Chatterton

By: Peter Ackroyd

Narrated by: James Wilby

Poet, forger, and genius, Thomas Chatterton died in 1770, aged 18. His death was thought to be suicide: But what really happened?

Two hundred years later, Charles Wychwood and Harriet Scrope become obsessed with decoding the clues in an 18th-century manuscript. Their investigation raises some intriguing questions....

A century before, as 19th-century artist Henry Wallis paints his celebrated portrait of Chatterton lying dead in an attic room, he, too, becomes fascinated by the mystery. Then Chatterton himself steps forward, with his own story....

©1887 Peter Ackroyd (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Tedious Characters

The story sounded interesting, but the author put too much effort into making his characters eccentric. This was very distracting, and left me wanting the story to move forward. I do not often give up on books, but I couldn’t finish it.

Beautifully read, funny characters, profound themes

The question driving this narrative is whether art needs to be original to the artist in order to be good art. Ackroyd finds more ways to ask this question than I would have thought possible, but he never fails to entertain each time he poses it. It’s beautifully and sympathetically read. Its insights on the power of art to change us are incredibly convincing. Really loved this book.