The Haunted Bookshop

Written by Christopher Morley

Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki

Part love story, part
thriller, part book lover’s fantasy-and entirely charming-Christopher Morley’s tale has something for everyone

Set in a lovingly
evoked Brooklyn just after the end of World War I, The Haunted Bookshop cleverly
juxtaposes a pair of middle-aged bookshop owners and two young lovers with a
nest of German saboteurs, complete with mysterious clues, red herrings,
blushing romance, derring-do, a desperate race to the rescue, and an
explosion. More important, the novel is an eloquent hymn to the
bookseller’s trade and a fervent plea for the revivifying and redemptive power
of literature. The unifying thread of this book, and indeed of the life and
work of its author, is its passionate avowal: all that the world and everybody
in it needs is a good book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio
• Release date: Sep 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9781483032955

Christopher Morley

Christopher Morley (1890-1957) was an American journalist, poet, and novelist. Born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, he was the son of mathematics professor Frank Morley and violinist Lillian Janet Bird. In 1900, Christopher moved with his parents to Baltimore, returning to Pennsylvania in 1906 to attend Haverford College. Upon graduating as valedictorian in 1910, he went to Oxford on a Rhodes scholarship to study modern history. While in England, he published The Eighth Sin (1912), a volume of poems. After three years, he moved to New York, found work as a publicist and publisher’s reader at Doubleday, and married Helen Booth Fairchild. After moving his family to Philadelphia, Morley worked as an editor for Ladies’ Home Journal and then as a reporter for the Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger. In 1920, Morley moved one final time to Roslyn Estates in Nassau County, Long Island, commuting to the city for work as an editor of the Saturday Review of Literature. A gifted humorist, poet, and storyteller, Morley wrote over one hundred novels and collections of essays and poetry in his lifetime. Kitty Foyle (1939), a controversial novel exploring the intersection of class and marriage, was adapted into a 1940 film starring Ginger Rogers, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role.

Reviews for The Haunted Bookshop

[deckla_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is an amusing tale. The characters are somewhat hapless, but all ends well. I can see why Morley involved himself in the theater; this would make a fine drawing room comedy (although of course it would require more locations).

[rickklaw · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the best novels about life in a bookstore. Almost everything that Morley wrote in 1917 about the bookseller's life holds true today.

[reverendmoon-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very fun, easy-going, action-oriented novel. Setting in early 1900s Brooklyn, just after WWI. The era becomes apparent at a certain point after the reader learns of the "villain" as being a German spy. Read in the present light of the 21st century, it's almost comical. However, it was a pleasant and lighthearted read about a lovely bookshop/ bookshop owner that one could not help but love.

[jannes_16 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Part essay on books, reading, and culture, part mediocre spy thriller. All weird. Is this a classic? I feel as if I'm missing something.

[unclebob53703 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A friend of mine who borrowed this and read it called it "quaint" and I guess it is, being of a long lost and more genteel time. I bought it because the title had promise, and was not disappointed. The love of books is at its center, and the rest is some diverting window dressing about romance and bad guys. It is a sequel of sorts to Parnassus on Wheels, but you don't have to know the first book to enjoy this one. This is a lovely illustrated edition.

[mrslee_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When you step inside The Haunted Bookshop, you will not find the latest sensational novels, for it is haunted by the likes of Sir Walter Raleigh, Thomas Carlyle and Samuel Butler, not to mention thousands of other authors the owner deems "worthy." The proprietor, Roger Mifflin, has decided opinions on books, which he is happy to share with anyone and everyone. The author saw fit to add friends and wife who are not reluctant to point out when his opinions go a bit far, which keeps the novel from reading like a sermon.This story, is not only about wonderful books and terrific quotable quotes about books, it also has a fun romantic adventure which puts me in mind of the early "talkies." An enjoyable romp.

[dulcinea14-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Delightful sequel to Parnassus on Wheels, which I also loved. A must read for bibliophiles.

[mrs_mcgreevy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The anarchist bombing plot is merely a diversion from the magical world of The Haunted Bookshop, it's owner, and it's patrons. Any book lover will find treasure here, but the true gold is saved for booksellers. Read it through once, then remind yourself it was written in 1918.

