BOOK REVIEW - Mr. Timothy by: Louis Bayard

Book Review

Mr. Timothy by: Louis Bayard



I must confess, I went into this novel with mediocre expectations. I looked forward to a mystery with perhaps a sincere but brief nod towards the Dickens spirit and the language of old England. I encountered, to my immense delight, something far better. I found myself involved in an immensely satisfying novel.

The book takes us into the confidence of A Christmas Carol's Tiny Tim as a grown man known in his later years as "Mr. Timothy."

A complex man with a decidedly interesting back story, is our Mr. Timothy.
I was at once wrapped up in the world created, it nearly brought my senses to their knees. Wrapped up in a damp foggy air and assaulted with smells wood fires, burnt skin of butterscotch, pipe tobacco and the like, I loved the journey as much for the plot, which grows increasingly macabre in nature as it progresses, as for the language and dialogue used to bring the reader along for the ride.
The voice of Mr. Timothy and those he encounters is clever and witty and surprisingly funny.
Entertaining and recommended by yours truly. Be prepared to close the book, smile contentedly....and then almost at once start to fidget and begin to hunt for more of this authors work. ( I myself have already sought out and begun to read "The Pale Blue Eye" for which Bayard takes us into the company of a young Edgar Allan Poe.)

My book itch was indeed scratched.