It is not often that I start a book I am reviewing and am immediately engaged but In the Company of Knaves managed to capture my attention from the outset. It helped that I love Shakespeare and historical fiction, of course, but these things offer no surety that I will enjoy the book in front of me.
And I did. Very much.
Our main protagonist is William Shakespeare at the beginning of his career and we follow him as he tries to extricate himself from a very difficult position. The company of which he is an actor has been banned from performing and in addition, the complete copies of the plays that the company performs have disappeared – stolen.
The action of the book then takes us through the solving of the whereabouts of the plays and the overturning of the ban. We are led into the lowest parts of London, where thieves and opportunists thrive and we inhabit the taverns where the aspiring writers and actors retreat to, to discuss and analyse and relax after performances. But Wildman also takes us to noble houses and the “rock stars” of the day like Walter Raleigh, all courting the favour of Queen Elizabeth and hoping that their star will be in the ascendant, if only they can keep themselves in the Queen’s orbit, if that’s not mixing metaphors. Not an easy feat as Wildman illustrates that even playwrights can be pawns in the power games of those above them.
The strength of this book lies in Wildman’s writing. He is able to evoke place easily. He has taken key characters of the day, like Christopher Marlowe, and brought them alive in his text through the dialogue and the believable scenarios in which he depicts them. It’s not done with the “thees” and “thous” of Shakespeare’s plays but there is an inflection offered through the word choices and the stresses which suggests an older time.
I loved it. One of the best historical books that I’ve read in a long time, just for its pure enjoyability, and I will be reading the first two this year for sure. If you like your fiction based on history with the stress on “story” then these are the books for you.
Bravo, Anthony Wildman! Bravo!
Scuffed Granny 