The Echo of Old Books

A Novel

By: Barbara Davis

Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson, Steve West, Sarah Zimmerman

Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

A novel about the magical lure of books and summoning the courage to rewrite our stories by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Keeper of Happy Endings and The Last of the Moon Girls.

Rare-book dealer Ashlyn Greer’s affinity for books extends beyond the intoxicating scent of old paper, ink, and leather. She can feel the echoes of the books’ previous owners—an emotional fingerprint only she can read. When Ashlyn discovers a pair of beautifully bound volumes that appear to have never been published, her gift quickly becomes an obsession. Not only is each inscribed with a startling incrimination, but the authors, Hemi and Belle, tell conflicting sides of a tragic romance.

With no trace of how these mysterious books came into the world, Ashlyn is caught up in a decades-old literary mystery, beckoned by two hearts in ruins, whoever they were, wherever they are. Determined to learn the truth behind the doomed lovers’ tale, she reads on, following a trail of broken promises and seemingly unforgivable betrayals. The more Ashlyn learns about Hemi and Belle, the nearer she comes to bringing closure to their love story—and to the unfinished chapters of her own life.

©2023 Barbara Davis (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“[The] dueling timelines, packed with twists and turns, should appeal to fans of Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life and Taylor Jenkins Reid’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.”—Booklist

“The author’s ability to present two different, but related, heartbreaking stories inside her own novel and keep all the voices distinct is so impressive. The fascinating characters and the beauty of the writing pull the reader in…Highly recommended.”—Historical Novels Review

“Delightful! …very satisfying. Barbara Davis endings usually are!”—Midwest Book Review

Gloriously told story

What a wonderful blend of stories, lovingly combined to restore our faith in happily ever after. Thank you for sharing your beautiful work.

Great listen

Performance, storyline and character development were all well done. Wish I could visit her bookstore. An enjoyable read and I’ll watch for this author again.

I love this book!!

I don’t know how to describe the way this book captured me from the opening pages. Many unexpected crooks and turns made it hard to put down. I almost hated for it to end, like saying good-bye to a friend. The narration was perfect! Bravo!!

Would have loved more “Echos”

Overall this was a beautiful book with an air of mystery that kept me fixated. I love the ideas of the echos of the books and would have loved for that to have been a bigger part of the story, because overall it was rather insignificant.

Lovely

Well written story. Davis does an excellent job of presenting love lost and love found. Narrating is well done.

A Must-Read

Davis’ “The Echo of old Books” left me wanting more of Hemi and Belle. Amazing story!

Good summer read

I have sworn off all series, books, or TV, where the protagonists fall in love but constantly get in their own way in realizing it. It just becomes tiresome. This borders on that but doesn’t cross into it.
I love books and reading about another book lover is always a joy for me. I would recommend this as a summer read, but not a deep book. Definitely worth reading.
And auto user and pass in a lot of books each month. I would put this in the top third.

Love story

It was a great story between the two people. The only thing I didn’t like was it became a sappy predictable Hallmark story. All in all it was pretty good

Old books….

A great story, worth the read/listen. Unusual but interesting and a great view of life’s possibilities.

Time doesn’t extinguish unrequited love

It took me awhile to accept the narrator’s voice, but eventually it grew on me.
I nearly sent back the book for an exchange but recollected why I purchased it to begin with as I was intrigued with “echoes” in the title. I like the coined “echoes” and was anxious to see how it was used.

I liked how the story went back and forth from one book to the other and at times needing to fill in the blanks; the research and discovery. And how someone else’s old story ended up with closure but brought two strangers together to create a new relationship and helping to bring a broken family back.

I highly refer this book. I already miss it and it’s characters.