Mr. Clover is working on a serving car for the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company. A young man of mixed race trying to scrape by as best he can alone in the big city, he always keeps his eye open for Mr. Fergins, the older man who wheels a book cart onto the train to sell books to travelers. Mr. Fergins always allows Mr. Clover to take a book to enjoy, knowing that the youth has no means to pay. The two become friendly, and after a bizarre experience at the courthouse, Mr. Fergins begins to reveal the mysterious tales of the legendary bookaneers.

The bookaneer was a literary pirate. Prior to the international copyright law of 1891, these brigands would endeavor to seek out the rare and wondrous --- unpublished works from famous authors --- and steal them to turn profit by selling them to willing publishers on both sides of the Atlantic. It was a windfall for the bookaneer and a boon for the publisher of the illicit manuscripts, but provided no monetary gain for the creators of the works.

"A combination intellectual mystery and high-seas adventure, THE LAST BOOKANEER is a masterful blending of fact and fiction that makes for a compelling exploration of betrayals, schemes, greed, and the business of literature in an age when intellectual property was at the mercy of the highest bidder."

Mr. Fergins reveals to Mr. Clover that he had been a go-between, accepting these stolen goods as they passed from bookaneer to client, purchased quietly and with great monetary reward. His first entry into the world of the bookaneers was through Whiskey Bill, but everyone knew that the cream of the crop was Pen Davenport. Mr. Fergins seeks him out, and the two men eventually strike up an awkward working relationship. But when Whiskey Bill contacts the gentlemen to tell them he is dying, they pay him a visit and he delivers to them one last great mission --- to acquire the final work of novelist Robert Louis Stevenson. They would need to hurry, however. Stevenson is in failing health in Samoa, and another bookaneer, Belial, is rumored to be in the hunt as well.

Thus begins a daring and mysterious cat and mouse game between Davenport and Belial as they vie for the favor of Stevenson, hoping to gain enough close friendship to be able to secure the manuscript and return to civilization in time to earn one last fortune. They are also racing against time and the passing of the law that would protect authors from unapproved publication.

Matthew Pearl is a writer who steeps his work in books. His love of books is evident in all of his prior work, and that passion continues to color the entire story in THE LAST BOOKANEER. He writes in a patient manner, not rushing headlong into actions or plots, but rather letting them unfold in steady page-turns reminiscent of the older-style novels he writes.

THE LAST BOOKANEER is told on two fronts. The first is Mr. Clover, who is retelling his story for the reader, but within this retelling is Mr. Fergins telling Mr. Clover the story of his adventures with the bookaneers. And the bookaneers are an interesting bunch. Davenport; his love, Kitten, whose death he is still seeking answers for; Belial; Whiskey Bill --- all of them are colorful characters whose stories weave back and forth across the narrative and across both storylines, and their curious lives and secrets play very heavily in the twists that are to come. Readers of THE LAST DICKENS will also recognize Whiskey Bill and Kitten as the author has carried them over as key components of the story here.

A combination intellectual mystery and high-seas adventure, THE LAST BOOKANEER is a masterful blending of fact and fiction that makes for a compelling exploration of betrayals, schemes, greed, and the business of literature in an age when intellectual property was at the mercy of the highest bidder. It is a charming novel and a satisfying, well-crafted love letter to books and their readers.