Title : The Shakespeare Mask Author : Newton Frohlich
As the blurb of the book goes : "In the sixteenth century, a precocious young nobleman draws the attention of the Elizabethan court—and of The Virgin Queen herself. A writer and patron of the arts, Edward de Vere is volatile, controversial—and brilliant. He leaves a trail of women and scandal in his wake. But his plays, when he’s in the queen’s good graces, charm the court. His sonnets turn feelings into sound. Yet the rules of the court say a nobleman may not publish. An earl’s name is too sacred for the theater. If de Vere must write, he must do so anonymously, and employ a runner, an almost illiterate cobbler’s son from Stratford, to claim his words. Newton Frohlich, an attorney and the author of the celebrated historical novel 1492, spent fifteen years researching unexplored questions about the poet and playwright we today know as Shakespeare. His is an intimate tour of English castles, Venetian canals, and a complex man who penned the most beloved works of the English language."
My view :My expectations from this book grew the very moment when the title of the book started to ring in my ears, and the cover design got glued to my eyes.I got so smitten by these two elements,that I couldn't resist to delay the read any further.The moment I found the book in my hand, I started to feed my with its content. The title very shrewdly reflects the rich quality of content it holds.The choice of the title proves to be a very astute one, which could garb reader's attention in a second, if one is lover of literature and Shakespeare.So does happened with me.I was expecting it to be a high quality piece of literature which could blow off my mind, the moment I finished it. Let's see how and what Newton Frohlich treats his reader in the shade of this title. As predicted initially,that this book wouldn't be that much preferable for novice readers,but just for ardent readers.But,there's nothing like that, anyone can go through this book.Author has presented the story in such a way that it would be a comfortable ride for anyone,and the plot is designed for all the readers.What intrigued more to me is the theme of the book.One bonus point to the author for the selection of the theme.Although the story-line is not extra-ordinary or something that could make you gross even after finishing it,but there has something which maintains the charm of the book, and that's why garbs reader's attention. I was not able to relate with the protagonist all the time.At some point, if felt like the thread author has knitted between reader and fiction characters loosened to such an extent that it started to irk me.The author needs to put emphasis on more on the traits of the protagonist as it was not just an ordinary character, but Shakespeare which needed to be handled with great care.Albeit, author has mentioned that he has been researching for years for this book,but the hard work he has done is not being reflected in this book.It didn't disappoint that much, but yes could be better. The chain of events hooked up in the book needs to be more imaginative and interesting.I don't demand for more number of events, less number of events would be great, but it should be powerful enough to give sweet delight to the readers.Some of the events just couldn't manage to touch the scale of average.The narration lacks the intensity to reach to reader's heart.I wish if author had described less number of events, but beautifully and convincingly. All in all, the book is good, but didn't match the expectations of the reader up to the mark.One time read!
Rating : 3/5 Reviewer : Shweta Kesari