posted on 09 Oct 2023

The Secret Library by Oliver Tearle

The sub-title of this book will probably give you an instant sense of what you’re going to encounter in the 250 pages that make up this nicely packaged little volume: A Book-Lovers’ Journey Through Curiosities of History.

If you’re the kind of person who loves obscure nuggets of information about the important but often obscure, cob-webbed corners of literary history, you’ll have a field-day here. The book is written by Dr Oliver Tearle who is a lecturer in English at Loughborough University and freelance writer who also runs the blog Interesting Literature: A Library of Literary Interestingness.

First published in 2016, what he’s produced here is a sort of chronological history of literature but seen through a more fractured lens than you might be used to. Starting with ‘The Classical World’ he proceeds through a further eight chapters to cover chunks of time and geographical spaces – so alongside The Middle Ages or The Victorians we also get ‘The Americans’ and ‘On the Continent’.

Tearle is clearly having a whale of a time being released from his more academic responsibilities as he hunts down a great story or a remarkable fact. He loves making links between authors or books you never expected could be there and he does it with a smile on his face – never missing the chance for a side-swipe or a light-hearted anecdote.

In the book’s introduction, the author tells us that his book is designed to be:

“…a medley of curiosities, a whistle-stop tour around an imaginary library stuffed full of titles both familiar and forgotten. Each of the books I discuss tells us something about the age that produced it.”

In each of the chapters the books he discusses are all in some way linked together with one leading you to another – although sometimes the links aren’t immediately obvious they can always be found.

For me, the three early chapters covering the Classical world to the Middle Ages and on to the Renaissance were the most satisfying – largely because these are not areas I’m terribly well read in and so there was plenty there to amuse and surprise.

As you can probably tell, I’m trying to avoid revealing any of the curiosities or the more obscure volumes that Tearle takes us around because all of the pleasure in reading this book revolves around uncovering the unexpected and I don’t want to pre-empt your voyage of discovery.

This book is ideal for reading on a journey or maybe as a holiday read – but be sure to have a notebook by your side because you’ll want to jot down the titles of all the books you never knew you wanted to read.

 

Both paperback and hardback copies are available and can be found for well under £10.

 

Terry Potter

October 2023