The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections: A Novel
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
"A rare treat for readers. I loved this book!"--Matthew Sullivan, author of Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore
"Who doesn't love a mystery involving rare books and bad librarians?" --Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times bestselling author
Anxious People meets the delights of bookish fiction in a stunning debut following a librarian whose quiet life is turned upside down when a priceless manuscript goes missing. Soon she has to ask: what holds more secrets in the library--the ancient books shelved in the stacks, or the people who preserve them?
Liesl Weiss long ago learned to be content working behind the scenes in the distinguished rare books department of a large university, managing details and working behind the scenes to make the head of the department look good. But when her boss has a stroke and she's left to run things, she discovers that the library's most prized manuscript is missing.
Liesl tries to sound the alarm and inform the police about the missing priceless book, but is told repeatedly to keep quiet, to keep the doors open and the donors happy. But then a librarian unexpectedly stops showing up to work. Liesl must investigate both disappearances, unspooling her colleagues' pasts like the threads of a rare book binding as it becomes clear that someone in the department must be responsible for the theft. What Liesl discovers about the dusty manuscripts she has worked among for so long--and about the people who care for and revere them--shakes the very foundation on which she has built her life.
The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections is a sparkling book-club read about a woman struggling to step out from behind the shadows of powerful and unreliable men, and reveals the dark edge of obsession running through the most devoted bookworms.
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Community Reviews
At the same time, a younger colleage, Miriam, whose behavior has been odd (but "odd" was never really spelled out) goes missing, immediately after she urgently tried to speak to Liesl, who "forgot" to get back to her. Could Miriam have stolen the volume? Who knows? And unfortunately, who cares? We don't feel the stakes are all that high, and Liesl's anxiety over the missing volume isn't matched by any strategic plan to question her co-workers or do any of her own sleuthing. She does, however, hit the Dewer's Scotch when checking the stacks in case this rare volume was mis-shelved.
The author also gives Liesl a wooden husband character named John, whom she avoids and with whom she has a cool, distant relationship, but even after 100 pages we don't know why. There are only hints that become exasperating. Another example of a book that was so overhyped but underbaked.
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