“It’s a refuge, a retreat, a haven for bibliophiles—people who see that the ratio of books available to time available is terribly skewed.”

Such is the theme at the Bachelor Brothers Bed & Breakfast, a fictional guesthouse created by Canadian writer Bill Richardson in his whimsical novel of the same name. In the book, two eccentric middle-aged siblings, Hector and Virgil, think of their inn as “a way of redressing that dreadful imbalance; a way of offering readers a chance to finally revel in Silas Marner,” escape television, telephones, and all the distractions of modern existence.

Such is also the way at the real-life Alexander House Booklovers B&B in Princess Anne, Md.

Elizabeth Alexander, who operates the inn with her husband, Peter, admits to being inspired by Richardson’s make-believe B&B—but they’ve taken the concept one step further. Here, you can sleep in one of three author-themed guest- rooms: Langston Hughes, Jane Austen, or Robert Louis Stevenson. You can read in the Mark Twain Parlor and eat breakfast in Café Colette (named after racy early-twentieth-century French writer Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette). Framed pictures of famous authors from Maya Angelou to Kurt Vonnegut to P. G. Wodehouse line the staircase hallway, and little sayings about authors and books sprinkle the house everywhere you look.

Themed B&Bs, of course, can often come off as tacky as a Harlequin romance, but Elizabeth and Peter, veteran travelers themselves, have a subtle touch, and the whole experience is, as bachelor brother Hector is fond of saying, “simply splendid.”

The Alexander House, which officially opened for business in March 2002, makes a wonderful place to wile away a chilly day curled up in front of the fire in the Mark Twain Parlor with a favorite book. Such is the place I found myself one brisk Friday in November, thumbing through a 1949 illustrated edition of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped. It was a book I hadn’t read since I was a pre-teen, but I felt it was only appropriate since I was staying in Stevenson’s namesake room. It’s the smallest guest room of the three (good for single travelers), with a ship captain motif and framed illustrated scenes from Treasure Island. The pubescent décor did make me feel as though I was bunking in the room of a twelve-year-old boy—an impeccably clean twelve-year-old, with an appreciation of antique furniture, that is.

To me, the most attractive room is the Langston Hughes, with its wonderful art deco furniture and framed Jazz Age, black and white photos of Grand Central Station, the Cotton Club, and entertainers like Cab Calloway and Bessie Smith.

The Jane Austen room is the more feminine and romantic of the bunch, with flowery wallpaper and a refurbished clawfoot tub in the middle of a high-ceilinged bathroom.

“What all the writers have in common is that they were social critics,” says Elizabeth, an erudite fortysomething who has penned three as-yet-unpublished books herself, “but they did it in subtle ways.”

Like a good book, the B&B is filled with plenty of clever allusions. On the key ring to the Jane Austen room is a naval whistle. “Austen loved naval officers,” Elizabeth tells me. “Several of her brothers were in the navy.” There’s also a framed photo of Austen’s crush, “an Irish attorney who got away.” Café Colette has dozens of cat-themed paintings and knick-knacks, a nod to the French author’s fondness for felines.

In 2000, the couple moved to Princess Anne from Eugene, Ore., where Peter was a woodworker and Elizabeth taught English at the community college. The house, a cream-colored Queen Anne Victorian with a grand wraparound porch, dates to 1885 and was built by Rudolph Cohn, an Austrian immigrant who owned a lumber mill and several stores on Main Street. The Alexanders had thought about opening a bed and breakfast in retirement, but a job that didn’t work out proved to be the impetus for a more immediate career change. “Once you commit to something, the universe conspires to assist you,” says Elizabeth, paraphrasing Emerson. Soon, Peter was converting bedrooms into guestrooms.

Elizabeth says she gets a lot of single travelers—particularly women—and she’s an innkeeper who likes to make friends with her guests and discuss books or politics or the absurdity of local zoning laws—all topics we discussed over dinner at a local institution, Peaky’s Restaurant.

The only other guest in the house that night was Linda, a mother of three from Salisbury who had escaped her husband and kids for an evening of reading and relaxing. She told me she had brought a duffel bag of books and magazines, and while Peter, Elizabeth, and I chatted over fried chicken and baked rockfish, Linda curled herself up on the oversized chair in the Mark Twain Parlor and got to it. She was still in there, drinking tea and eating cookies, when we returned two hours later.

I browsed the parlor’s library and found a good mix of books, from biographies on Benjamin Franklin and Emily Bront‘ to essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Garrison Keillor. Wanting to leave Linda some precious time alone, I excused myself and headed into Café Colette where I made myself a cup of tea and filled out my breakfast request form. Elizabeth allows guests to choose between crepes with almonds, honey and yogurt; omelets; french toast, eggs and potatoes; or hearty oatmeal with fruit and nuts.

That night, I read Kidnapped in bed for hours, remembering faintly the misadventures of David Balfour and his evil Uncle Ebenezer. But alas, I only got to page 113. As I told Elizabeth and Peter, it looks like I’ll have to return to their B&B someday soon to finish the book.

Alexander House B&B
30535 Linden Ave.
Princess Anne, Md.
410-651-5195
http://www.bookloversbnb.com
Rates: $60 to $140, depending on season.
In early February, Alexander House hosts a Harlem Renaissance evening with jazz music and readings from Langston Hughes and others.
On Valentine’s Day weekend, the Alexanders leave champagne, roses, and books of love poems for guests, who are encouraged to share their favorite romantic poems with others.