Shadowplay: The gripping international bestseller from the author of Star of the Sea
£4.30£8.50 (-49%)
Discover the enthralling Richard & Judy Book Club pick from international bestseller Joseph O’Connor.
‘The best novel that I’ve read in the last twenty years… It’s fantastic’ RICHARD MADELEY
‘Breathtaking… A hugely entertaining book about the grand scope of friendship and love’ Sadie Jones, Guardian
__________
London, 1878. Three extraordinary people begin their life together – and the idea for Dracula is born.
Fresh from life in Dublin, Bram Stoker – now manager of the Lyceum Theatre – is wrestling with dark demons in a new city, in a new marriage, and with his own literary aspirations. As he walks the streets at night, streets haunted by the Ripper and the gossip which swirls around his friend Oscar Wilde, he finds new inspiration. Soon, the eerie tale of Dracula begins to emerge.
But Henry Irving, volcanic leading man and impresario, is determined that nothing will get in the way of Bram’s dedication to the Lyceum. And both men are growing ever more enchanted by the beauty and boldness of Ellen Terry, the most celebrated actress of her generation.
__________
Shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award 2019
Winner of the Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year
‘A colourful tale of secret love and public performance…in a romantic, lost London’ The Times
‘Hugely entertaining and atmospheric’ DEBORAH MOGGACH
‘Extraordinary’ SEBASTIAN BARRY
‘A novel I’d recommend to anyone: a rollicking and moving story’ James Naughtie, Radio Times
‘Fabulous… A truly great book you simply cannot put down’ JUDY FINNIGAN
‘Rich, sad, funny, and a beautiful read. You’ll LOVE it’ RICHARD MADELEY
‘Ingenious…hugely impressive and utterly haunting’ Sunday Mirror
*JOSEPH O’CONNOR’S STUNNING NEW NOVEL, MY FATHER’S HOUSE, IS AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW*
Read more
Additional information
| Publisher | Vintage (22 Oct. 2020) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 416 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1784709158 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1784709150 |
| Dimensions | 12.9 x 2.6 x 19.8 cm |
by kevin nice
This is a special book. I have recommended it to friends/
by R.O. P
After being mesmerized by O’Connors, Star of the Seas a seafaring historic masterpiece. I read previews of Shadowplay with trepidation ,despite being a fan of Bram Stoked and gothic horror ,little knowledge of the theatre, Irving or Terry. I did not find this the easiest of reads as some what jumbled in essays and journals and dates. What captivated me was the florid narrative ,the vibrant prose the senses of Victorian London ,the smog,horse drawn carriages classic smoky steam trains .The elegance and contrasting poverty of a Victorian great City on the busy River Thames.
This definitely showed Stokers direction towards his classic novel Dracula, which did not emerge as a success till his post death. Irvine. ForShadow play we say Stoker in somewhat of a struggle to survive running the Lyceam theatre, with the difficult and insultive Irvine,and his friendship with actress Ellen Terry. Shadow play has colourful and somewhat camp bitching dialogue between Stoker and Irving in a rogue friendship, eerie gothic shadows with even humour. My only problem was despite an explosion of description and images ,making this a Victorian mosaic of tapestry, I found little plot ! But an incredible and colourful piece of writing capturing a period !
by Greg Clark
Joseph O’Connor writes beautifully, the tales of the Lyceum and the world of the theatre are fascinating, but I did find some sections were hard going.
by Jon A. Crowcroft
Shadowplay is the historical novel telling the tale of Henry Irving, Ellen Terry, and the even more extraordinary Bram Stoker, author (of course) of the immortal Dracula. What you learn from this fantastic book is that Stoker was also the theater manager and very close friend of Irving and Terry, who were two of the most famous actors in late 19th century england, and who were actor manager and leading lady at the Lyceum Theater in London. The backdrop (victorian/dickensian london, with the Ripper, the smog, the rich language) and the theater makes a beautiful setting to understand both the way Irving and Terry sought and largely succeeded in making theater respectable, while shewing just how Stoker was inspired to write his masterpiece (but also quite a few other novels in what we’d now call “Weird Fiction” genre. A naive reading of the book might see it through the lens of an eternal triangle, but in fact each of the main characters has a complex emotional, and social life, and the author (O’Connor, who’s previous hit, the Star of the Sea, is also a fantastic read) does a great job of bringing this world to life. I’ll have to buy another copy to give to friends!
by M. Legg
J 0’C portrays Bram Stoker as a tragically lonely yet loyal Anglo- Irish Gentleman. His friendship and deep love for his friends, Sir Henry Irving and Ellen Terry, is central to the story. Cut loose by those who should have loved him best – his parents and his feisty wife, Florence, Stoker roams the streets of Victorian London looking for solace at the same time as the notorious Jack the Ripper. His literary ambition, strong moral code and work ethic haunt his days and nights. Oscar Wilde and Bernard Shaw, his more successful fellow Dubliners, contemporaries and acquaintances also feature in the story yet O’Connors’ Stoker does not stoop to envy. Just as his managerial role at the Lyceum keeps him in the stage wings so he remains at the fringes of fame and celebrity – a lesser known author of the 19th Century.
by Gary Shepherd
If you are a fan of Bram Stoker, this is an interesting read. It is well written and brings to life the main 3 characters who are not as well known in the pre-film/tv days as other people of the time. It doesn’t really promote the idea of Henry Irving being the model for a vampire type like Dracula – the characters are under his larger than life spell voluntarily but he does not come across as a user of people other than being a complete diva. I also know the Lyceum well from seeing a lot of great rock concerts there – so it was interesting to see some of it’s early history. Of course most of this is imagined, but it is well done and pretty convincing. Some names used in the story which also appear in Dracula appear to be the author’s in-jokes and a prod towards Dracula the novel. A good read.
by Norman Housley
This is a highly impressive account of the working and personal relationship between Henry Irving, Bram Stoker and Ellen Terry. As one would expect, it is beautifully written, if a little too florid for my taste. The novel – ‘based on real events but a work of fiction’, as O’Connor describes it – is somewhat slow to get going, indeed it is only when Stoker and his wife arrive in London that it really sinks its teeth into you (sorry). The reason is that while Stoker is the protagonist, the book’s dynamo is the extraordinarily charismatic and volatile Irving. So when Irving dies the novel again loses much of its grip, and I felt that the last fifth or so was rather laboured. The sections focusing on Terry in particular were not very engaging.
Still, there is so much to admire in the book’s core that it would be wrong to cavil. The Lyceum and late Victorian London are depicted with admirable attention to detail. O’Connor gives us not just one but two phenomenal tirades from Irving that reminded me of Hitler’s rants in Downfall. And in these sections he handles with great sensitivity the two big questions about Stoker: what was the nature of his sexuality (he was probably bisexual, but above all deeply private) and where did the idea for Dracula originate? O’Connor subscribes to the prevailing view that much of the vampire count is a reworking of Irving, and that certainly holds water from the way he represents the actor and impresario, who in some ways sucked the life blood from Stoker. This is a really fine, intelligent book that gets you thinking about charisma and the creative process, and the human cost they can inflict.
by Amazon Customer
A bit over the top