Shadowplay: A Novel

Shadowplay: A Novel
ISBN-10
1609455940
ISBN-13
9781609455941
Series
Shadowplay
Category
Fiction
Pages
332
Language
English
Published
2020-06-16
Publisher
Europa Editions
Author
Joseph O'Connor

Description

A West End theater in London is shaken up by the crimes of Jack the Ripper in this novel by the New York Times–bestselling author of The Star of the Sea. Henry Irving is Victorian London’s most celebrated actor and theater impresario. He has introduced groundbreaking ideas to the theater, bringing to the stage performances that are spectacular, shocking, and always entertaining. When Irving decides to open his own London theater with the goal of making it the greatest playhouse on earth, he hires a young Dublin clerk harboring literary ambitions by the name of Bram Stoker to manage it. As Irving’s theater grows in reputation and financial solvency, he lures to his company of mummers the century’s most beloved actress, the dazzlingly talented leading lady Ellen Terry, who nightly casts a spell not only on her audiences but also on Stoker and Irving both. Bram Stoker’s extraordinary experiences at the Lyceum Theatre, his early morning walks on the streets of a London terrorized by a serial killer, his long, tempestuous relationship with Irving, and the closeness he finds with Ellen Terry, inspire him to write Dracula, the most iconic and best-selling supernatural tale ever published. A magnificent portrait both of lamp-lit London and of lives and loves enacted on the stage, Shadowplay’s rich prose, incomparable storytelling, and vivid characters will linger in readers’ hearts and minds for many years. “A vibrantly imaginative narrative of passion, intrigue and literary ambition set in the garish heyday of a theater. . . . Artfully splicing truth with fantasy, O’Connor has a glorious time turning a ramshackle and haunted London playhouse into a primary source for Stoker’s Gothic imaginings.” —Miranda Seymour, The New York Times Book Review “A gorgeously written historical novel about Stoker’s inner life. . . . I wasn’t prepared to be awed by his prose, which is so good you can taste it. . . . O’Connor dazzles.” —Michael Dirda, The Washington Post “And Mr. O’Connor’s main characters—Stoker, Irving and the beloved actress Ellen Terry—are so forcefully brought to life that when, close to tears, you reach this drama’s final page, you will return to the beginning just to remain in their company.” —Anna Mundow, The Wall Street Journal “This novel blows the dust off its Victorian trappings and brings them to scintillating life.” —Publishers Weekly, PW Picks, Starred Review FINALIST 2019 COSTA BOOK OF THE YEAR FINALIST 2020 DALKEY LITERARY AWARD 2020 WALTER SCOTT PRIZE

Other editions

Similar books

  • Shadowplay: Shadowmarch Volume II
    By Tad Williams

    A year ago, the March Kingdoms were at peace, and the Eddon family held the throne.

  • Shadowplay: The Life of Antony Tudor
    By Donna Perlmutter

    Consequently , the ballet Tudor would call Shadowplay had a humane point of reference . There would be no demons to a exorcize , no Medusa - monster mothers to throttle , none of society's confusing hypocrites to placate .

  • Shadowplay
    By Jo Clayton

    Now in ebook for the first time, the first book of Clayton's classic trilogy, Shadith's Quest Spacenapped when she stumbled on a kidnapping in progress, Shadith—captive for centuries in the alien artifact known as the Diadem, now once ...

  • Shadowplay
    By Laura Lam

    Laura Lam was raised near San Francisco, California, by two former Haight-Ashbury hippies. Both of them encouraged her to finger-paint to her heart's desire, colour outside the lines, and consider the library a second home.

  • My Little Pony: Shadowplay
    By Justin Eisinger, Josh Haber, Nicole Dubuc

    Relive your favorite episodes of the beloved My Little Pony animated cartoon in this graphic novel adaptation featuring season seven's "Shadowplay!

  • Shadowplay: Behind the Lines and Under Fire: The Inside Story of Europe's Last War
    By Tim Marshall

    This is his captivating account of how events unfolded, exploring the inside story of the way MI6 and the CIA helped the Serbian people to overthrow Slobodan Milosevic, the president of Yugoslavia.

  • Shadowplay
    By Tad Williams

    With the fate of humanity hanging in the balance, twins Barrick and Briony must save Southmarch Castle and the surrounding lands from their inhuman enemies.

  • Shadow Play: Story
    By Paul Fleischman

    While visiting the county fair, a brother and sister are enthralled by a shadow puppet show presentation of "Beauty and the Beast" in which all the shadows are made by one man.

  • Joseph Cornell: Shadowplay, Eterniday
    By Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, Richard Vine, Walter Hopps

    The first retrospective of the work of Joseph Cornell in the past 20 years reflects a personal exploration of art and culture that represent his belief in art as an uplifting voyage into the imagination.

  • Spellmonger: Book 1 of the Spellmonger Series
    By Terry Lee Mancour

    The good people of Boval Vale and their Spellmonger have only one choice: to hole up in the over-sized Boval Castle and hope they can endure an unexpected siege against hundreds of thousands of goblins.