[murderbydeath · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Oh how I didn't like this book. I should have DNF'd it, but it was called The Haunted Bookshop! I'd have thought it impossible for any book with that title to be so disappointing. Where to start... the characters - the two main characters - are each in their own way incredibly irritating. Roger Mifflin, the bookshop owner, constantly reminded me of Walter Mitty: living in his own dreamworld with grandiose ideas about the power of literature. Just about every time he opens his mouth, it's to deliver a long ultimately irritating panegyric on the fantastical powers of books. I love books and I believe the world would be a much better place if everybody read more, but Mifflin takes this idea too far and the result makes him look foolish. Aubrey Gilbert, on the other hand, is actually foolish. An idiot really. He spends the book either spouting off sales rhetoric that sounds like an Amway pitch or flying off half-cocked chasing dust-devils and flinging about insane accusations. Remember the Dick Van Dyke Show? Gilbert is like Dick Van Dyke only without rational thought or a sense of humour. The plot... sigh... the plot was good, what there was of it. Sadly it only accounted for about 1/10th of the book itself. The audiobook I listened to was 6 hours long and I swear if you edited out everything not directly related to the plot itself it would run less than 20 minutes. Tops. The narrator did a good job, although he sounded so much like Leonard Nimoy I kept picturing Spock reading to me, except I'm pretty sure even Spock would have lost patience with the book after a couple of hours. The best part of this experience? This was a library loan and it didn't cost me anything but the time I spent listening to it and the energy I spent yelling at my car's audio telling Mifflin to shut up already. Ah well, moving on.

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Don't remember it too well. Pretty much agree with the reviews, good and bad. That is to say, it was corny, and charming. It had insightful meditations, and a contrived plot. It deserves to be beloved by many readers, and it's only going to be appreciated by a minority.

[carpe_librum · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley attracted my attention by its presence on so many 'books about books' or 'books for booklovers' lists that I decided to give it a go.Roger Mifflin is the owner of a second hand bookstore, aptly named 'The Haunted Bookshop' because he is haunted by the ghosts of the books he hasn't read. Sadly, this is where the brilliance ended for me.There were many opportunities during the slim novel for Mifflin to spout on about the importance and art of the bookseller, the significance of books and reading and his belief that if only the population would read certain (mentioned) books, there would never be another Great War in the world.Incidentally, I only realised after finishing The Haunted Bookshop that it was published in 1919. This was a complete surprise to me as it truly felt like an historical fiction novel, not one written almost 100 years ago.Mifflin mentions so many books and written works throughout The Haunted Bookshop that I alternated between feeling illiterate and ignorant and believing the protagonist (if not the author himself) was a bit of a snob.I did however, enjoy the following quote immensely:"It saddens me to think that I shall have to die with thousands of books unread that would have given me noble and unblemished happiness." Pages 153-154I also learned two new words on page 202:- A bibliosoph is 'someone who knows about books.'- Bibliomania is 'an excessive fondness for acquiring and possessing books'.Despite these pearls, the novel's sole purpose seemed to be giving a voice to Roger Mifflin and his world of books and bookselling.

[dono421846 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I rarely read a book at one sitting, but I was completely drawn in by this tale. The strongest sections are afire with the author's passion for books and reading, a message that today unfortunately needs a broader audience. The bookending espionage tale is weaker, but was oddly intriguing in that I had to remind myself that this was after WWI, and not WWII as we may be inclined to assume. The author's hope that the power of books could prevent further such calamities was sadly unrealized, but it was a fine utopian dream.

[shanaqui_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I really couldn't love this as much as I did Parnassus on Wheels. It's still permeated with that love of books, and the romance is kind of sweet, but I preferred the more unconventional romance of Roger and Helen. Introducing a pretty young girl to be a figure of romance took away one of the things I loved about Parnassus on Wheels, even if Helen was still a character.Also, the mystery plot raised my eyebrows a bit. Doubtless of its time, but still. I would've preferred another paean to books and booksellers and unconventional romance. Although, on that note, some of the sections about books/bookselling just seemed rambling and preachy. Parnassus on Wheels is a slighter novel, and a tighter one.

