THREE MORE NOVELS FEATURING SHAKESPEARE

Nothing Like the Sun Anthony Burgess (1964) BBurgess’s well-known vverbal virtuosity is mmuch in evidence in tthis vivid re-creation oof Shakespeare’s life and loves, first ppublished more thant 50 years ago to coincide with the quatercentenary of the playwright’s birth. Taking its title from a line in one of the bard’s sonnets, this is a rich, idiosyncratic portrait of a genius as he journeys from provincial obscurity in Stratford to artistic success and sexual betrayal in Elizabethan London. The Secret Life of William Shakespeare Jude Morgan (2012) SSo little is known for ccertain about the life oof England’s greateest writer that there is plenty of empty sspace for the inventive aauthor to fill. Jude MorganM is a versatile historical novelist who has turned his attention in the past to the Brontës and Byron. His version of Shakespeare’s story brings the man behind the plays to life, convincingly recreating both the Stratford of his youth and the London theatre world of his greatest triumphs. The Spy of Venice Benet Brandreth (2016) In the first of Branddreth’s ongoing sseries of adventures ffeaturing the young SShakespeare, the aaspiring actor and ppoet joins a band ofo itinerant players. When their travels take them to Venice, Shakespeare finds himself an innocent abroad but he is soon drawn ever further into a tangled web of murder, intrigue and espionage. Brandreth’s Shakespearean expertise and storytelling skills are both put to good use in this playful, entertaining novel.