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The Autograph Seeker
During the colonial rule in India, fate throws together a diverse cast onto the San Souci Theatre stage - Esther Leech, the Kohinoor of Bengal theatre; James Barry, the theatre manager facing bankruptcy; Alice Anderson, the enchanting English woman estranged from her husband, Thomas Anderson; and Baboo Bustomchurn Addy, the dark Bengali actor infatuated with Alice and ready to kill for her. Yet, history has forgotten this cast who perished with the San Souci Theatre until it's discovered by a school boy in Calcutta desperate to tell their story. To help him is an effervescent Anglo Indian beauty. She's mute. It was the end of innocence and the dawn of a glorious institution. Unearth the story of the greatest theatre in colonial India hidden for the last 150 years inside this epic school-age novel.
383 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 16, 2017
The Autograph Seeker is a beautiful book filled with life, joy, laughter, stories and loads of love and inspiration. Tony the author has put his life force into this beautiful book which made me sigh, laugh out loud and even brought tears to my eyes. An insightful book which takes you through Calcutta through the ages and talks about St Xavier's School. A book on theatre and more than anything love and the ageless beauty of theatre. I am so glad that I read this book and I would definitely recommend it to any book reader.
January 26, 2021
I really enjoyed reading every bit of the book.
Love how all the autographs collected are woven into the narrative so seamlessly.
The book has a comfortably readable style - the author has a wonderful way with words.
I was able to identify with a lot in the book - by way of people, incidents, places, situations and emotions - hence it became much more meaningful.
Like Marita with her love for theatre, I was sad that the tale came to an end. I truly wished there was more.
Thank you for your story, Tony Francis!
Love how all the autographs collected are woven into the narrative so seamlessly.
The book has a comfortably readable style - the author has a wonderful way with words.
I was able to identify with a lot in the book - by way of people, incidents, places, situations and emotions - hence it became much more meaningful.
Like Marita with her love for theatre, I was sad that the tale came to an end. I truly wished there was more.
Thank you for your story, Tony Francis!
June 25, 2018
The Autograph Seeker is the first book by Tony Francis. I know Tony as a friend’s cousin, an astounding orator (I have heard few of his prize winning toastmaster speeches) and as a media professional. I knew he was working on his first book and was curiously awaiting its release. The book was released during the Bangalore Literary Fest 2017, but I missed being there on that occasion. The very next day I hunted down the book at the Lit fest book store and started reading. From whatever I knew about Tony, I was expecting a book filled with fun and laughter. To my amazement, the book held history, romance, drama, inspiration along with fun, laughter, and a number of autographs (chronologically significant!)
The book has a story within a story, going back and forth in time, switching between the innocent relationship between talkative Tony and mute Vinny and the intense relationship between Alice and Addie, with the magnificent theatre San Soucci in the background. As I went from chapter to chapter I was eager to know the link between the two stories and as it was revealed to me page by page, I was spellbound. As I finished the book I felt the curtains fall after a play in a magnificent theatre and I was there giving a standing ovation. Such is the magic Tony has created through this fictional work.
Tony’s passion in collecting autographs of famous personalities he came across from childhood has found a beautiful way of being portrayed in the book, signifying the year and the happenings of that year, which really gives readers like me a nostalgic feeling….taking me back to my memories of that year. 😊
For a first time author I feel Tony has done a brilliant job, creating a unique style with autographs, story within the story and the connections therein, and portraying the love between a talkative boy and a mute girl, allowing the girl to control the relationship. I really liked the way Vinny has been portrayed, as independent, free spirited and positive, instead of being deaf and mute.
I hope Tony is working on his next book already!! 😊
The book has a story within a story, going back and forth in time, switching between the innocent relationship between talkative Tony and mute Vinny and the intense relationship between Alice and Addie, with the magnificent theatre San Soucci in the background. As I went from chapter to chapter I was eager to know the link between the two stories and as it was revealed to me page by page, I was spellbound. As I finished the book I felt the curtains fall after a play in a magnificent theatre and I was there giving a standing ovation. Such is the magic Tony has created through this fictional work.
Tony’s passion in collecting autographs of famous personalities he came across from childhood has found a beautiful way of being portrayed in the book, signifying the year and the happenings of that year, which really gives readers like me a nostalgic feeling….taking me back to my memories of that year. 😊
For a first time author I feel Tony has done a brilliant job, creating a unique style with autographs, story within the story and the connections therein, and portraying the love between a talkative boy and a mute girl, allowing the girl to control the relationship. I really liked the way Vinny has been portrayed, as independent, free spirited and positive, instead of being deaf and mute.