[bragan_8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This short novel from 1919 is a sequel to Morley's Parnassus on Wheels, but it's not entirely necessary to have read that one first. It does feature the characters from the first book, who have now settled down and started their own bookstore in Brooklyn, but ends up focusing a bit more on a young man who shows up to try to sell them advertising and ends up hanging around for various reasons, most of which involve their attractive new shop assistant.So, there's a bit of romance, which is amusingly written (although the complete lack of depth on the part of the female half of the pairing is a little disappointing). There's also a sort of mystery plot, involving a book that keeps mysteriously disappearing and reappearing, which is reasonably entertaining, although not exactly too difficult to figure out. But mostly the appeal of this book is in the often very droll writing style, and in bookseller Roger Mifflin's amusing, passionate, entirely charming ramblings about books and the noble bookseller's calling. (Admittedly, you probably have to be a certain kind of book person to be charmed by them, but I most definitely am.) There are also some extremely poignant thoughts about the recently-ended WWI and the hope for peace in the world -- which are made all the more poignant by the fact that neither Mifflin nor Morley could have known what was to come in the next few decades, but I, looking back from the future, do.

[booksfordinner · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Originally published in 1919, this is a great winter read for dark snowy nights and a glass of port. For book lovers and book sellers only.

[riverwillow · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Didn't quite enjoy this as much as Parnassus on Wheels as its very much of its time. Aubrey is one of the most obnoxious and pointless characters ever and Roger and Helen have lost a lot of their charm. But on the plus side it details an America coming to terms with the devastation of World War I with the expectation that the peace talks will bring a lasting peace so that the sacrifices made during the war would not be in vein.

[9cee9 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A book to delight booklovers! How many who have read this book want to time-travel to Brooklyn and hunt for this early 20th century used bookstore? Count me as one. The plot is a somewhat preposterous mystery, but the commentary throughout is priceless! The characters are humorously entertaining. Roger Mifflin, the lovable and chatty bookseller, dreams of elevating the status of bookseller to a highly honorable profession. He is passionate about books and strives to become a renown pioneer in spreading the knowledge of great books to the common man! His mission is to bring the love of reading to the world. What avid reader cannot identify with his rambling musing? "Did you ever notice how books track you down and hunt you out? They follow you like the hound in Francis Thompson's poem. They know their quarry! ... [they] follow you and follow you and drive you into a corner and MAKE you read [them] ... Words can't describe the cunning of some books. You'll think you've shaken them off your trail, and then one day some innocent-looking customer will pop in and begin to talk, and you'll know he's an unconscious agent of book-destiny... That's why I call this place the Haunted Bookshop. Haunted by the ghosts of books I haven't read."This sequel to "Parnassus on Wheels" is a worthy follow-up, but could be read strictly on its own. Highly recommended for fun!

[matke-261098 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Here's a reason to take book recommendations with a grain of salt. I read this because Julian Symons, an auhor I admire and respect, recommended it. Oh dear. One of the most dated, silliest, inane little books I've ever come across. The plot was thinner than air, the characters trite and incredible. The only saving grace was the bookshop setting and the ambience of New York a long, long, probably imaginary, time ago. Just goofy.

[octoberdad · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An all-around good tale.

[kevn57-163679 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I never would have read it if I hadn't have stumbled on it on Project Gutenberg, I liked it so much I've re-read it a few times and read everything by him that I could get my hands on.

[slmr4242 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good, but I liked the previous book more. The mystery aspect of this felt somewhat contrived.

[circlestonesbooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

„That’s why I call this place the Haunted Bookshop. Haunted by the ghosts of the books I haven’t read.” (Original quotation pos. 1251)

Content:
The main protagonists of Parnassus on Wheels, Roger Mifflin and Helen McGill, now are married and own a second-hand bookstore in Brooklyn. Roger Mifflin loves books and he definitely loves the art of bookselling. When Aubrey Gilbert, a young advertising agent visits the shop, he too fells under the spell of the books – and under the spell of Miss Titania Chapman, the new apprentice. Then some strange things happen – a special book Carlyle's Oliver Cromwell, is missing, back the next day and missing again – is this bookstore really haunted?

Theme and genre:
This novel, published in 1919 as a sequel to Parnassus on Wheels, again is a story about books, readers, writers and literature. Again, there is also room for romantic, love and not only love for books and a mystic crime.

Characters:
Roger and Helen are charming and likeable, as well as Titania and the sometimes a little bit clumsy Aubrey.

Plot and writing:
The setting, Brooklyn just after the end of WWI, is described in a very vivid way, which makes this book an enjoyable, interesting read. A humorous authorial narrator tells the story, and the events that happen to our protagonists are unsettling but funny too.

Conclusion:
A book that every booklover will enjoy, but also for readers who like a good story located in a bookstore.

