Review: King of Shadows
Gaby Meares
I love it when reading a book, I learn a new word. Thank you [a:Susan Cooper|7308|Susan Cooper|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1379606336p2/7308.jpg] for introducing me to “thribbling” which is another word for improvising - used in this context for actors performing [b:A Midsummer Night’s Dream|1622|A Midsummer Night’s Dream|William Shakespeare|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327874534l/1622.SY75.jpg|894834], who can’t remember their exact lines.
Cooper immerses the reader in Elizabethan London - you can hear the noise, feel the cobblestones and smell the stink of unwashed bodies, rotting garbage and effluent in the streets. You share young Nat Field’s confusion, when he wakes to find himself in a strange bed, and discovers that he has travelled back in time to 1599, where he is an actor in the newly erected Globe Theatre, working beside William Shakespeare.
How Nat copes with this situation, and why he finds himself transported in time, makes for a thrilling read. Details of theatre life and the workings of the Globe Theatre in particular, are fascinating. This is an excellent introduction to Shakespeare, making him a living, breathing man who takes Nat under his wing. It would be a lot of fun to watch a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream after reading this book - it would make the reader feel like they have secret, insider knowledge about the background of this Shakespeare comedy.
Highly recommended for readers aged 10 years and older.