From the New York Times bestselling author of The Night Circus, a timeless love story set in a secret underground world—a place of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a starless sea.

Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues—a bee, a key, and a sword—that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library hidden far below the surface of the earth.

What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians—it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also of those who are intent on its destruction.

Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose—in both the mysterious book and in his own life.

My Review

I really have no idea how to review this, so let’s start with the cats. There are cats everywhere, ginger, tabby, Persian – they figure in the mysterious stories and in Zachary’s own life. There are no dogs, strangely. I guess cats are more ethereal.

The book opens with stories about pirates and painters and acolytes, and ‘ships that sail upon a starless sea’.

Zachary Ezra Rawlins is the main character in the book. He’s a student in Vermont who finds a book of stories in which his childhood is featured. As for the rest – his ending is ‘not yet’.

I’m not going to try and explain the plot – it’s far too complicated, suffice to say that I loved it. There are a number of narrators, one for the main story – others for the sub-plots and the storybooks. They are all brilliant. I’m not sure if I would have enjoyed this as much if I had been reading rather than listening. I could totally lose myself while walking my dog in the park, surrounded by nature.

The language is stunning and lyrical. But please note that this is a book to be savoured NOT rushed to get to the end to find out what happens. There are no villains to be sought, killers to be caught. Read it for its own sake and be patient. You will not regret it.

Listened with Borrowbox.

About the Author

ERIN MORGENSTERN is the author of The Night Circus, a number-one national best seller that has been sold around the world and translated into thirty-seven languages. She has a degree in theater from Smith College and lives in Massachusetts.

Where can you find her?
Social Media Handles

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Website: http://erinmorgenstern.com