Will - Softcover

Christopher Rush

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1905636350 ISBN 13: 9781905636358

Publisher: Beautiful Books, 2008

Synopsis

For the first time in 400 years, an author has dared to take on the voice of the world's most famous playwright. William Shakespeare is on his deathbed, where he receives his lawyer to set out his final will and testament. As he answers his questions the Bard begins to recall his life, and over 448 pages of tumultuous, passionate and glorious writing the true life of an extraordinary man emerges. This is Shakespeare as we have never known him: angry, emotional, honest, reflective, joyous, despairing - the Bard will never be the same.

About this title

Review:

Masterful a lifetime s engagement with Shakespeare s words informs every page. James Shapiro, author of "1599"
Part literary genesis, part historical thriller This ravenous soliloquy fairly bursts with life. "Publishers Weekly"
Christopher Rush boldly takes us where no man has gone for 400 years. "New York Post"
A richly poetic novel. . . linguistically witty and imaginative. "Times Literary Supplement"

?Masterful?a lifetime's engagement with Shakespeare's words informs every page.? ?James Shapiro, author of "1599"

?Part literary genesis, part historical thriller? This ravenous soliloquy fairly bursts with life.? ?"Publishers Weekly"

?Christopher Rush boldly takes us where no man has gone for 400 years.? ?"New York Post"

?A richly poetic novel. . . linguistically witty and imaginative. "Times Literary Supplement"

Synopsis:

William Shakespeare is dying and his last will and testament needs urgent attention. It is March 1616. Will's lawyer, Francis Collins, is at the Stratford deathbed, and is privy to the great dramatist's final words. The will must be watertight if his client's son-in-law, the execrable Thomas Quiney, is not to benefit by his death, though Will has much to confess before he can explain this and other concerns. On his deathbed, Will unburdens himself. He was a poet for all time, but here he speaks of his time, his loves and his regrets. We hear of the dark ladies Jacqueline Vautrollier and Emilia Bassano, of the captivating Henry Wriothesley.We listen to his chilling eye-witness accounts of the Tyburn executions. We watch young Will roaming the midnight streets and lanes of Stratford and Shottery, sighing for Anne Hathaway; we watch the consummation and decay of that great love. We see him crossing the frozen Thames with the wooden beams that were to become the Globe theatre. We return with him to Stratford to that most heartbreaking of all journeys, the funeral of his only son, Hamnet. In his own final scene Will returns to the work he has written for the stage.

Lines from the plays rise to his lips as he recalls the occasions of their making, and we find his life in every one of those lines. Finally, like Prospero he surveys his island of art, and cannot decide whether his great gift has been a blessing or a curse. Irrepressible, shocking, bawdy, witty, extravagant and wise, Will speaks to us across 400 years.

About this edition

• Publisher: Beautiful Books
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1905636350
• ISBN 13: 9781905636358
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 480