This intriguing historical novel takes place in
England during the 1590s. As a little
child, he didn’t even remember his name.
When he was brought to the orphanage, he was nicknamed Widge. When Widge was seven years old, he was
adopted by Dr. Timothy Bright. Dr.
Bright was a doctor of medicine who studied at Cambridge. Widge was to be the doctor’s assistant and
jot down scientific notes.
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| Book cover from internet |
After seven more years of his life, a mysterious
black-cloaked stranger comes for a visit.
The stranger wanted to have Widge as an apprentice because of his
ability to write in strange yet simple characters. The cloaked figure takes Widge to meet his master. Unfortunately, his new master Simon Bass
orders him and Falconer (the black cloaked man) to go the London and copy
Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. Yet the Globe
Theatre actors take him in and treat him as part of the family. Widge has a choice to make. Does he obey his fearsome master or betray
his new friends.
I loved the plot of the story, but I wish the author
used less English dialect that we cannot quite fully comprehend. I would recommend this story to ages 12 to
18.
