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Fools and mortals

Bernard Cornwell

201710 pagesabout 10–15 minutes
2017
first published
  • 2017HarperCollins Publishers Limited · 384 pages · ENGISBN 9780007504121
  • 201810 pages · ENGISBN 9780062798411
  • 2018370 pages · ENGISBN 9780062250872
  • 2018HarpercollinsISBN 9780007504145
  • 2019HarperAudioISBN 9780062896162
  • 2019Harper Paperbacks · 384 pagesISBN 9780062250896
  • 2018HarperLuxe · 544 pagesISBN 9780062792020
  • 2017HarperCollinsISBN 9780007504114

In the heart of Elizabethan England, Richard Shakespeare dreams of a glittering career in one of the London playhouses, a world dominated by his older brother, William. But he is a penniless actor, making ends meet through a combination of a beautiful face, petty theft and a silver tongue. As William's star rises, Richard's onetime gratitude is souring and he is sorely tempted to abandon family loyalty. So when a priceless manuscript goes missing, suspicion falls upon Richard, forcing him onto a perilous path through a bawdy and frequently brutal London. Entangled in a high-stakes game of duplicity and betrayal which threatens not only his career and potential fortune, but also the lives of his fellow players, Richard has to call on all he has now learned from the brightest stages and the darkest alleyways of the city. To avoid the gallows, he must play the part of a lifetime.

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