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

Mix words like perambulation, amanuensis and colloquy, a bright but naïve young woman who must earn her keep, the working mind of Henry James, and titillating bits of information about the James brothers and you have The Typewriter's Tale.

Unless you are a devotee of Henry James you might not be drawn to this novel. I was slow to become involved and thought of giving up after the first twenty pages. But I am glad I persisted. The language became endearing, the innocent typewriter Frieda grew in development and Henry showed some depth beyond his loquaciousness. The supporting characters of Edith Wharton and Morton Fullerton add a bit of derring-do, and together with the household staff give the reader just enough insight into caste conscious early 20th century England to supply atmosphere.

I help select books for our retirement community library. With limited funds, I would not pick this although Michiel Heyns did a good job of writing a Jamesian novel.

A typewriter according to the Oxford English Dictionary is " 1. A writing machine 2. One who does typewriting,esp. as a regular occupation.

In this historical fiction genre, Michiel Heyns discusses the typewriter as someone who does typewriting as an occupation. Enter the fictional main character, Frieda Wroth, who becomes Henry James typewriter, or his "amanuensis".(Dictionary:"A literary or artistic assistant, one who takes dictation or copies manuscripts.")
The author uses much of Henry James' history, family and friends as part of this novel. The story takes place in the early 1900's at his estate ,Lamb House in Rye. Henry James writes and dictates his stories to the typewriter, Frieda Wroth. Frieda is an intelligent woman, but shows her naivete in many ways.
Frieda is witness to all the company at Lamb House, and meets the James family, Morton Fullerton, Edith Wharton, and other characters. Frieda is charmed easily by Morton Fullerton, who has his own agenda. He would like Frieda to "retrieve" letters that he wrote to Henry James.

Frieda often thinks of Henry James' words , "Live all you can, it's a mistake not to." from his novel ,"The Ambassadors."

I find that the author writes about loyalty, betrayal, friendship, family and love.

What I like best about the novel is the aspect of telepathy which is observed when Frieda uses the typewriter(machine) to have telepathic conversations with Morton Fullerton. Telepathy and mediums are evident and gives a mystical feel to the novel.

The author also discusses quiet Rye and travels to France, and America, and the new mode of transportation "the motor car".

I would recommend "The Typewriter's Tale" as an intriguing historical novel.

I am sorry but this book just did not interest me and I really tried to read it but just could not get into it. I have not read Henry James so that could be part of the problem

Michiel Heyns' The Typewriter's Tale focuses on a typewriter/typist for the eminent author Henry James.

I could comprehend a typist working from a written draft, but this story has the author dictating and the typist following along. Being as Henry James is known for his convoluted, lengthy sentences, this method seems very improbable.

The typist has her own goals, one of which is to get psychic readings from a man she's interested in--via the typewriter (the actual instrument).

I'm personally interested in Henry James (although his books elude me--the movies made from them are generally wonderful) and his home called Lamb House (later the dwelling place of E. F. Benson, my favorite author).

However, the unlikely turns this plot takes make the book quite tedious. I recommend it only to readers who enjoy slogging, and who have run out of other reading material.

Although The Typewriter's Tale was well written and maintained its integrity to the subject, I found it to be less than engaging. I never developed an attachment to or a sympathy for Frieda, the main character, or to her employer (Henry James) for that matter. Accounts of authors are always intriguing to me, whether fiction or non-fiction. I hoped this fictional account of the relationship between an accomplished author and his typewriter would provide a platform from which one could imagine the intimacy that relationship implies. Unfortunately, the story fell flat for me.

I liked the book until I got to the part about telepathic contact of minds and then I lost interest. I thought Frieda was persuaded by her fondness for Mr. Fullerton to not be true to herself. I didn't think she would ever get to Paris.

There were a lot of words in the book that I did not know the meaning of. I spent about as much time with my dictionary as I did reading the book.

This was not one of my favorite books.

The Typewriter's Tale is a bit of a challenge to read. The author writes in very proper Jamesonian English--it can be a bit of a challenge for modern day readers. Yet, the story is interesting and quite provocative. The reader can once again see that famous people can be "bigger than life" and quite eccentric. Those who support such people are not usually recognized nor remembered. The author paints a vivid picture of the invisibility and struggles of women as the "typewriter" tells her story. This book could be recommended for students of English or Anglophiles--most book clubs would not enjoy the descriptive, tedious narrative.

I had a hard time caring about the characters. I am not sure the author made me care much about whether Frieda found the letters or not. I was really ambivalent about the book.