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Mr. Timothy [Audio CD]

Louis Bayard (Author), Mark Honan (Narrator)

4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Audio CD
Publisher: Sound Library (December 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0792731069
ISBN-13: 978-0792731061

Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)

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Product Description

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Tiny Tim is back! No, not the squeaky-voiced troubadour who tip-toed through tulips in the 1960s, but the original--Timothy Cratchit, the crutch-wielding tyke from Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. Only now he's a "mostly able-bodied" 23 years old, resides in a London whorehouse in exchange for tutoring the madam, struggles to wean himself from financial dependence on his ancient "Uncle" Ebenezer Scrooge, and, as we learn in Louis Bayard's darkly enchanting historical thriller, Mr. Timothy, is haunted by the spirit of his late father--a man whose optimism and strength the son feels himself incapable of imitating.

When we first encounter Timothy, during the Christmas season of 1860, he's vexed by the discovery of two dead 10-year-old girls, each branded with the letter "G"--one found in an alley, the other fished from the Thames River by Cratchit and a voluble old salt who makes his money by finding (and then robbing, of course) errant corpses. Timothy's concern leads him to protect a third possessively marked waif, the frightened and suspicious Philomela--who, he soon realizes, is being sought by a knife-loving former Scotland Yard inspector and a moneyed, malevolent voluptuary. When, despite precautions, Philomela is kidnapped by her pursuers, Cratchit--assisted by a shrewd warbling urchin known as Colin the Melodious--resolves to fulfill his "great calling" in life by mounting a rescue. However, this mission will force the habitually uncourageous Timothy to not only defend himself against sexual molestation charges, storm a well-guarded mansion, and solve the puzzle of a coffin-filled basement, but also engage in a nightmarish final chase along London's docklands.

Authors employing real-life characters as detectives are often hampered by their adherence to historical fact. Bayard suffers no such limitations in imagining what fates awaited Dickens's now-famous fictional figures. Under his pen, Scrooge--whose rooms are decorated for Christmas year-round--becomes an eccentric collector of fungi and host to an interminable stream of charity solicitors, while Timothy Cratchit strikes out beyond his lonely young man status to become the head of an unconventional clan. Bayard's appreciation for the lurid exoticness of Victorian London rivals that of John MacLachlan Gray (The Fiend in Human), while his lyrical prose subtly suggests 19th-century influences. Mr. Timothy is at once a compelling Christmas crime yarn and an audacious literary endeavor. No humbug there. --J. Kingston Pierce --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Bayard's first two novels (Fool's Errand; Endangered Species) were contemporary romantic comedies, a far cry from his third, an audacious and triumphant entertainment that imagines the post-Christmas Carol life of Tiny Tim, transformed from an iconic representation of innocent suffering ("the iron brace was bought by a salvager long ago, and the crutch went for kindling") into a fully realized young adult struggling to find his place in a cruel world. Having lost his parents and become estranged from his remaining family as well from as reformed Ebenezer Scrooge, Mr. Timothy Cratchit has found a niche in a brothel as the tutor to its madam. Haunted by his failure to connect with his father, as well as by his father's ghost, Timothy has developed a thick skin to guard against the oppressive misery endemic to 1860s London. His defenses are penetrated when he encounters Philomela, a 10-year-old waif who has been mysteriously abused. With the assistance of a singing street urchin called Colin the Melodious and a maimed retired seafarer, he pursues the source of her torment and its connection with another child whose branded body was dumped in an obscure alley. The quest becomes more quixotic when evidence points to the aristocracy, abetted by a corrupt police force, but with Philomela taking an active role, the quartet narrow in on their target. With surprising but plausible twists, and a visceral, bawdy evocation of Victorian London, Bayard has crafted a page-turner of a thriller that is elevated beyond its genre by its endearingly flawed hero for whom nothing human is alien.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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First Sentence
NOT SO TINY ANY MORE, that's a fact. Read the first page

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Concordance

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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

19 Reviews

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.1 out of 5 stars (19 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars touching and thrilling, July 15 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Mr. Timothy (Hardcover)

Following the route of Gregory Maguire, Louis Bayard has taken a fairly minor yet memorable literary character and revisits him at another point in time. Entirely successful with a fun "DaVinci Code"-type caper (pacing not the puzzle), Mr. Timothy shines most with Bayard's Bob Cratchit ghost device/letters and depiction of filthy London. Ending is extremely touching and beautifully written a la Dickens; also loved clues of Tim's true sexual orientation: point did not dominate but made perfect sense. This one deserves the Masterpiece Theatre treatment--not the usual American-produced lard.
A wonderful, multi-tiered read.

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4.0 out of 5 stars No Holiday Cheer, But Great Read, Jun 14 2004

T. Jankowicz "tjanko18" (Homer Glen, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mr. Timothy (Hardcover)

This was a very good book. It follows the story of a grown up Tiny Tim, as he struggles in his adult life. The author does a wonderful job describing England and the time they live in. It is dark and a little disturbing, but a great read. I really enjoyed it.

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4.0 out of 5 stars A successful parody, May 19 2004

Dave Schwinghammer "Dave Schwinghammer" (Little Falls, Minnesota USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mr. Timothy (Hardcover)

The market has recently been deluged with authors trying to out-Mitchell Mitchell, out-Fleming Fleming, or out-Conan Doyle Conan Doyle. Most of these are nothing more than pulp fiction. Bayard's Dickens parody, on the other hand, complements the original in many ways.
MR. TIMOTHY does justice to Dickens in the way Bayard handles the grown-up Tim. Besides the limp, this Tiny Tim is nothing like the original. He's a cynical chap who's disappointed in himself for taking Scrooge's money. He's reduced to working in a bawdy house, teaching the madame how to read and write.
The plot is rather predictable. Bayard has transplanted a repugnant 21st century curse to the 19th century, pederasty. A young girl is found dead, branded with the letter "G"; then another girl is found with the same brand on her upper arm. The cause of death is unknown but the dead girls have frazzled, bloody fingernails. A homeless waif, Philomela, seems a likely candidate to become the next victim, and Tim becomes her protector.
Like Dickens, Bayard does his best work with minor characters. There's an Artful Dodger named Colin the Melodius, who serves as a sidekick to Tim. Then there's Gully, a retired sea captain who trolls the Thames for dead bodies. Timothy sometimes moonlights for Gully. Like Dickens, Bayard gives each of these minor characters a memorable characteristic. In Gully's case it's cats. His landlady is a cat lover; she has dozens of them, and they drive Gully crazy. But without a good villain you don't have much of a story and there's a good one here, in razor-wielding ex-policeman Rebbeck.
Timothy is also haunted by the ghost of his father. He sees him everywhere, but when he tries to make contact the man transforms into a stranger. Philomela has the same affliction. It's nice to think that our fathers watch over us, even after death.
Sure, some of this is a little hokey, but then again so was Dickens.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Tiny Tim All Grown Up, It Worked For Me
I read this book recently while visiting a friend (it was her copy) and it was so wonderful I have to have a copy of my own because I definitely want to reread the book. Read more

Published on April 29 2004 by Totally Anonymous

4.0 out of 5 stars What If.....
Tiny Tim from Dickens "A Christmas Carol" is now all grown up and living in a whore house. That alone was enough to make me want to read this book. Read more

Published on Feb 7 2004 by Brett Benner