The Players – A Novel of the Young Shakespeare - Hardcover

Cowell, S

3.52

89 ratings by Goodreads

9780393040609: The Players – A Novel of the Young Shakespeare

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393040607 ISBN 13: 9780393040609

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co., 1997

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

This graceful historical novel traces Shakespeare's momentous path of creative and emotional self-discovery focusing on his apprentice years and concluding before the great plays that would earn him his fame. It begins with the glover's son roaming the fields of Stratford, hungry for knowledge and restless to escape the boundaries of his small town and loveless marriage. Leaving his family for the turbulence and excitement of London, Will becomes a struggling actor whose charmed, reckless circle of literary and theatrical friends includes John Heminges, Ben Jonson, and Christopher Marlowe - men who will in time create an unforgettable period of theater. All the while, however, Shakespeare continues to challenge himself as a writer; soon he is selling his plays and earning acclaim in the world of the London theater and aristocracy. Yet perhaps his finest and most heartfelt writing of the period can be found in the sonnets written for the Earl of Southampton, the beautiful young lord whose affection and aloofness stir the poet's soul. The Earl becomes Shakespeare's patron, friend, romantic rival, and eventually, his lover. With the Earl and the bewitching Italian musician Emilia Bassano, Shakespeare plunges deep into a tempestuous love triangle that will threaten both his desire to write and his sense of himself.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

Stephanie Cowell is the author of Nicholas Cooke, The Physician of London, The Players: a novel of the young Shakespeare, Marrying Mozart and Claude & Camille: a novel of Monet. She is the recipient of an American Book Award. Her next novel is Robbie: an Edwardian Love Story, set in the English midlands 1900 between a young male artist and a man who is running from memories of his failed marriage and his brutal childhood. Her work has been translated into nine languages, optioned for a movie, chosen for The History Book Club, and made into an opera.

Synopsis:

Presents a historical novel drawn from extensive research that traces the young Will's involvement in a tempestuous love triangle involving a lord and a mistress.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.