The book of doors : a novel

Title:

Author:

Brown, Gareth, author.

ISBN:

9780063323988

Edition:

First edition.

Publication Information:

New York, NY : William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2024]

Physical Description:

403 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm

Summary:

When her favorite customer, a lonely yet charming old man, dies right in front of her, Cassie holds on to the last book he was reading, which turns out to be a rare volume that has great power and she is tasked with protecting it from those who will do evil.

Subject:

Women booksellers -- Fiction.

Books -- Fiction.

Magic -- Fiction.

Time travel -- Fiction.

New York (N.Y.) -- Fiction.

Fantasy fiction.

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Call Number	Status
Searching... Anderson - Anderson Main Library	New Books	22960002591039	F Brown Gareth	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Anderson - Powdersville Branch	New Books	22960002591047	F Brown Gareth	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Beaufort - Beaufort Branch	New Books	0530011646896	FIC BRO	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Beaufort - Bookmobile South	New Books	0530011646755	FIC BRO	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Beaufort - Hilton Head Branch	New Books	0530011646664	FIC BRO	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Cherokee - Blacksburg Library	New Books	33636004209682	F BRO	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Cherokee - Gaffney Library	New Books	33636003244516	F BRO	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Colleton - Cottageville	New Books	3010342101	SF Brown, Gareth 2024	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Colleton - Main Library	New Books	3010342089	SF Brown, Gareth 2024	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Florence - Main Library	New Books	33172007064882	Brown	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Florence - Olanta Branch	New Books	33172007059940	Brown	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Kershaw - Camden Library	New Books	33255003976595	Brown	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Lee - Bishopville Main Library	14DAYLEASE	36522100449736	F BRO	Searching... Unknown
Searching... York - Fort Mill Branch	New Books	33205013905449	FIC BROWN	Searching... Unknown
Searching... York - Rock Hill Branch	1:NEW-LEASE	33205013905670	FIC BROWN	Searching... Unknown
Searching... York - Rock Hill Branch	New Books	33205013905381	FIC BROWN	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

A debut novel full of magic, adventure, and romance, The Book of Doors opens up a thrilling world of contemporary fantasy for readers of The Midnight Library, The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, The Night Circus, and any modern story that mixes the wonder of the unknown with just a tinge of darkness.

Cassie Andrews works in a New York City bookshop, shelving books, making coffee for customers, and living an unassuming, ordinary life. Until the day one of her favorite customers--a lonely yet charming old man--dies right in front of her. Cassie is devastated. She always loved his stories, and now she has nothing to remember him by. Nothing but the last book he was reading.

But this is no ordinary book...

It is the Book of Doors.

Inscribed with enigmatic words and mysterious drawings, it promises Cassie that any door is every door. You just need to know how to open them.

Then she's approached by a gaunt stranger in a rumpled black suit with a Scottish brogue who calls himself Drummond Fox. He's a librarian who keeps watch over a unique set of rare volumes. The tome now in Cassie's possession is not the only book with great power, but it is the one most coveted by those who collect them.

Now Cassie is being hunted by those few who know of the Special Books. With only her roommate Izzy to confide in, she has to decide if she will help the mysterious and haunted Drummond protect the Book of Doors--and the other books in his secret library's care--from those who will do evil. Because only Drummond knows where the unique library is and only Cassie's book can get them there.

But there are those willing to kill to obtain those secrets. And a dark force--in the form of a shadowy, sadistic woman--is at the very top of that list.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Brown debuts with a riveting tale of adventure, magic, and the long process of grieving. Cassie Andrews, a mild-mannered bookseller in New York City, inherits the mysterious eponymous volume from a deceased customer. Discovering its magical ability to transport her to any place she envisions, Cassie, accompanied by her spirited roommate, Izzy, embarks on an adventure. However, as they realize the perilous potential of the book, they find themselves entangled with an enigmatic man known as the Librarian, who protects a collection of similarly magical books, and pursued by malevolent forces seeking the power of the Book of Doors and all the other volumes like it. Brown conjures a magical atmosphere that filters through even the plot's more mundane moments while also expertly handling difficult themes of loss and pain. With an endearingly quirky cast and a lightning quick pace, this is sure to suck readers in. Fans of Alix E. Harrow's The Ten Thousand Doors of January will be especially hooked. Agent: Helen Edwards, Rights Agency. (Feb.)

Kirkus Review

A debut novel about a bookseller who discovers the real power of books--if they're magic. When an elderly customer dies at Manhattan's Kellner Books, Cassie Andrews finds herself in an inexplicable situation. In Mr. John Webber's possession is a small, leather-bound book in a language Cassie doesn't recognize. There are a few lines in English: "This is the Book of Doors. Hold it in your hand, and any door is every door." And then: "Cassie, This book is for you, a gift in thanks for your kindness." Cassie shows the book to her roommate, Izzy, who's wary. And yet, when Cassie thinks of a door she once saw on vacation in Venice, that door opens for her. Naturally, there are people who want this powerful book, and soon enough the underworld of rare book collectors is buzzing. Drummond Fox, known as the Librarian, happens upon Cassie using the Book of Doors, thanks to his own Book of Luck. But while Drummond seeks to protect books like Cassie's, there are others--notably, someone known only as "the woman"--who seek to use them for evil. Drummond is eager to show Cassie the danger she's in by revealing the full potential of the Book of Doors: "You can open a door to the past….That's why people will want your book." What follows is a multilayered exploration of how the book can influence past, present, and future, and how individual choices can have unimaginable rippling effects. Fans of books like Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore will love this world, though by the end Brown has moved from his initial focus on magical books toward a case study of the rules of time travel. One unexpected aspect is the gory depiction of torture at the hands of "the woman" and the books she possesses. These scenes are jarringly at odds with the initial tone of wonderment, but if you stick with it, you'll reach a conclusion that's both disorienting and deeply satisfying. A whirlwind journey that opens doors into other worlds but also into the heart of the human experience. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Books are a uniquely human invention, but the books at the center of Brown's fantastical debut are a different kind of unique. Each represents a distinct magical talent that can be used for good or ill, depending on the hands holding the volume. No one knows where the books came from or how many there are, but some individuals will pay millions for a single tome. Others are willing to kill to acquire one. And there is a secretive, international community of book dealers and hunters, some quite deadly, eager to add these special items to their own collections to use, or not, as they see fit. In present-day New York City, bookstore employee Cassie Andrews discovers she has been gifted an unusual book by a favorite customer. The inscription states, "This is the Book of Doors," and for someone who holds it, any door is every door--if they can figure out how to use it. What Cassie soon discovers, to her dismay, is that she possesses the one book that every book hunter has dreamed of owning for more than a century. Those who love books about books and enjoy paranormal fantasy with a touch of romance will be enraptured.