"According to novelist Louis Bayard, frail Tiny Tim was a survivor and a far more interesting character than Dickens let on. In MR. TIMOTHY, his delightful and atmospheric novel set in 1860s London, Bayard gives the adult Tim a limp, colorful compatriots, and a mystery to solve: Who is branding and killing homeless little girls? ..Tim's companions include an old boatman, a streetwise homeless boy, an Italian girl, and some London prostitutes--all read so believably that the scene in one's headphones passes before one's eyes. This is a pleasure."
AudioFile

At nearly 5'8" and eleven stone Tiny Tim isn't so tiny anymore. He's now 23 and his beloved father Bob Crachit has just died. Mom is dead also, but Uncle Ebenezer is still about, dispensing largess. Tim has a slight limp but is otherwise whole, at least in body. His mind is haunted by dark thoughts and he sees his dead father everywhere. He runs away from his family and hides his grief in a seedy part of London, getting a job in a brothel, where he earns his room and board by teaching Mrs. Sharpe, the madam, how to read and write. He also takes work with Captain Gully, a boatman who rows the Thames trolling for dead bodies, animal and human. Bayard's novel is Dickensian in the best sense, full of memorable characters, mystery, ghosts and Victorian London. Dickens, however, didn't pepper his tales with obscenities and sex. British actor Honan gives a ripping performance, reading the novel with perfect characterizations. His full-voiced narration draws his audience into the story of watermen, prostitutes, murder, Scotland Yard coppers, and a daft uncle who keeps Christmas decorations up all year long.
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