Saturday, August 3, 2019

The Shakespeare Stealer Book Review (by William)


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. 
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. 

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