What do readers think of The Typewriter's Tale by Michiel Heyns? Write your own review.

Michiel Heyns' novel, told from the point of view of the writer Henry James's stenographer, is an interesting read. If you enjoy reading Henry James, or other novelists of his era (turn of the twentieth century), you will probably enjoy this book. The characters are believable and engaging, and the historical figures, such as James and Edith Wharton, as well as other prominent figures of the time, seem true-to-life. As the author remarks in an afterword, "I have been consciously unfair to the James family and to Edith Wharton; they are here represented not as they in themselves 'really' were, but as they might have been experienced by a sensitive and marginalised young Englishwoman." The Englishwoman is question is Frieda Wroth, employed by Henry James as a typewriter, to type his novels and correspondence from his dictation. She struggles throughout the course of the novel to find her own voice, rather than serve merely as a "receiver" of the work of others. As her emotions and loyalties are engaged and challenged, she pursues her goals to the background of the era's fascination with spiritualism, and of women's suffrage and the restrictions of her sex and class which were being challenged at the time. The book is well worth reading, though the prose, consciously written in the style of a turn-of-the-century novelist, may be challenging to stick with for some readers.

I enjoyed this charming novel, set in the early 1900s, once I got "into" the writing style that author Heyns adopts from Henry James. Frieda Wroth, the Typewriter, is a bright and talented young woman from limited means who is eager to experience a world beyond the confines of Rye and Mr James' employment. She falls in love with the charming Mr. Fullerton very quickly and then chooses to interpret his actions and inactions with a skewed sense of reality. As a result, she makes a few bad decisions, but she finds her moral compass at the end.

The story is complicated with a lot of delightful dry humor. As a reader I was rooting for Frieda and I was relieved that Frieda eventually chose the "right" actions. This would be a great read for a literary book club.

Thoroughly entertaining front cover to cover.

"…nothing inhibited Mr. James as painfully as the need for conciseness…" laments his typewriter, 23 year old Frieda Wroth. In 1908 rural England, Frieda is employed by Mr. James to transform his dictation to written word by means of the new invention by Remington, typewriter referring to the person who uses the mechanism rather than the modern application of the word to define the machine itself. Frieda, being the person most qualified to comment on Mr. James penchant for wordiness due to the nature of her position.

Heyns, a South African English professor and James expert, has written a novel from the perspective of the typewriter, who Mr. James assumes to be a tool to make his writing task more efficient. Yet, the typewriter is privy to all comings and goings in the rustic abode and gets caught up in the trite intrigues that appear to have occupied Mr. James and his literary colleagues when not attending to their creative profession.

The best, though for some quite possibly the worst, aspect of The Typewriters Tale is the verbose nature of the prose. "These great cosmopolitan caravanserais combine in the most absorbing way in the world an air of cynical lawlessness and extreme fastidiousness; one feels they would countenance everything except one's being late for breakfast." is but one example. Heyns has considerable depth of knowledge about Henry James and utilizes it to craft a rather ordinary story. But his understanding of James artistic talent of molding the English language into feasts of words is coveted. This book is recommended for those who enjoy gorging on the language used to create the story as opposed to supping on the tale.

"typewriter
1. a writing machine...;
2. one who does typewriting, esp. as a regular occupation."
(Oxford English Dictionary)
The above quote is seen in the books preface.

The story begins 8th November, 1907 and concludes around July 1909. Henry James' home in England is the setting.

The beginning thought, "the worst part of taking dictation is the waiting." is also appropriately the concluding thought.

The story is told by Frieda Wroth, fictional typist of Henry James. We also meet Morton Fullerton who in this particular time frame was involved in an affair with American Pulitzer Prize–winning author Edith Wharton. They met in summer after being introduced by mutual friend Henry James.

As a graduate of Young Ladies' Academy Of Typewriting, Frieda is able to leave home and the courtship efforts of the predictable, boring Mr. Dodds, and pursue freedom. With Remington available, she takes dictation from Henry James and in his pauses and her own quiet time, interweaves imagination and existing fact.

This makes an interesting tale as she becomes caught in a clash of her commitment to Henry James and the antics of his ostentatious friends.

The author's note will effectively discuss the chosen blend of fact and fiction.
Although there were moments when it became an intellectual read, I still would label this good historical fiction that anyone can appreciate.

After a slight need to adjust to the flowing language of this novel, I fell into it completely. In fact, it was a joy to re-engage with literary writing. Given the short, abbreviated writing of the current day (texts, emails, etc.) it was a wonderful experience to submerge into unique words, crafted sentences and expressive paragraphs. The premise of looking into the lives of Henry James, Edith Wharton, and Morton Fullerton (to name but a few) through the eyes and mind of Frieda Wroth, James' typist, was an interesting angle. Not only did I experience these notable lives, but was given the chance to experience the life of a working woman of the era. Overall I enjoyed the book. It moved at a good pace and kept me engaged. I would recommend this book.

A book about books

This is a interesting novel about the novelist Henry James and his typewriter. Set in the early 1900s the term typewriter referred both to the machine and the person who did the transcribing. The story is a mixture of actual historical events and people and a fictional person and plot.

Freida Wroth is a young woman of 23 when she is hired to work for Henry James. She comes from a poor background and experiences the rigid class distinctions in place. She cannot understand the problems of the upper classes.

The novel also contains a story line about spiritualism and automatic writing. Frieda faces a moral dilemma which adds suspense to the story. I recommend this book because it covers a different sort of topic.

Like all the dressmakers, shop girls, handmaids and paid companions before her the typewriter is afforded a view into another world. Her reticence is her passport into the creative mind of novelist Henry James. The reader sits on Frieda Wroth's shoulder as she types the great man's words and hears her thoughts as she anticipates the next word beyond his pause. In her workday as amanuensis she scarcely has time for thoughts of her own, and James is oblivious to her inner life. He occasionally offers her chocolate bars to keep up her strength, as she observes, a reflexive gesture similar to the treats dispensed to his dog.

What will she choose in her life outside the elegance of James' Georgian home in the Rye countryside? As a top student at her typewriter course she learned to become one with her machine, a seamlessly discrete recorder of the great thoughts of others. Exceptionally pragmatic Wroth accepts her need to work, retaining her own private ambitions. How will she act on these? Will she chose the safety of her constraints or step outside them and pursue her passions?

This novel intricately reproduces James' milieu and presents the reader with a tale both modern and mannered. As Mr. Heyns imagines the life of Wroth and James, so does the typewriter imagine hers and comes to the recognition of a truth - people collude in their own deception. Book Group Readers who enjoy re-imagined classics will be intrigued by the world of Henry James seen through the eyes of the unsung typewriter.