I hope Tony is working on his next book already!! 😊
March 7, 2018
The Plot:- The story is set in Calcutta, featuring the 80’s and 90’s era.It revolves around the protagonist of the story, Tony, a schoolboy who fortunately finds out that the reality of the SAN SOUCI theatre, which had been functioning tremendously well during the British era but had to be taken down because of an accident.Tony, narrates the story of the diverse cast of SAN SOUCI about Esther Leach, a beautiful girl someone would die for and the Kohinoor of the Bengal Theatre.The other characters in the story are James Barry who is the manager of the theatre struggling to save it from bankruptcy, a handsome native theatre actor, Baboo Bustomchurn Addy who is in an infatuation with Alice Anderson the enchanting Englishwomen estranged from her husband.Tony, with his love, an Anglo-Indian mute girl named Winnie narrates the story of Alice who got burnt before a shocked audience, her relationship with Baboo which had been hidden from the people for the past 150 years.
My Review:- I would call this book a gem! A story within a story! A flawless story narrated so well with drama which has been hidden for a long time from people, intelligently packed with humour, and sprinkled with love.Being easy with language makes it a smooth read to relate to the characters. People in Calcutta would definitely get into nostalgia because this book has the fragrance of husk of Calcutta and the happy people living in there.Tony narrating the story of SAN SOUCI is excellent but what makes this book outstanding is the innocent relationship of Love Tony has with his girl Winnie who is mute.How Tony communicates with a mute girl is something which melts my heart and its hard to hold back tears! The story frankly, won't be easy to catch at once, since it keeps flipping back and forth in time, but if you have patience, and keep the story going, everything falls into place and then you realise such a marvellous work of the author. Its TONY’s first book and it's hard to believe he stepped into it which such a tremendous job! The best part is you get to see the copy of the original autographs of famous personalities starting from AMITABH BACCHAN, RAKESH SHARMA, P.T USHA to SHARUKH KHAN and some more.I finished it 5 sittings, but if you have time, trust me the story is so gripping that you will finish it off in one go!
Such books to readers are a blessing, GRAB a copy today, in fact now!
Thank you, Tony, for providing me with an e-book for the review.I can’t express how happy it feels to receive such a book which makes the characters run through your mind for a long time, hence making the book unforgettable.Such kind of books is rare! And I feel lucky to have got my hands on it.
My Review:- I would call this book a gem! A story within a story! A flawless story narrated so well with drama which has been hidden for a long time from people, intelligently packed with humour, and sprinkled with love.Being easy with language makes it a smooth read to relate to the characters. People in Calcutta would definitely get into nostalgia because this book has the fragrance of husk of Calcutta and the happy people living in there.Tony narrating the story of SAN SOUCI is excellent but what makes this book outstanding is the innocent relationship of Love Tony has with his girl Winnie who is mute.How Tony communicates with a mute girl is something which melts my heart and its hard to hold back tears! The story frankly, won't be easy to catch at once, since it keeps flipping back and forth in time, but if you have patience, and keep the story going, everything falls into place and then you realise such a marvellous work of the author. Its TONY’s first book and it's hard to believe he stepped into it which such a tremendous job! The best part is you get to see the copy of the original autographs of famous personalities starting from AMITABH BACCHAN, RAKESH SHARMA, P.T USHA to SHARUKH KHAN and some more.I finished it 5 sittings, but if you have time, trust me the story is so gripping that you will finish it off in one go!
Such books to readers are a blessing, GRAB a copy today, in fact now!
Thank you, Tony, for providing me with an e-book for the review.I can’t express how happy it feels to receive such a book which makes the characters run through your mind for a long time, hence making the book unforgettable.Such kind of books is rare! And I feel lucky to have got my hands on it.
June 30, 2018
I just finished reading this book and what's buzzing in my head is a song sung by David Bowie, called Heroes. I am a big sucker for the coming-of-age genre and while I have seen a lot of films based on this theme, this is the first time I came across this theme in the form of a book.
The narration is so tight and beautiful that I couldn't help but read the last 5 chapters in one sitting. The autographs are beautifully placed - like Cadbury Gems on a homemade birthday cake. I have to visit Flury's the next time I get to go home.
This book has to be turned into a film.
The narration is so tight and beautiful that I couldn't help but read the last 5 chapters in one sitting. The autographs are beautifully placed - like Cadbury Gems on a homemade birthday cake. I have to visit Flury's the next time I get to go home.
This book has to be turned into a film.
November 28, 2019
This book has got life. It appeals to inner instincts with enthralling story.
Although I'm compelled to visualize inspiration from Salman Rushdies way of writing in this book and forcefully introduced sub stories of autographs without which also the book could have conveyed it's soul.
