The House of Marvellous Books

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Pub Date 19 May 2022 | Archive Date 18 May 2022

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Description

Tucked away in a near-derelict library in the center of London, The House of Marvellous Books is a publishing house on the brink of financial disaster.

With assistant Ursula asleep at her desk, head publisher Gerard going health and safety mad, and chief editor Drusilla focused on finding a supposedly priceless but famously missing manuscript, there is hardly anyone left to steer the ship. Young Mortimer Blackley, assistant editor, charts the descent of the House in his logbook as it lurches from one failure to the next.

Will mysterious Russian buyers, lurking in the wings, stop the ship from sinking at great cost to all? Or will Drusilla find the legendary Daybreak Manuscript and save the day?

With witty and sharp observations, Fiona Vigo Marshall draws upon a career spent working in small publishing houses to create a laugh-out-loud ode to the publishing industry.
Tucked away in a near-derelict library in the center of London, The House of Marvellous Books is a publishing house on the brink of financial disaster.

With assistant Ursula asleep at her desk, head...

Advance Praise

"I absolutely adored the charming and very funny The House Of Marvellous Books and its cast of eccentric, maddening characters. This is a must-read for anyone who loves books and I can't wait to gift it to everyone I know. It deserves to be a massive word-of-mouth bestseller.” —Sarra Manning, author of Rescue Me 


'A joyride of a novel ripe with delightful irony and a flurry of colourful characters. It will have its readers smiling throughout' —Jac Shreeves-Lee, author of Broadwater


'A book full of funny lines, set pieces and memorable characters - Fiona Vigo Marshall's bookish jeu d'esprit is hugely entertaining' —Gill Darling, author of Erringby

"I absolutely adored the charming and very funny The House Of Marvellous Books and its cast of eccentric, maddening characters. This is a must-read for anyone who loves books and I can't wait to gift...


Available Editions

EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9781914148095
PRICE £14.99 (GBP)
PAGES 320

Available on NetGalley

NetGalley Shelf App (EPUB)
Send to Kindle (EPUB)

Average rating from 75 members


Featured Reviews

This was a really enjoyable read. It was well written with good charcater development with a well executed and humourous storyline. I enjoyed the pacing and it was a lot funnier than I expected it to be. I will definitely be looking for more from this author.

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What an incredibly odd duck of a book. Chock full of meandering prose, wry insight and left of field tenderness - I absolutely loved it.
The House of Marvellous books follows a year in the life of Mortimer, a commissioning editor for a publishing house that’s seen better days. Manned by an eccentric cast and written in diary format, you get a real sense of the feeling and family of the publishing house, as Mortimer and his work colleagues navigate unruly authors, sassy editors and a ditzy receptionist who is in search of a missing and very valuable manuscript.
Packed full of literary references and generous of cake, The House of Marvellous books will appeal to bibliophiles everywhere. An off kilter read that really appeals

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This book was hilarious and quirky! The eccentric characters were fun to follow along with. The pace of everything was well timed, and kept interesting throughout!

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A fun quirky interesting unique read.I enjoyed this novel from beginning to end.The characters came alive had me laughing .The storyline unusual eccentric so much fun to read. #netgalley#fairlightbooks

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With witty and sharp observations, Fiona Vigo Marshall draws upon a career spent working in small publishing houses to create a laugh-out-loud ode to the publishing industry. Grab yourself a copy of this book! I absolutely loved this! I read this book within a day, I couldn’t put it down.

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I thought this book was well written. This is a light and funny book set in a struggling little publishing company in London. Entertaining and humorous.

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What a literary feast for book lovers! I laughed, I smiled, and I fell in love with the quirky characters. Thank you so much for this fantastic, satisfying ARC.

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An Eclectic Bunch..
The House of Marvellous Books, a publishing house on the brink of collapse and hidden away in a virtually derelict part of London. Manned by an eclectic bunch and unikely to change. Narrated in diary format we meet the well crafted and colourful cast in a meandering tale of moving from one failure to the very next. Will their day ever be really saved? Enjoyable and eccentric, frothy and dryly amusing with memorable characters who have a tale to tell. Bibliophiles everywhere should not be disappointed.

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The cast of eccentric literary types was right up my street and wouldn’t fail to delight anyone who loves books about books. Thanks NetGalley!

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The story is about the publishing house’s eccentric and charming characters who are working hard to try and save their beloved independent publishing house while navigating their daily lives and relationships.
The House of Marvellous Books is easily one of the most charming and new funny books for adults and teen readers who love quirky stories and eccentric characters set in London.

* Thank you for the ARC.

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Great book, I loved this read.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

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Fiona Vigo Marshall's House of Marvellous Books was a fun read. In some ways it felt like a literary version of Wes Anderson's French Dispatch's office scenes set in a publishing house. The characters were all well written and each brought their own unique quirks to the story. I think I would recommend this book for anyone looking for a fun summer read.

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The House of Marvellous Books by Fiona Vigo Marshall

The House of Marvellous Books is a small publishing house lurching from one disaster to another and in danger of going bankrupt at any moment. Mortimer, a Commissioning Editor, keeps a diary and the entries describe the sinking ship and all who sail in her.

This book is very quirky and at first I didn't know what to make of it. But very quickly I was completely absorbed in the goings-on at The House of Marvellous Books! What a fabulous cast of eccentric characters and an often humourous, sometimes poignant story. Very highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

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