to listen to an advanced audio copy of Cathy Bonidan's The Lost Manuscript.

Personally, I love audiobooks and epistolary novels, so when I read the description of Cathy Bonidon's The Lost Manuscript I could not wait to jump in. Unfortunately, I did not love this audiobook as much as I thought I would.

The plot is fairly straightforward--while on vacation, Parisian Ann-lisse finds a manuscript, becomes utterly entranced by it, and is determined to find it's author. She finds the work's first author, Silvestre, a reclusive man who lives just outside of Paris, quickly and begins to exchange correspondence with him. From him, she discovers that while he started the novel, he did not finish it. Thus a quest to find that mysterious second author begins. A quest that will come to envelope not only Ann-lisse's best friend Maggy, but an assortment of individuals whose lives have been touched by the mysterious manuscript.

The novel is certainly elegantly written. It is essentially a testament to the power literature has to bring people together and to help them heal from deep seated emotional wounds. In terms of authorial intent, this is nothing short of an admirable and noble goal. In practice, it makes for a novel/audiobook that moves a bit too slowly to really keep the listener engaged in the mystery. Beyond that at times it seems important plot information gets buried for the sake of beautiful sounding prose. Perhaps, this is less of an issue in hard copy versions of the book.
Another issue that emerged in listening to the novel had do with the narration. At points the narrator who voice Silvestre had a bit of a monotone, which made it difficult to pick up on the characters moments of humor or irony. This was also a bit disappointing.

Overall, while I was happy to learn the resolution of the mystery in the end, getting there seemed to be a test of my tenacity.

I would like to thank the author and Netgalley for gifting me the audio book. This was such an interesting book. I actually loved it so much. I have never read a book that told a story through people just writing letters to each other. The author's writing is so poetic that is actually made me miss hand writing letters! I love how the story about a lost manuscript that was found in the back of a drawer touch so many life's that read it. To me this story was so unique that is reminded me of how everyone talked about Bram Stoker's "Dracula" when it came out how, and that no one has wrote a book that tells the story through just diary entries. Cathy Bonidan did such an amazing job! I encourage other people to sit down and read or listen to this book. I am not sure if it considered a short story due the the audio book was 5.5 hrs long I believe. But to me it was just perfect.

Ive never read/listened to an epistolary novel before and I enjoyed the concept but I just couldn't connect with any of the characters. Im not sure if that is because of the format or the characters themselves but it just did not do it for me. Anne-Lise was way too intrusive into other peoples lives and she acted as if there would be no consequence which I felt was juvenile and a bit too much. Maggy was down right rude half the time and her character was a bit inconsistent in her thoughts and opinions. There were a lot of secondary characters that I felt were a bit underdeveloped and it made it confusing to keep track of them all.

I thought the concept was pretty interesting trying to find the second author but I think a lot of the events were a bit ridiculous and would never happen in real life. I do like the fact that it points out how a book can touch so many people in different ways and have an impact on their lives. This is so true and I think this story really showcased that. I liked how everything came together in the end but for the most part it all felt a bit confusing. I am not sure if I would have understood it more if I were reading it and not listening to it, but it still felt like it was missing something.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the ARC audiobook. I would love to give it a great review but sadly I couldn't get through the book. It got very confusing who was talking, there were soooooooo many different people and it was constantly changing which made it very hard to follow along. All of the accents and voices blended together and made it hard to listen to. I have tried repeatedly to push through it but I just couldn't finish this book. Even without all of the the book just didn't flow well.

I was intrigued by the epistolary form of this book as well as the general storyline of a woman finding an abandoned manuscript, which then brings together an unlikely group of people.

I enjoyed the various narrators included in the audiobook, which allowed listeners to differentiate between characters. However, I found the characters still blurred together because the narrative voice of all characters was fairly similar.

I still enjoyed the story and think I would've enjoyed it more if I read the hardcopy!

What a charming story perfectly suited to be an audiobook! If you are feeling nostalgic about letter writing, this epistolary tale will delight you.

On vacation in France, Anne-Lise Briaird discovers a manuscript in a nightstand while looking for something to read. She is enchanted by it and resolves to return it to the writer. The manuscript 's journey is slowly unraveled and the simple mystery ends up, as Anne-Lise says "an extraordinary tale full of plot twists, great passions, and missed opportunities."

With their lovely accents, the four narrators have done an outstanding job of adding to the charm of the story.

At first you may think the characters are too literate, too willing to share their stories with strangers. Letters go back and forth too quickly; phones and e-mail are mostly unused even though the year is 2016. But author Cathy Bonidan has taken 'poetic license', requiring the reader to suspend reality and live in the world she has created. It's a magical place to spend time.

BOTTOM LINE: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, but consider listening to the audiobook.

DISCLAIMER: A copy of The Lost Manuscript was provided to me by Dreamscape Media / NetGalley for an honest review.

I have read many books about the love of reading. This was a charming tale of how one book that wasn't even published but was read and affected the lives of many who read it. I thought it was fun to have the story unfold through letters written between all the different characters. There were several stories all overlapping and I really appreciated that it wasn't totally predictable. I was pleasantly surprised by the ending and how all was resolved. I actually listened to the audio book which had a full cast which helped me keep all the different characters straight. This as a lovely, clean read/listen.

A lost manuscript is found in the Beau Rivage Hotel by Anne-Lise Briard while on vacation in France, bringing to light a mystery for the ages. Upon discovering an address inside the copy, Anne-Lisa proceeds to write a letter indicating she has found this manuscript. The address leads to the author who lost it nearly 30 years ago. Upon discovery and communication with the author and others, she learns the second half of the copy has been written by someone else. Through letters by those touched by the copy, romance and secrets are revealed.

This audio was challenging to navigate with multiple narrators. In addition, the French accent made it difficult to understand at times. I believe I would've enjoyed this better in book form rather than audio. Total audio was only 5:21:39.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC publication for an honest review.
Published - January 12, 2021

I adored this book! I knew nothing about it before requesting it through Netgalley and I'm so happy I did. I started it randomly while waiting for library holds and finished it in a day. I'd recommend it to fans of the movie Amelie-- it had the same fun, feel-good, wild-goose-chase story with delightfully French context. I especially enjoyed the narration. I loved that they were French-speaking narrators. The narrator who read Anne-Lise's letters always had so much joy in her narration.