[jonfaith · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Long ago I fell back on books as the only permanent consolers. They are the one stainless and unimpeachable achievement of the human race. It saddens me to think that I shall have to die with thousands of books unread that would have given me noble and unblemished happiness.

Scott Esposito made a shocking confession a few years ago on Coversational Reading: he didn't go to used book stores. He bought used books exclusively online. I was and remain shocked. Julian Barnes noted once with typical eloquence in The Guardian that the internet has certainly solved the dilemma of The Collector, but what it has obscured is the clumsy accidents in the stacks which change our lives.

I picked this up at a sale a few years back. My attentions were drawn to such because of a GR list about numerous texts cited within, including Burton's Anatomy. Well, not only is Anatomy of Melancholy referenced, it is inspires the protagonist and the novel three-quarters of the way through. This can be read a well crafted potboiler about 1919 Brooklyn. it is also an alert about what is slipping from view. The Haunted Bookshop was selected as a diversion on day ravaged by sinus issues. It s call is greater than that. It is an affirmation of our nerdy treks.

[florian_brennstoff · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Der Titel ist leider irreführend. Es geht nicht um vergessene Bücher, vielmehr aber um die Kunst des Buchhandels, in diesem Fall des Antiquariats. Die Abhandlung ist in den Rahmen eines kleinen Thrillers eingebettet, der unmittelbar nach dem Ende des 1. Weltkriegs in den USA situiert ist - der Roman selbst stammt aus dem Jahr 1919, es handelt sich in diesem Sinne also um ein zeitgenössisches Werk. Leichte Literatur, mit zuweilen netten literarischen Anspielungen, die sich allesamt auf die amerikanische Literatur des 19. und frühen 20. Jahrhunderts beziehen.Kein Meisterwerk, aber ganz unterhaltsam.

[newsieq · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It’s post-World War I Brooklyn and elderly Roger Mifflin owns Parnassus at Home, a used bookstore. When Aubrey Gilbert, a young man who’s selling advertising stops in, the two strike up a friendship. Then Roger and his wife Helen take on a new employee, the strikingly beautiful Titania Chapman, whose father wishes her to learn to learn the book trade as an antidote to her finishing school education. When he meets Titania, Aubrey Gilbert is smitten.But soon, Mr. Gilbert begins to suspect that Mr. Mifflin might have something sinister in mind having to do with his new employee – and decides to rent a nearby room to keep an eye on things at Parnassus at Home. What he sees troubles and baffles him. The Haunted Bookshop was first published in 1919 is the second book Christopher Morley wrote featuring Roger Mifflin. It’s a delightful tale, full of philosophy and books and witty writing. Most of the literary allusions, unfortunately, went over my head … but the book delivers much food for thought, regardless of whether the authors are familiar.

[rmckeown_9 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

After books about English Professors and literature – or perhaps before, it is an extremely close race – I love novels set in bookstores. Christopher Morley has an especially warm place in my heart, since he is a Philadelphia native and a journalist to boot. Novels by former newspaper people are a close third on my list.Morley’s second novel, The Haunted Bookshop, starts out as a whimsical tale of Roger Mifflin, an eccentric owner and operator of the shop. An interesting cast of characters haunts the shop. Set in about 1919, the prose, attitudes, and viewpoints of the characters might seem a bit dated. I felt the faint glow of O. Henry who died in 1910. While Morley does not have a clever twist at the end, the story does take a radical turn on the last few pages.One day, Aubrey Gilbert stops by the shop and proposes an advertising campaign to increase sales. Roger will have none of it. He claims, “The people who are doing my advertising are Stevenson, Browning, Conrad, and Company” (7). Thus begins a cascade of literary references, which tempted me beyond all reason to catalog. Once I started, I could not stop, and ended up with six pages, single-spaced of authors and works, much to the amazement of my book club. Some mentioned items were well-known, others not so much, but only a few escaped my research. This makes a daunting and most interesting reading list.Aubrey persists without making any headway, but coincidentally, he does write ad copy for a Mr. Chapman, CEO of Dantybits Company, who also happens to frequent the shop. Mr. Chapman has a daughter fresh out of “finishing school,” and he wants her to have some real-life experiences. Roger agrees, and the young lady moves into the attic.A peculiar set of booksellers – known as the “Corn Cob Club” -- also meet at the shop. Mostly they decry the pitfalls and misfortunes of the bookselling business, as well as the theory and practice of stocking such a shop.I have “haunted” many a shop like Roger Mifflin’s in my life, and I recognized the characters, the complaints, and the dusty shelves. On one occasion, Roger is called to a noted bookseller in Philadelphia to appraise his collection. The trip to the City of Brotherly Love turns out to be a fake, thus setting in motion the bizarre turn the story makes. With some hours to spare before his return train to Brooklyn, Roger walks down Market Street to visit, Leary’s Bookshop, on 9 South 9th Street. Leary’s operated for nearly 100 years at that location. It closed in 1969, and was known as the oldest bookshop in America. I spent so many fond afternoons in Leary’s I could not recount them all. I happened to visit the day they announced the closing. I stood on the sidewalk with tears streaming as though I had lost a great, good friend. Indeed, I had.The copy I have is print-on-demand, and the editing and layout are atrocious. If you order this quaint book, make sure a publisher is listed in the description. The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley will provide hours of fun – and not all of them actually reading – for anyone interested in books and literature. 5 stars.--Jim, 1/30/15

