A review by gabmc
The Lost Book of the Grail by Charlie Lovett

4.0

This is a lovely, refreshing book - a book about books, history, libraries, friends and the value of reading. Arthur Prescott was named for the mythical King Arthur and has always had a fascination with Arthurian lore. He spent much of his childhood with his grandfather, reading books about King Arthur in the (fictional) Cathedral City of Barchester. Arthur has also spent his life enthralled with the idea of the holy grail. Now, he lectures in English at Barchester University - a horrible modern institution. So in his free time he loves being surrounded by ancient manuscripts at the Cathedral library. He is not a religious man, but he loves English history, and so much of that revolved around religions - so it is not strange to him that he attends services at the cathedral. His neat life is upturned one day when he meets Bethany Davis, an American postgraduate student who has come to Barchester to digitise the library. The pair form an unlikely friendship - from the outside it seems that Arthur's and Bethany's goals are different - but they actually both love and see the value in the beautiful historical manuscripts and want them shared with the world.