Although I'm compelled to visualize inspiration from Salman Rushdies way of writing in this book and forcefully introduced sub stories of autographs without which also the book could have conveyed it's soul.
July 1, 2025
The book has two timelines, a story about a school boy set in 80s and 90s in Calcutta and the other story set in the British era Calcutta. The latter follows the story of an English woman falling in love with the troublesome and broody native Addy. The former follows Tony and anecdotes from his school life at St. Xavier's and his budding friendship with Vinny. How the stories converge make up the main story. I quite enjoyed the storyline with Tony and his friends. It was a tad bit nostalgic with all the good for nothings that make up an Indian kid's school life. The autographs felt more like a forced hindrance than adding anything to the actual story to be honest.
December 2, 2022
As a member of the Toastmaster's community, I once had an opportunity to listen to the author and I got the book. However , this book got to my shelf and I never read it until I did it today.. After reading many great motivating coach books - I chose this for a change - and it was all plain and long reading until I paged off the last 5 chapters which was a top class roller coaster. I just was able to feel getting a vivid imagery of what the author was feeling ... A mix of history, drama, melancholy and neatly packed emotions .... good read !!!
December 26, 2019
"Addy's head was buzzing. He looked around. Everyone looked joyous in each other's company. Rage now had become his companion. No, his master."
"That was it. I brought my face as close as I could get to Vinny's, the lips just short of touching. She raised her eyebrows as if to ask what was stopping me. Then I closed my eyes for my first lip-lock.
It was not platonic anymore."
San Souci theatre was the greatest theatre in Calcutta and the entire British India. Started with the obsession of theatre for James Barry, who was facing bankruptcy, the theatre bought an diverse cast under itself - Esther Leach, called as the Kohinoor of Bengal theatre; Alice Anderson the enchanting Englishwoman estranged from her husband, and Baboo Bustomchurn Addy, the dark Bengali actor too much infatuated with Alice and ready to kill anyone for her.
The rise and fall of Calcutta's greatest theatre, discovered by a boy who talks a lot and a girl, who's mute.
Tony, a too much talking boy studying in St. Xavier's School in Calcutta, discovers the 150 years long forgotten secret of San Souci and decides to unearth every single detail about it. From the accidental burning of an actress in front of the audience to a dangerous relationship between a married Englishwoman and a native Bengali actor, Tony discovers the rise and fall of the San Souci. Helping him in his journey is Vinny, a mute girl.
The author keeps the language simple and continuous, the shift between Tony's life and San Souci's journey is amazing and interesting. The book has a really good amount of comedy, suspense, romance and drama equally blended. The author has tight-knit this book, and never for a minute I found it off-track. Everyone in the book, whether a major or minor character, has an important role to play in the book and their presence in the book just highlights the entire story of the book. What kept me totally hooked to the book is the blending of real-life year-wise happenings with Tony's and St. Xavier's life and signatures of famous personalities obtained by Tony.
The book is really amazing to read, without any mood dampeners at all. I loved it to the core and will definitely recommend it to everyone!
"That was it. I brought my face as close as I could get to Vinny's, the lips just short of touching. She raised her eyebrows as if to ask what was stopping me. Then I closed my eyes for my first lip-lock.
It was not platonic anymore."
San Souci theatre was the greatest theatre in Calcutta and the entire British India. Started with the obsession of theatre for James Barry, who was facing bankruptcy, the theatre bought an diverse cast under itself - Esther Leach, called as the Kohinoor of Bengal theatre; Alice Anderson the enchanting Englishwoman estranged from her husband, and Baboo Bustomchurn Addy, the dark Bengali actor too much infatuated with Alice and ready to kill anyone for her.
The rise and fall of Calcutta's greatest theatre, discovered by a boy who talks a lot and a girl, who's mute.
Tony, a too much talking boy studying in St. Xavier's School in Calcutta, discovers the 150 years long forgotten secret of San Souci and decides to unearth every single detail about it. From the accidental burning of an actress in front of the audience to a dangerous relationship between a married Englishwoman and a native Bengali actor, Tony discovers the rise and fall of the San Souci. Helping him in his journey is Vinny, a mute girl.
The author keeps the language simple and continuous, the shift between Tony's life and San Souci's journey is amazing and interesting. The book has a really good amount of comedy, suspense, romance and drama equally blended. The author has tight-knit this book, and never for a minute I found it off-track. Everyone in the book, whether a major or minor character, has an important role to play in the book and their presence in the book just highlights the entire story of the book. What kept me totally hooked to the book is the blending of real-life year-wise happenings with Tony's and St. Xavier's life and signatures of famous personalities obtained by Tony.
The book is really amazing to read, without any mood dampeners at all. I loved it to the core and will definitely recommend it to everyone!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews