The Lost Book of the Grail

Starred review from January 2, 2017
Diffident Arthur Prescott, the endearing hero of this thoroughly enjoyable novel from bestseller Lovett (The Bookman’s Tale), has chosen to teach at the University of Barchester, a backwater institution, because he grew up in Barchester (yes, Anthony Trollope’s cathedral city, as Lovett admits in an author’s note). A junior lecturer who’s fond of P.G. Wodehouse, Arthur finds his values at odds with those of many of his colleagues, who prefer teaching seminars on J.K. Rowling rather than Shakespeare. His life is upended by the arrival of an attractive American, Bethany Davis, who has the job of digitizing the local cathedral’s ancient manuscripts, and whom he fears threatens his own private quest for the location of the Holy Grail. Bethany gradually brings Arthur out of his emotional shell, and the two become research partners. The light tone (at one point, Arthur, Bethany, and some allies are described as having read enough classic mysteries “that they had no trouble concocting an unnecessarily complicated plan” for a well-intentioned theft) blends well with the clever academic sleuthing. Agent: Anna Worrall, Gernert Co.

December 15, 2016
He's a book-loving Brit who's skeptical about modernity; she's a tech-savvy Yank who talks too much. Is it possible this unlikely pair of "Grail buddies" could forge a meeting of minds--and even hearts--while tracking down one of the world's most revered treasures? In his latest literary mystery, Lovett (The Further Adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge, 2015, etc.) supplements his trademark meld of books, romance, and adventure with an element of (fairly English) humor and some nods in the direction of P.G. Wodehouse. Set in the fantasy English town of Barchester, a place invented by Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope but used by other writers since, it introduces 40-year-old fuddy-duddy academic Arthur Prescott, who lives a bachelor's life of literature, conversation, and love for Barchester Cathedral. But Arthur's orderly existence is about to be upended by the arrival of 26-year-old American Bethany Davis, who's been given the job of digitizing the ancient manuscripts in the cathedral's library. Arthur and Bethany share a fascination with the legendary, lost magical cup of the Holy Grail, which Arthur's grandfather told him, in secret, was hidden somewhere at Barchester. Arthur has also long sought the missing Book of Ewolda, a life of the sixth-century founder of the monastery that became the cathedral. More of a romp than Lovett's preceding novels, this tale interleaves its sometimes-comic 21st-century sleuthing with episodes from Barchester's--and England's--history that give clues to St. Ewolda and the Grail while charting the dogged evolution of Christian faith over some two millennia. There's lots of research too, on everything from code-cracking to the creation of vellum, but it's underpinned by a pleasing treasure hunt mixed with the romantic involvement of two genially mismatched figures. A solidly built, innocently bookish diversion with a distinct Masterpiece Theater flavor.

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October 1, 2016
Former antiquarian bookseller Lovett here does what he did so well in his debut, The Bookman's Tale. He uses a contemporary setting to vivify and contextualize ancient writings. Arthur Prescott, a hapless English professor who spends as much time as possible in the Barchester Cathedral library obsessing over the story of the Holy Grail, is initially disturbed by young American Bethany Davis, sent to digitize the library's manuscripts. But soon they are comrades in arms trying to find the Book of Ewolda, a chronicle of the cathedral's founder missing under mysterious circumstances.

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