St. Martin's Press
February 2013
On Sale: January 29, 2013
480 pages ISBN: 1250017173 EAN: 9781250017178 Kindle: B008RLWC8W Hardcover / e-Book Add to Wish List
Youβre the author of the greatest plays of all time. But nobody knows. And if it gets out, youβre dead.
On May 30, 1593, a celebrated young playwright was killed in a tavern brawl in London. That, at least, was the official version. Now Christopher Marlowe reveals the truth: that his "death" was an elaborate ruse to avoid a conviction of heresy; that he was spirited across the English Channel to live on in lonely exile; that he continued to write plays and poetry, hiding behind the name of a colorless man from Stratfordβone William Shakespeare. With the grip of a thriller and the emotional force of a sonnet, this remarkable novel in verse gives voice to a man who was brilliant, passionate, and mercurial. A cobbler's son who counted nobles among his friends, a spy in the Queen's service, a fickle lover and a declared religious skeptic, Christopher Marlowe always courted trouble.
Memoir, love letter, confession, and settling of accounts, The Marlowe Papers brings Christopher Marlowe and his era to vivid life.
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