[randymetcalfe · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The irrepressible bookseller, Roger “Professor” Mifflin, is back. Now married to Helen McGill (as was implied might happen at the end of Parnassus on Wheels), Roger is ensconced in a second-hand bookshop in Brooklyn. He likes to describe it as haunted by the ghosts of all great literature. He continues to enthuse and pontificate, somewhat, on the ameliorative effects of literature and thus the vital service to society contributed by booksellers. As part of his social efforts he has agreed to take on staff the daughter of a book loving industrialist who would like his (he thinks wayward) daughter to gain some perspective and proper proportion through association with great literature. Titania is exquisitely beautiful, for Brooklyn, and naturally becomes the object of the delusional affection of Roger’s other young acquaintance, the advertising copywriter, Aubrey Gilbert. If that were not enough, there is a plot afoot to assassinate President Wilson as he journeys to the Peace Conference subsequent to the armistice of 1918. Only Roger and Aubrey can save the day!In many ways, though somewhat lengthier this novel is slighter than its predecessor. Or perhaps Christopher Morley lost his head a bit to the enthusiasm that greeted his first novel in 1917. Here, the Mifflin character comes across as (somewhat) tedious. Aubrey Gilbert is thoroughly obnoxious in his efforts to take on the role of the action hero, all with an eye to winning Titania’s affection. And the melodramatic plot is risible. It remains a curious article of Americana from the inter-war years, but little more. Not recommended.

[abigailadams26 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A sequel to Christopher Morley's charming Parnassus on Wheels, this novel finds Roger and Helen Mifflin running a second-hand bookstore in Brooklyn, NY. Here, at Parnassus at Home, the newly married couple find themselves playing chaperone to lovely society-girl Titania, the admiring Aubrey, and a host of other quirky characters.While I did not find it as entertaining as its predecessor, and thought that some of the plot elements were a little far-fetched, The Haunted Bookshop had enough charm of its own that I was not sorry to read it. I could have cared less about the espionage, but the bookstore itself - now that's another matter.

[krumbs_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is not a ghost story, or fantasy, or fantastical, and not too cliche either. Not really a mystery, although there is a mystery in the story, and not a romance, although there are elements of a romance as well. I'd mostly call it an examination of bookselling with other story elements surrounding books and bookselling. Interesting, if a bit dense in places.

It was quite amazing that this book, which was written in the early 20th century, it didn't feel old. Yes, more interesting vocabulary was used than is generally incorporated into stories now, and some of the food was a bit old fashioned, but it was like reading a story written recently. Very impressively done on the part of the author. I'm looking forward to reading the book before this, once I find a copy.

[bongo_x_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Charming is the word that comes to mind. It’s a light, slightly corny book from 1919 (?) that has the feel of a late 30’s movie. The whole thing is a love letter to books and reading, wrapped in a simple story of post WWI espionage.

I disagree with someone here that said a drawback was the constant current cultural references. I love that stuff. You usually get so little of it as it does date a book and authors want their books to be timeless. I think it affects the way we look at the past. As mostly only the more serious and timeless of books make it down to us through the years we miss a lot of the little things that were a part of people’s everyday lives. I found many of the most interesting parts of this book to be the little tidbits of the culture and habits of the characters, like when you look at old pictures and are interested in the things in the room in the background.

I’m going to have to give it 4 stars, even though it seems a 3 star book to me. Charming.