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Today I welcome back TLC book tours to The Book Binder’s Daughter with an historical fiction novel entitled Gutenberg’s Apprentice.  I invite you to read my review, learn a little more about the author and look at the other stops on this book tour.

My Review:

We all take for granted the written word, especially in the 21st century when not only are physical books readily available but so are books in electronic form.  In Muniz, Germany in the 15th Century an Elder by the name of Gutenberg had a crazy and obsessive idea of finding a way to mass produce books instead of having them laboriously copied by hand through scribes.  Peter is one such scribe and is recalled from his scribal duties in Paris at a monastery by his foster father.  Peter’s foster father, with whom he has been living since the age of 10, wants Peter to become Gutenberg’s apprentice as Gutenberg works on his new printing press.  Fust, Peter’s adoptive father is a merchant who has heavily invested in Gutenberg’s new invention.

At the center of the story is the long and tedious process of smelting ore, casting the letters out of the metal and then finally using them to print books.  The first thing that Gutenberg attempts to print is a Latin grammar.  Then Gutenberg gets the church to agree to hire him to print missals for Mass.  But when the church cannot agree on which version of the missal it wants printed, Gutenberg, Fust and Peter must come up with another idea for a book to produce with their printing press.  They decide the Bible will not only carry on God’s word, but will also be a popular item for clergy and non-clergy alike to purchase.

This book reads more like a history of the development of the printing press than a historical fiction novel.  The characters are not developed to the point where we might empathize or even like them.  Gutenberg is your typical eccentric genius who is obsessed with his work of art.  Fust, Peter’s adoptive father, is a merchant who is always looking for new ways to make money.  Peter himself only seems to have some spark of emotion when he meets and falls in love with a painter’s daughter named Anna.  But he loses interest her all too quickly when she is not impressed with his printing device.

The process of printing these bibles and the procedures for smelting ore, casting the metal letters, the workings of the press and the politics of the Catholic church were well-researched.  If you have a keen interest in learning how this process evolved then I would give GUTENBERG’S APPRENTICE a try.

About The Author:

I am a printer, journalist, and writer, celebrating the publication of my first novel, “Gutenberg’s Apprentice.”
I was born and raised in California, studied philosophy at Vassar College and got a degree journalism from U.C. Berkeley. I have reported for newspapers in California and from Europe as a foreign correspondent, including the Washington Post, The Guardian, The San Francisco Chronicle and Salon.com. I currently review books and arts for The Economist. Some of my articles can be found at www.alixchristie.com.

I started focusing on fiction with an MFA from St Mary’s College of California, and was a semifinalist in the 2008 Amazon Breakthrough Novel contest. My short stories have appeared in the Southwest Review, Other Voices, and a limited edition from Foolscap Press.

Gutenberg’s Apprentice Blog Tour:

Tuesday, September 23rd: The Steadfast Reader

Wednesday, September 24th: Julz Reads

Thursday, September 25th: BookNAround

Friday, September 26th: Nightly Reading

Monday, September 29th: Based on a True Story

Tuesday, September 30th: 5 Minutes For Books

Wednesday, October 1st: The Book Wheel

Thursday, October 2nd: Guiltless Reading

Monday, October 6th: Broken Teepee

Tuesday, October 7th: Always With a Book

Wednesday, October 8th: The Book Binder’s Daughter

Thursday, October 9th: Books on the Table

Friday, October 10th: Literary Lindsey

Monday, October 13th: Doing Dewey

Tuesday, October 14th: Bibliophilia, Please

Wednesday, October 15th: More Than Just Magic

Thursday, October 16th: Read Lately

Friday, October 17th: WildmooBooks

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

I enjoy stories that are retellings of classics, so I was delighted when I had the chance to review a book that narrated the Romeo and Juliet story from the nurse’s point of view.  This story begins with Angelica and her husband Pietro who are peasants living in 14th century Verona.  Although they are poor, they love each other dearly and have had a wonderful life raising 6 boys.  When the plague claims the lives of all of their children, they think they will never have the chance to rear another.  One night Angelica experiences sudden abdominal pains and she discovers that she is in labor but never realized she was pregnant.  After days of grueling labor Angelica gives birth to a baby girl, whom she is told is stillborn.

Pietro, in order to give Angelica some physical and emotional comfort, finds her employment as a wet-nurse for an upper class family who had a daughter born on the same day as Angelica’s. Angelica immediately falls in love with little Juliet and cares for her like she is her own.  The entire first part of the story describes the first three years of Juliet’s life, and develops the strong bond that nurse and child share.  I was a little disappointed that Romeo does not make an appearance until about two-thirds into the novel.

