shortlisted for Book of the Month
humour /mystery
Tudor
England
‘Before he was
famous, he was a fugitive. Before he wrote of humanity, he lived it. Before he was the Bard of Avon, he was a spy. A
very poor spy.
England, 1586.
Swept up in the skirts of a mysterious stranger, Will Shakespeare becomes
entangled in a deadly and hilarious misadventure as he accidentally uncovers
the Babington Plot, an attempt to murder Queen Elizabeth herself. Aided by the
mercurial wit of Kit Marlowe, Will enters London for the first time, chased by
rebels, spies, his own government, his past, and a bear…’
Tudor England. 1586. Will Shakespeare. There are many
things that author David Blixt does well – and one among them is anything
concerning fictional explorations of the Bard. Oh, two things. Add delightful
humour.
From the opening lines I thoroughly enjoyed Will’s
adventures. Historically accurate it is not. A fast-paced read, it is not. A
truthful tale of Shakespeare’s life… well you get the picture. But what this
novel does achieve is a witty romp through some of the unexplained ‘lost’ years
of Shakespeare’s early life. Blixt sets the tone with his own playwright
expertise, giving a colourful, richly flavoured feel of life, lust and other
things that went on at the time of Elizabeth I. As sidekick to Marlowe, the
young Will blunders through one unforeseen adventure to another with, often,
hilarious results. The aim, to protect the Queen’s (and his own!) life. Oh, and
there is the bear… but I’ll not give away any plot spoilers.
The Shakespearean style of the dialogue may not be to
everyone’s taste, as Blixt has (expertly in my opinion, but some readers may
not agree) mimicked the style of the day. Does this slow the reading experience
and the adventure down? Personally, I think not, for instead we have brilliant
swordfights, absorbing intrigues, laugh-out-loud humour, delightful (and
groan-type) puns, (for the sensitive, some are a bit rude,) delightful descriptions,
believable (for all their insanity) characters all wrapped up in an engaging mystery
plot. Her Majesty’s Will is a funny,
lighthearted, tongue-firmly-in-cheek romp. And I loved it!
© Helen Hollick
© Helen Hollick
I must admit, although this book definitely has its rude bits, it did make me chuckle. I was lucky enough to win a signed copy on Goodreads ages ago.
ReplyDeleteBut then of course Shakespeare has quite a few rude bits in his plays LOL
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