Fools of all stripes
Fools have always been a big part of my life. [Polite pause for a series of rude and knowing remarks.] I did my BA thesis on fools,
and I’ve worked fools into a couple of novels (To Play the Fool introduces inspector Kate Martinelli to a Holy Fool among the homeless population of San Francisco,
and in Dreaming Spies we meet an acrobat who speaks truth to princes) but I’ve never gone so far as Alan Gordon. I adore his series of historical novels where fools are not only spies (as entertainers, fools and minstrels are in a position to overhear words from the powerful) but the force behind international relations. Fabulous novels, beautifully researched, filled with wit, adventure, and characters you’d want to invite for dinner. The first, Thirteenth Night, takes characters from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and runs with them–long and hard.
“Twelfth Night is for revelry, Thirteenth Night is for revelations.” Thirteenth Night is this month’s Book Club focus. Grab it, read it, join us, here.
Yes! I loved it! I would dearly love to read about the hero’s first failure, and (following THEIR ANTIC DISPOSITION) what happened to his buddy in the Forest of Arden later. And how either tale fits the period.
(Let me see … the King of England is Henry II, the exiled heroine is named Rosalind … OK, I SO know whose wrath she is fleeing! “Queen of England by the Wrath of God.”) Alan, WRITE THOSE BOOKS! In your copious spare time, of course.
I heartily second that remark! More, please … And thanks for all the books to date!