Blood and Ink
By D. K. Marley
History shows Kit
Marlowe died in a tavern brawl in Deptford in 1593, but did he? England is torn
apart by religious metamorphosis and espionage. The stages of England and
bright intellectual boys are used to bolster Queen Elizabeth I's reign and
propagate the rising Protestant faith. At the age of eight, Christopher
Marlowe, the muse's darling, is sucked into the labyrinth of secret spy rings,
blood, murder, and betrayal, while his own ambition as England's favorite
playwright slips further from his grasp.
As Christopher grows to manhood, he sinks further into the darkness, and a chance meeting with an unknown actor from Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare, sets him on a path of destiny; a fate of forced exile and the revelation that the real enemy is not the assassins of Rome, but a man who stared into his eyes and smiled. One he did not expect
“Life's but a walking
shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more…”
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more…”
Macbeth — Act V, Scene V.
By William Shakespeare
When
a sparrow falls from the sky, God sees, he knows. Christopher Marlowe was born
in humble circumstances, but under the brightest of stars. From a tender age,
he saw the world differently from how others saw it. His world was one of
poetry and prose, sonnets and blank verse, and with his muse, Calliope,
whispering in his ear, his future as a playwright was assured. But then on one
ordinary and unassuming day at The King’s School in Cambridge, Kit happened
upon a man who would take this would-be-playwright into the dark and dangerous
world of espionage and murder.
From
lofty heights, did Kit’s ambition grow. However, he soon learned a bitter
lesson which was that *Hell hath no limits… and where Hell is there
must we ever be.
From
the banks of the River Stour to the elegant grandeur of Queen Elizabeth’s
court, Blood and Ink by D. K. Marley takes us on an unforgettable journey about
one man’s hope for immortality.
What
can I say about this book? For the pages speak for themselves. It is the story
of not one man, but many. As the players fan out upon the stage, Marlowe, and
indeed all the principle historical characters from that time, put on a play
for your enjoyment.
For
fans of Shakespeare, this book poses an age-old question — did Shakespeare, a
skilled player, really write 37 plays and 154 sonnets? This story, says no.
This story argues so elegantly on the side of Marlowe, and in such a way, that
I, a lifelong lover of Shakespeare, found myself at times swept along with the
whole argument! With the language of the bards ringing so gracefully in the
words that inked the pages, and the atmospheric setting of a book so well drawn
that I was oblivious to everything that was going on around me, this story, this book, is the best I have ever read
about this era and these people. I cannot commend D. K. Marley enough for this
beautiful story. She has brought Marlowe and Shakespeare back to life in this
magnificent retelling.
The
dialogue is as rich as a Shakespeare sonnet, the darker moments, as terrible as
the Massacre of Paris, and the
lighter moments as amusing as anything that William wrote. I adored the
interpretation of both Marlowe and Shakespeare. So although this is very much
Kit’s story, there would not have been a story without William’s running along side
it.
This
book asks many questions and D. K. Marley has tried to give plausible answers.
And although we will never know if Kit really did die in that dreadful fight in
a house in Deptford, or if William really did pen the worlds most beloved
plays, this story has something for anyone who is interested in these poets and
the world in which they lived in.
If
you were to read only one book this year, then let it be this one.
I
Highly Recommend.
Review
by Mary Anne Yarde.
The
Coffee Pot Book Club.
*Doctor
Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
D.K. Marley
DK Marley is a historical fiction writer specializing
in Shakespearean themes. Her grandmother, an English professor, gave her a
volume of Shakespeare's plays when she was eleven, inspiring DK to delve
further into the rich Elizabethan language. Eleven years ago she began the
research leading to the publication of her first novel "Blood and
Ink," an epic tale of lost dreams, spurned love, jealousy and deception in
Tudor England as the two men, William Shakespeare and Kit Marlowe, fight for
one name and the famous works now known as the Shakespeare Folio.
She is a true Stratfordian (despite the topic of her novel "Blood and Ink"), a Marlowe fan, a member of the Marlowe Society, the Shakespeare Fellowship and a signer of the Declaration of Intent for the Shakespeare Authorship Debate. Her new series titled "The Fractured Shakespeare Series" will tackle adapting each play into a historical fiction novel. She has traveled to England three times for intensive research and debate workshops and is a graduate of the intense training workshop "The Writer's Retreat Workshop" founded by Gary Provost and hosted by Jason Sitzes and Lorin Oberweger. She is also a blogger for her blog "The Jabberwocky Blog" on Wordpress. She lives in Georgia with her husband and two Scottish Terriers named Maggie and Buster.
Connect with D.K. Marley: Author Website • Facebook • Twitter • Instagram: @theRealDKMarley •Amazon Author Page • Goodreads • Jol's Book Club.
Great review! Questioning the past and what we think we know makes for some interesting reading.
ReplyDeleteI loved this book, Ms Marley is very clever with the way she has interpreted the history. There are a lot of, "that could so of happened," moments!
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much of it really did, and was either brushed beneath a rug (so to speak) or was simply forgotten. Fascinating!
ReplyDeleteThis book has now made it onto my Christmas wish list. It sounds fabulous.
ReplyDeleteIt really is Beatrice. You will love it!
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