Booklog 24/2023: Mat Osman: The Ghost Theatre

[jacey]

Set in an alternate Elizabethan London (in 1601), this is the story of Shay, messenger girl, falconer and fortune teller, seeing the future in the patterns of birds. She gets involved with Nonsuch, star of Blackfriars Theatre, which relies on a cast of kidnapped boys who perform for the gentry. Falling in love with both Nonsuch and the theatre leads Shay into a new life, but when Nonsuch decides to form the Ghost Theatre - a kind of pop-up performance, chaos ensues in a London beset by plague and unrest. When Shay gives readings on stage, she sets herself in for a whole lot of trouble, drawing attention from the Queen, but also from more unsavoury characters. Expect, kidnapping, violence, disease and betrayal. This is innovative and original, but it's not a happy read.