Peter becomes obsessed with learning the picture’s origins and braves a host of dangers to follow a trail of clues back across the centuries-all the way to Shakespeare’s time and a priceless literary artifact that could prove, once and for all, the truth about the Bard’s real identity. But upon opening an eighteenth-century study of Shakespeare forgeries, he discovers a Victorian watercolor of a woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to Amanda. Nine months after the death of his beloved wife Amanda left him shattered, Peter Byerly, a young antiquarian bookseller, relocates from North Carolina to the English countryside, hoping to outrun his grief and rediscover the joy he once took in collecting and restoring rare books. For more on affiliate links, please visit our Policies page. It reminded me a bit of a Dan Brown book, but less dark and controversial! This is a great fall read best paired with a cup of tea and a warm fire! I recommend this for fans of historical fiction and books about books, especially Shakespeare. I found the dialogue and some of the plot points a little weak, but I still enjoyed the book overall. Putting in the effort paid off though because I really liked the mystery in this book that was where the author really succeeded here. I would have really struggled reading this on an ebook or audio. It’s an intricate story and can get a tad difficult to follow closely. Whenever returning to that timeline I often had to flip back to try to correctly remember the characters and unfolding of events.

This story follows three different timelines and I found the 16th/17th century timeline a bit difficult to follow.

The Bookman's Tale by Charlie Lovett