Book’a-neer’ (bŏŏk’kå-nēr’), n.
A literary pirate; an individual capable of doing all that must be done in the universe of books that publishers, authors, and readers must not have a part in
THE LAST BOOKANEER
London, 1890—Pen Davenport is the most infamous bookaneer in Europe. A master of disguise, he makes his living stalking harbors, coffeehouses, and print shops for the latest manuscript to steal. But this golden age of publishing is on the verge of collapse. For a hundred years, loose copyright laws and a hungry reading public created a unique opportunity: Books could easily be published without an author’s permission. Authors gained fame but suffered financially—Charles Dickens and Mark Twain, to name a few—but publishers reaped enormous profits while readers bought books inexpensively. Yet on the eve of the twentieth century, a new international treaty is signed to grind this literary underground to a halt. The bookaneers are on the verge of extinction.
In THE LAST BOOKANEER (Penguin Press; on sale April 28, 2015), award-winning and bestselling author Matthew Pearl (The Dante Club, The Poe Shadow, The Last Dickens) gives us a thrilling historical novel set inside the lost world of these doomed outlaws and the incredible heist that brought their era to a close. On the island of Samoa, a dying Robert Louis Stevenson labors over a new novel. The thought of one last book from the great author fires the imaginations of the bookaneers, and soon Davenport sets out for the South Pacific island. As always, Davenport is reluctantly accompanied by his assistant Fergins, who is whisked across the world for one final caper. Fergins soon discovers the supreme thrill of aiding Davenport in his quest to steal Stevenson’s manuscript and make a fortune before the new treaty ends the bookaneers’ trade forever. But Davenport is hardly the only one with a mind to pirate Stevenson’s last novel—his longtime adversary, the monstrous Belial soon appears on the island.
Yet Samoa holds many secrets of its own, and the duo’s bookish concerns clash with the island’s violent destiny. A colonial war is afoot between the British, American, and German powers, even as Stevenson himself quietly supports native revolutionaries from high in his mountain compound. Soon Davenport, Fergins, and Belial find themselves embroiled in a conflict larger, perhaps, than literature itself. Illuminating the heroics of the bookaneers while conjuring Stevenson himself to life, THE LAST BOOKANEER is a page-turning journey to the heart of a lost era.
Pearl’s singular talent for uncovering and extrapolating fascinating stories from literary history has intrigued and delighted book lovers and critics alike time and time again. (Pearl pulled the idea of the “bookaneer” from a scrap of history about the illegal 19th-century trade in books before the international copyright law of 1891 came into effect.) This is the first time Penguin Press is publishing Matthew Pearl, and we are very proud to showcase a writer at the height of his powers. THE LAST BOOKANEER, with its electrifying story and instantly quotable writing, is a fine testament to Pearl’s research and imagination and reaffirms his deep respect for the power of literature. It’s a love letter to books, to the people who write them, those who sell them, and all who treasure them.
About the Author
Matthew Pearl is the award-winning and bestselling author of the novels The Dante Club, The Poe Shadow, The Last Dickens, and The Technologists. His books have been New York Times bestsellers and international bestsellers translated into more than thirty languages.
Advance Praise for THE LAST BOOKANEER
“An entertaining adventure tale steeped in literary history…[Pearl] offers many of the charms and unrushed distractions of a favorite old bookstore.”
—Kirkus (starred review)
“In the days before e-books, self-publishing, and fan fiction, publishing was an even riskier undertaking—or so Pearl makes an entertaining case for in his latest, ingenious literary caper…Pearl gives the bookaneers a lively fictitious history…and populates it with a colorful cast of roguish characters…A loving testament to the enduring power of paper books.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Writing mischievously clever novels about famous writers is Pearl’s forte…Passionately researched and ebulliently imagined…Pearl’s vividly descriptive and energetically plotted novel churns and charms with intriguing literary history, acid social critique, witty dialogue, and delectably surprising and diabolical reversals and betrayals.”
—Booklist
“This swashbuckling tale of greed and great literature will remind you why Pearl is the reigning king of popular literary historical thrillers. His latest is guaranteed to delight lovers of history and mystery.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
“This novel is about book lovers, for book lovers, written by a book lover. Matthew Pearl is the gold standard when it comes to historical mysteries, and THE LAST BOOKANEER is no exception—a wonderful tale of passion, intrigue, and the last days of Robert Louis Stevenson.”
—Lyndsay Faye, author of Gods of Gotham and Seven for a Secret
“When it comes to educating and enthralling in the same breath, nobody tops Matthew Pearl. THE LAST BOOKANEER is a riveting transatlantic adventure, a first-class exercise in intellectual history, and beneath its richly embroidered pages, a love letter to the written word. It reminds us why we love books in the first place.”
—Louis Bayard, author of Roosevelt’s Beast and The School of Night
For more information on The Last Bookaneer or to purchase the book be sure to check out Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, and Matthew Pearl’s website.
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