I also thought that the diction and word choice in the novel was strange.  The book is written in modern, not Shakespearean, English but the author inserts some Shakespearean language randomly into the text.  It was distracting to read phrases like “by my troth” or  words like “perchance.”   The last third of the novel, when the traditional story of Romeo and Juliet emerges, is particularly full of such Shakespearean language.

The strength of this novel lies in the details it provides about 14th century Italy.  Loveen describes the Cappelletti palace, the clothes of the upper class and the rich banquets that lords use to entertain.  We are also given a glimpse of what it would have looked like to walk around the city and visit its markets and its Duomo.  Juliet’s Nurse helped me to image better the setting of Shakespeare’s Verona.

This book also fills in the story of two characters, Tybalt and the Friar, who linger in the background of Romeo and Juliet.  Tybalt is a caring and sensitive boy who craves parental attention since his own are absent.  He also has a raging temper and fiercely wants to defend his family’s honor.  The Friar is a funny character who tries to do his priestly duties, but also looks out for his own greedy interests.

If you want another, unique perspective of the Romeo and Juliet story, then JULIET’S NURSE is definitely worth giving a try.  Do you like to read retellings of classic stories?  Let me know in the comments!

I am pleased to welcome Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours back to the Book Binder’s Daughter.  Today the book I am reviewing is about the life and adventures of Robert Louis Stevenson.  I invite you to read my review, learn a bit about the author and visit the other stops on the tour.

My Review:

The strength of this novel is the character of Robert Louis Stevenson himself.  The story is told from two different points of view, that of Stevenson himself and a woman named Fanny with whom he is hopelessly in love.  Stevenson has a great sense of humor and even though he is sickly with a lung disease and his life always seems to be a mess, he manages to make light of his turmoil through his humor.

Fanny and Stevenson meet at an art colony in France and he is immediately smitten with her.  But Fanny is already married, albeit unhappily, and has two children.  Stevenson ignores these obstacles that stand in their way of being together.  When Fanny leaves to go back to California, Stevenson embarks on a 6,000 mile journey to find her again.  How far would you be willing to journey to be with the one you love?

I think that we tend to idealize famous writers like Stevenson and image that stories and novels come to them effortlessly.  Mark Wiederanders shows us that Stevenson’s writing process was anything but easy and Stevenson never really intended to write fiction at all.  He likes to entertain Fanny, her children and others with his stories but he doesn’t start to write fiction in a serious way until he is forced to make a living from his stories.

STEVENSON’S TREASURES is a fun and entertaining read that mixes humor, great writing and adventure.  I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys historical fiction set in the 19th century and for anyone who wants to know more about the multifaceted character of Robert Louis Stevenson.

About The Author:

Mark Wiederanders lives in Northern California and writes about the private lives of famous authors. His screenplay about William Shakespeare’s family, “Taming Judith” was a finalist in the Academy of Motion Pictures’ annual screenwriting competition and was optioned by a film company. The idea for his current novel, STEVENSON’S TREASURE hatched during a visit to Carmel, when Mark learned that Robert Louis Stevenson suffered a near-fatal collapse in 1879 while hiking nearby. What was the young, as-yet unknown Scottish writer doing so far from home?

To write the novel that resulted from this question, Mark studied hundreds of historical letters and visited sites near him in Monterey, San Francisco, and Calistoga. Then he followed Stevenson’s footsteps to Europe, lodging at the Stevenson home in Edinburgh followed by a week in the Highlands cottage where RLS wrote TREASURE ISLAND. Mark is also a research psychologist (Ph.D, University of Colorado) who has studied treatment programs for delinquents and the criminally insane. His interests include acting in community theater (recently a Neil Simon play), downhill skiing, golf, and spending time with his wife and three grown children.

For more information please visit Mark Wiederander’s website and blog. You can also find him on Facebook.

Stevenson’s Treasure Blog Tour Schedule:

Monday, September 15
Review & Interview at Back Porchervations

Tuesday, September 16
Review at The Writing Desk

Wednesday, September 17
Review at The Book Binder’s Daughter
Review, Interview & Giveaway at Based on a True Story

Thursday, September 18
Review at Library Educated

Friday, September 19
Spotlight at CelticLady’s Reviews

Monday, September 22
Spotlight & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Tuesday, September 23
Interview at Book Babe

Wednesday, September 24
Spotlight at Princess of Eboli

Thursday, September 25
Review & Giveaway at Beth’s Book Reviews
Spotlight & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books

Friday, September 26
Spotlight & Giveaway at Historical Fiction Connection

Wednesday, October 1
Review at Svetlana’s Reads and Views