I am definitely not the only reader attracted to fiction about books and book stores and libraries, judging by the number of titles in the last few years including those key words.
The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections takes place in a university library, a much different setting than small town libraries. Here, Liesl has recently been made acting director of the university library, when the long-time director lies unconscious from a stroke. She becomes immediately involved in a crisis, when generous donors want to see a $500,000 recent rare acquisition, but the safe holding the book is found empty.
The answer to this mystery is revealed only near the end of the book. Along the way, the reader sees the various characters who staff the library, the conniving university president, various large donors, as well as Liesl's husband and daughter.
Interesting topics to discuss might be: an older woman who has been passed over for promotions; characters coping with mental illness; how our pasts can follow us years into the present; politics in a work place; people driven by greed for possessions and for recognition. All those were interesting to me, including the information about rare books and the question of why they are of such value.
Some reviews of Department of Rare Books were not terrific, actually, and I can see why some thought it moved slowly. I enjoyed the book very much, though, and think many readers would like this different take on books and their value, combined with a mystery.
(I would have given it a shorter and snappier title, as this one seems too long to remember, and thus to recommend to someone.)
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