Gutenberg's Apprentice (Christie) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
(Starred review.)Christie’s fiction debut descriptions of technical processes and medieval society are enthralling; the romance and personal melodrama are less compelling. At her best, she demonstrates a printer’s precision and a dogged researcher’s diligence in her painstakingly meticulous account of quattrocento innovation, technology, politics, art, and commerce
Publishers Weekly


Christie's slow-paced debut is rich in historical detail. Although the writing can be overblown, the story of the birth of the printing press is fascinating. Readers who enjoy historical fiction such as Tracy Chevalier's Remarkable Creatures will enjoy this admirable outing. —Terry Lucas, Rogers Memorial Lib., Southampton, NY
Library Journal


(Starred review.) Gorgeously written...dramatizes the creation of the Gutenberg Bible in a story that devotees of book history and authentic historical fiction will relish...An inspiring tale of ambition, camaraderie, betrayal, and cultural transformation based on actual events and people, this wonderful novel fully inhabits its age.
Booklist


(Starred review.) Christie masterfully depicts the time and energy required to print the first Bibles...against a catastrophic backdrop of plague, the fall of Constantinople, the violent superstitions of the peasantry, and a vested intelligentsia.... [T]he narrative is given texture through intermittent chapters in which Schoeffer...relates his story to Trithemius, abbot of Sponheim. A bravura debut.
Kirkus Reviews