The Book of the Most Precious Substance by Sara Gran

Rare book dealer Lily Albrecht has been given a tip-off about The Book of the Most Precious Substance, rumoured to be the most powerful occult book ever written. With some of the world’s wealthiest people willing to pay a fortune for it, she embarks on a journey from New York to New Orleans to Munich to Paris, knowing that it could also help erase the greatest tragedy of her life.

But does the book really exist at all, or will Lily lose everything in search of a ghost?

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The Book of the Most Precious Substance is a novel that I bought on a whim. I don’t remember where I first heard about it, but I’m so glad that I did. There are some books that you know, pretty much from the first page, that you’re going to love, and this was one such novel for me.

Lily Albrecht is a published author turned rare book dealer who comes across the opportunity of a lifetime.  Someone is willing to pay top dollar – seven figures, potentially – for a copy of The Book of the Most Precious Substance.  It’s a book that Lily hasn’t even heard of, but she immediately begins researching its history.  She discovers that it is a truly rare book with only five copies – all hand written – ever produced.  With her friend and fellow rare book enthusiast, Lucas, Lily begins hunting down a copy, desperate for the money that would make a huge difference to her life, not really caring about the book’s contents.  It’s a journey that will see her travel from America to Europe, experience new things, and learn a few things about herself along the way. 

Lily is a fantastic character – she is relatable in her struggle to make ends meet, and I found her to be wonderfully normal and down to earth.  I also felt a huge amount of sympathy for her.  When she met Abel – the love of her life and a genuine soul mate – they had a few good years before Abel began to show signs of early onset Alzheimer’s at a very young age.  Now chair bound and uncommunicative, Lily does her best to keep money coming in to pay for his ongoing care.  It’s such a sad situation, and one that leaves Lily in a strange state of limbo as her life continues and yet feels as though it’s on pause.  Lucas, her partner for this mission, is something of a breath of fresh air – she’s taken the occasional lover before because life does continue, but while she’s undeniably drawn to Lucas, she is also wary of this perpetual bachelor. 

As Lily and Lucas find out more about the book, they begin to experiment with the five requirements detailed in this book of occult sex magic, the completion of which will bring whatever that person most desires.  Lily and Lucas may try to make out that it’s just for the money, but they are clearly attracted to each other and neither has any complaints about any of those activities.  The plot does hinge on something approaching a deus ex machina as the completion of one stage immediately leads them to a new contact or avenue of investigation with seemingly little effort on their part.  While I’m not normally a fan of such convenient plot developments, I didn’t mind it in the context of this novel as The Book of the Most Precious Substance does, through its occult nature, seem to want to be found. 

The Book of the Most Precious Substance is a sexy, sensual novel – if you tend to skip any sex scenes in a book then this one probably isn’t for you as you’d have to skip a fairly significant portion of the text.  It’s not something that I normally look for in a read, but again – it works in the context of this novel as Lily and Lucas go through the five stages detailed in the book.  I really enjoyed it as something quite different to my usual reads, although it does also have things that I love – a mystery, a puzzle, some romance, and it is a book about books, which will always appeal to me.  I also love how Gran brings the novel to a close – it’s satisfying without being saccharine.  I absolutely adored this novel, and it’s one I recommend, provided you don’t mind the sexual content.