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The Book of Speculation

A Novel

by Erika Swyler

Length 11 hours 42 minutes

Language English

Narrators David Pittu, Katherine Kellgren & Ari Fliakos

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Bookseller recommendation

“Traveling carnival, tarot-readers, mermaids, librarians, family curses, secret loves - what more could fit so beautifully into this book? Swyler's world building and storytelling had me feeling like I was part of the circus. This book is great for anyone interested in ancestral lines, sibling adoration, and unexpected family bonds. ”
— Jenny • E. Shaver, bookseller

Bookseller recommendation

“Deeply, hauntingly beautiful, The Book of Speculation weaves a spectacular multi-generational story of magic, love, betrayal, and (ultimately) redemption. The story follows Simon, a young librarian and descendant of circus mermaids, whose family is steeped in loss. Amid his story is woven another’s: Amos, a mute boy from the 1700’s with a special gift. As their stories are unveiled and unlikely connections are discovered, Simon is sent a mysterious book with a sinister message. Can Simon discover the secret haunting his family in time? Fantastical history, engaging characters and a love of the written word combine in this truly excellent novel.”
— Jax • Bookshop Santa Cruz

Summary
About the author
About the narrators

One of BuzzFeed's Best Fiction Books of the Year

In the tradition of Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants, Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, and Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian, The Book of Speculation--with two-color illustrations by the author--is Erika Swyler's moving debut novel about the power of books, family, and magic.

Simon Watson, a young librarian, lives alone in a house that is slowly crumbling toward the Long Island Sound. His parents are long dead. His mother, a circus mermaid who made her living by holding her breath, drowned in the very water his house overlooks. His younger sister, Enola, ran off six years ago and now reads tarot cards for a traveling carnival.

One June day, an old book arrives on Simon's doorstep, sent by an antiquarian bookseller who purchased it on speculation. Fragile and water damaged, the book is a log from the owner of a traveling carnival in the 1700s, who reports strange and magical things, including the drowning death of a circus mermaid. Since then, generations of "mermaids" in Simon's family have drowned--always on July 24, which is only weeks away.

As his friend Alice looks on with alarm, Simon becomes increasingly worried about his sister. Could there be a curse on Simon's family? What does it have to do with the book, and can he get to the heart of the mystery in time to save Enola?

Fiction Fantasy Fiction - Literary

ERIKA SWYLER is a graduate of New York University and the author of the bestselling novels Light from Other Stars and The Book of Speculation. Her essays and short fiction have appeared in Literary Hub, Catapult Story, VIDA, The New York Times, and elsewhere.

David Pittu is a two-time Tony Award nominee, as well as the award-winning narrator of countless audiobooks, ranging in genre from young adult (Scholastic’s 39 Clues series) to spy fiction (Olen Steinhauer’s The Last Tourist and Milo Weaver series) to the contemporary fiction of authors such as Jeffrey Eugenides (The Marriage Plot) and Donna Tartt (The Goldfinch) and many more. Pittu received the Audie Award for Best Male Solo Narration for The Goldfinch, which also received the Audie for Best Literary Fiction.

Not only a veteran theater actor, he works regularly in film and television. He lives in New York City.

Katherine Kellgren has recorded over 200 audiobooks and won four Audie Awards, three ALA Odyssey Honors, and eight AudioFile Earphones Awards. In 2011, Kellgren was named the Best Voice in Young Adult & Fantasy, and she won the Audie award for Best Female Narrator in both 2013 and 2014. Kellgren has also appeared onstage in London, New York and Frankfurt. She has recorded numerous plays and dramatizations of novels for the radio, including winners of the Peabody Award. She is a graduate of The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. In naming Kellgren a “Golden Voice,” AudioFile magazine noted that she is a "marvel with accents...she is definitely a narrator to keep an ear out for." She lives in New York City.

Ari Fliakos is an actor with experience in television, radio, film, theater, and voiceovers. His narration of Seth Patrick’s Reviver won an Audie for paranormal fiction. He has narrated Black Site and Tier One Wild by Dalton Fury, as well as Gangster Squad, The Inquisitor, and Shotgun Lovesongs. On screen, he is best-known for his roles in Law & Order, Pills, and Company K.