The Gentleman Poet, author Kathryn Johnson’s novel of love, danger, and Shakespeare’s The Tempest, is a wonderful story that imagines a series of astonishing events that just might have
inspired the immortal Bard to pen his magical tale. Told from the point
of view of a young servant girl who strikes up a friendship with the
not yet famous playwright when they are shipwrecked in the Bermudas, The Gentleman Poet gives a delightful new spin on Shakespearean lore reminiscent of the Academy Award-winning film, Shakespeare in Love.En route to the Americas in 1609, Elizabeth Persons, a young servant girl, sees her blinding headache as an ominous sign. Sure enough, a hurricane during the final leg of their journey tosses the ill-fated Sea Venture and its one hundred and fifty passengers and crew onto the dreaded shores of the Bermudas, the rumored home of evil spirits and dangerous natives. In the months that pass—time marked by grave hardship, mutiny, adventure, danger . . . and a blossoming love between Elizabeth and the wrecked ship's young cook—she despairs of their ever being rescued. But she finds hope and strength in a remarkable new friendship, forming a fast bond with the Sea Venture's historian, a poet traveling under the name of William Strachey. But Will is more than he seems. To many back home in England, he is known by a different name: Shakespeare. And he sees in their great shared travails the makings of a magical, truly transcendent work of theater.
319 pages (September 2010)
Reading Guide from Book Movement.
Title Read-alikes: Beatrice and Benedick by Marina Fiorato; Even in Paradise by Elizabeth Nunez; A Place in His Heart by Rebecca Demarino; The Mark of the King by Jocelyn Green; The Last Witchfinder by James Morrow; A Ship for the King by Richard Woodman; Flight of the Sparrow by Amy Belding; Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson; John Saturnall's Feast by Lawrence Norfolk; The Photograph by Penelope Lively; and Incidental Inventions by Elena Ferrante.
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