King of Shadows

The newly built Globe Theatre and our own age feature in this intriguing time-slip yarn alongside a vividly realised account of the original and the people who played there, including William Shakespeare himself. The parallels are worked by a boy actor called Nat Field coming to London to play Puck with a troupe assembled in America. An illness renders him in intensive care and so his perplexing sixteenth-century adventure begins; he finds himself playing alongside the author's Oberon in front of Queen Elizabeth I herself. There is an under-layer of self discovery and coming to terms with the scars of grief and loss here which elevates. this novel into a powerful and most satisfying read. I shall definitely ensure it gets into the hands of my more able Year 7s and 8s (11-13 year olds).