New Boy

Finished August 4

New Boy by Tracy Chevalier

This novel is part of a series of books of books from Hogarth Press to retell works by Shakespeare for a modern audience. Hogarth chose well-known authors to select a play of their choosing and retell it. Chevalier chose the play Othello for the project. 

Her setting is a public school in the suburbs of Washington, D.C in the 1970s. Osei, the son of a Ghanaian diplomat and his wife is at his fourth school in six years. It is a month before the end of term, and he is the only black boy at the school. He is in the last year before middle school, grade six. 

There are two teachers for that grade, a younger woman, Miss Lode, and an older man, Mr. Brabant. Their attitudes around race play a part in the story as well.

Because I knew this was an Othello retelling, I knew the direction the story was going to go, and I was sick at the way one boy, Ian, was setting Osei up to make judgements that weren't based in reality. Plus knowing how kids are at that age makes the story work too. 

This story is very well done, with the groups that end up being created at school, the racial issues of the time, and the way young love works at that age with its uncertainty and newness. I went to school during this time as well, although in Canada, and can definitely relate to the way this played out. I hung about at recess the same way these kids do, jumping rope, playing casual team games, and sitting around in groups. I was often the "new girl" although not in the same way Osei was, with the differences and expectations he faced. However I was aware of this kind of thing happening with other children, and knew this prejudice existed. A gut-wrenching tale of manipulation and prejudice well told. This was a book I had planning to do with my book club last year, and am disappointed now that we didn't get to it. I think it has a lot of potential for discussion. 

Hamnet

Finished October 6
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

This book imagines the life of William Shakespeare's family in a new way, focusing on his wife and children. The book jumps from 1596 when Hamnet died at the age of eleven back to 1580 with William's first meeting with his wife Agnes (her real name in history is sometimes Agnes and sometimes Anne), their courtship, marriage, and growing family.
In real history the cause of Hamnet's death isn't specified, but the plague was an active disease in this time, with the theatres that Shakespeare's plays among others played in closing for a few months in "plague season" throughout the country.
When William first met Agnes, he was tutoring Latin and still living with his father, John, a glover. Here, we see their courtship, not necessarily approved of by either family, but occurring in places where they wouldn't draw a lot of attention.
Agnes is a very interesting character, a woman whose mother died when she and her brother were both young, who spent a lot of time outdoors, who gained a knowledge of the use of herbs and plants from her mother and what her mother left behind, who had a kestrel and had bees. She is a strong personality and more than an equal to her husband. She also has a sixth sense. She knows the future in many cases, just through touching someone and once married starts running a natural healing business from her home. She senses her husband's challenges, particularly with his domineering and sometimes violent father, and works to push him to what she can sense his future will be, even if it causes issues within their relationship.
The young Hamnet is an exuberant boy, but very close to his twin sister Judith, and as Judith gets sick near the beginning of the book, he worries and tries to find help for her, a situation that is very traumatic for him. As I read, knowing that Hamnet would not survive this illness, I felt for Agnes and William and watched how they dealt with this loss.
This book won the Women's Prize for Fiction award earlier this year, a well-deserved honour.

Haunt Me Still

Finished May 25
Haunt Me Still by Jennifer Lee Carrell

I enjoyed Carrell's earlier book Interred with their Bones and so picked up this one. Definitely another good one. Kate Stanley is back again and this time a wealthy Scottish woman, Lady Nairn, wants her to direct a very special production of Macbeth.
Lady Nairn was a famous actress years before, who retired when she met and suddenly married the Scottish lord. She is now widowed, but wants to mount the production to carry our her late husband's wishes to showcase his Macbeth collection. The lady is also the guardian of her granddaughter Lily, a fifteen-year-old girl, still grieving her parents' deaths and vulnerable to those who would take advantage of her yearning for them.
Carrell is a scholar of literature and uses her knowledge to build this story around Macbeth, drawing from legends around the play, what is known about the play's origins, and real history, not only of Macbeth, but also of a later Scottish noble that Shakespeare could have had contact with, Elizabeth Stewart, countess of Arran. I like the detail and how she mixes the real with the imagined to create a gripping story.
She also uses pagan ritual, the religion of Wicca, and the use of darker magic that is erroneously connected to the white magic of Wicca. This was also very interesting to see real depictions of the religion along with the myths that many scared of it connect it with.
This is a battle of good and evil, where those acting in greed, revenge, or self-aggrandisement care little for others in their quest for their own ends. Kate is, of course, on the side of good, and her knowledge and expertise in Shakespeare and Elizabethan drama work to lead her in the right direction. But as she struggles to stay one step ahead of those who would stop at nothing, she cannot be sure who to trust.
Ben is back here as well, and plays a key role, but we see much less of him than we would like. However, the plot dictates this, and there is hope for future books with these two.
The plot moves the reader along quickly and makes this book a real page-turner.

Mr. Shakespeare's Bastard

Finished November 9
Mr. Shakespeare's Bastard by Richard B. Wright
I found this novel to be a very quick read. It was pleasant and interesting. The story is told by Aerlene Ward, in her old age. She is a housekeeper at an Oxfordshire manor, and had started as a nursemaid to the now elderly landowner, Sir Walter. The youngest daughter of the family, Charlotte, has agreed to take down her story as Aerlene's eyes are failing.
Charlotte herself isn't sure whether she believes Aerlene's story that William Shakespeare was her father, but Aerlene's story rings true. The story begins with the life of Aerlene's mother Elizabeth, her sad love life, and her brief foray to London, where she met Shakespeare. It continues with Aerlene's own life as a child, and young woman. Aerlene is a calm woman, and bright and these qualities give her an advantage in life. She is also not afraid of hard work and that too helps her to have a successful life.

Great Thriller

Finished August 20
Interred with Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell, read by Kathleen McNenny
This book gave me the same feeling as Da Vinci Code. A quest for a long lost object, man and woman previously unknown to each other working together towards goal, with some help from others, lots of murders, lots of travel, lots of action.
In this novel Kate Stanley, currently directing Hamlet at the Globe Theatre in London, is visited by her academic mentor, Roz Howard. Roz has "found something big" and wants Kate's help to find it. But later that day Roz is found dead in the theatre and Kate feels someone stalking her. The prize that Kate is headed towards is Shakespeare's long-lost play Cardenio, and the clues she finds take her back to North America before returning to England. She is barely one step ahead of a killer, and using all her Shakespearean knowledge to figure out where to head next.
The book deals not only with the lost play, but also the identity of Shakespeare himself, bringing up many of the theories around the playwright's identity.
I found Kate an interesting character, and there was lots of action, never a dull moment. The Shakespeare element is strong and interesting (to me at least) and an author's note at the end talks about the elements of truth contained in the book, which was also very interesting.
A good read.