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The Ghost Theatre
A wild and hallucinatory reimagining of Elizabethan London, with its bird worshippers, famed child actors, and the Queen herself; a dazzling historical novel about theatre, magic, and the dangers of all-consuming love
London, 1601—a golden city soon to erupt in flames. Shay is a messenger-girl, falconer, and fortune teller who sees the future in the patterns of birds. Nonesuch is the dark star of the city’s fabled Blackfriars Theatre, where a cast of press-ganged boys perform for London’s gentry. When the pair meet, Shay falls in love with the performances—and with Nonesuch himself. As their bond deepens, they create the Ghost Theatre, an underground troupe that performs fantastical plays in the city’s hidden corners. As their fame grows the troupe fans the flames of rebellion among the city’s outcasts, and the lovers are drawn into the dark web of the Elizabethan court. Embattled, with the plague on the rise throughout the country, the Queen seeks a reading from Shay, a moment which unleashes chaos not only in Shay’s life, but across the whole of England too.
A fever-dream full of prophecy and anarchy, gutter rats and bird gods, Mat Osman’s The Ghost Theatre is a wild ride from the rooftops of Elizabethan London to its dark underbelly, and a luminous meditation on double lives and fluid identities and the bewitching, transformative nature of art and power, with a bittersweet love affair at its heart. Set amid the vividly rendered England of Osman’s imagination and written in rich, seductive prose, The Ghost Theatre will have readers under its spell from the very first page.
London, 1601—a golden city soon to erupt in flames. Shay is a messenger-girl, falconer, and fortune teller who sees the future in the patterns of birds. Nonesuch is the dark star of the city’s fabled Blackfriars Theatre, where a cast of press-ganged boys perform for London’s gentry. When the pair meet, Shay falls in love with the performances—and with Nonesuch himself. As their bond deepens, they create the Ghost Theatre, an underground troupe that performs fantastical plays in the city’s hidden corners. As their fame grows the troupe fans the flames of rebellion among the city’s outcasts, and the lovers are drawn into the dark web of the Elizabethan court. Embattled, with the plague on the rise throughout the country, the Queen seeks a reading from Shay, a moment which unleashes chaos not only in Shay’s life, but across the whole of England too.
A fever-dream full of prophecy and anarchy, gutter rats and bird gods, Mat Osman’s The Ghost Theatre is a wild ride from the rooftops of Elizabethan London to its dark underbelly, and a luminous meditation on double lives and fluid identities and the bewitching, transformative nature of art and power, with a bittersweet love affair at its heart. Set amid the vividly rendered England of Osman’s imagination and written in rich, seductive prose, The Ghost Theatre will have readers under its spell from the very first page.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published May 11, 2023
About the author
Mat Osman
3 books70 followersMathew David "Mat" Osman is an English musician, bass player and songwriter who co-founded the British rock band Suede. He and future Suede lead singer Brett Anderson met in Haywards Heath, England, where they played in garage bands before moving to London. He studied at the London School of Economics, where in 1989 he was awarded a BSc in Politics.
After Suede broke up in 2003, Osman provided music for television programs and became the London editor of the email magazine le cool. His work has also been published in British magazines and newspapers including The Guardian, The Independent and The Observer.
He returned to Suede when the band reformed in 2010. The band are currently writing and recording their ninth studio album.
(Adapted from Wikipedia.)
After Suede broke up in 2003, Osman provided music for television programs and became the London editor of the email magazine le cool. His work has also been published in British magazines and newspapers including The Guardian, The Independent and The Observer.
He returned to Suede when the band reformed in 2010. The band are currently writing and recording their ninth studio album.
(Adapted from Wikipedia.)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 267 reviews
October 30, 2024
Wow. Wowza wow wow. That's not an adequate review, but it's how I'm feeling just now having finished The Ghost Theatre.
***
In The Ghost Theatre Mat Osman creates an immersive, slightly alternative Elizabethan London. Historical and imagined elements mix together, and one isn't always sure about which are which.
The book's central characters meet by chance. Shay, a young woman who prefers to dress as a man because of the freedom and additional safety this persona gives her, comes from a Aviscultan (bird worshiping) community. She's just released all the birds from a shop where they are sold and is racing across London on its rooftops, trying to escape the store owner and others pursing her. Nonesuch, a boy actor from Blackfriars Theatre, is also on the rooftops and aids her flight. Their lives quickly become intertwined with Shay working as a prompter in the theatre, and soon the two are lovers.
Nonesuch imagines a theatre that will tell the stories of ordinary Londoners, rather than the high drama served at Blackfriars. Shay and three friends join him in creating The Ghost Theatre, where they act out stories based on their own lives and their struggles as members of a marginalized underclass. This underground theatre draws in both the poor and the rich—those who find themselves represented in these new works and those from higher classes, who find these works outré. When plague comes to London, the small group of players takes to the road to continue performing.
That sums up the basics of the plot, but doesn't begin to give a sense of the magic Osman creates—not the sparkling, fluffy magic of bibbity-bobbity-boo, but a more dangerous magic that emerges within and is threatened by the daily violence experienced by the majority of Londoners. Powerlessness creates a kind of freedom, but powerlessness is still powerlessness. The Blackfriars boys are unwillingly rented out by the theatre's owner for "private entertainments." Shay, for whom birds are Gods and the Gods are birds, can read the underlying meeting in the flight of birds—and she also sees her gods being slaughtered, consumed, and forced to fight one another.
Besides issues of class, The Ghost Theatre explores issues of gender, trust, and race, and does so in a way that is compelling, rather than didactic. The book grows in richness as it progresses, and I found my reading speeding up as Osman built his world. By the end, I found myself racing through the text with an uneasy mix of trepidation and hope.
While Osman's London is similar in many to the historical London, the differences between the two are specific and complicated enough that readers will need time to feel grounded. This is a book that expects readers to live with unanswered questions as pieces gradually fall into place. The patience this requires is amply rewarded.
I received a free electronic review copy of The Ghost Theatre from the publisher via Edelweiss; the opinions are my own.
***
In The Ghost Theatre Mat Osman creates an immersive, slightly alternative Elizabethan London. Historical and imagined elements mix together, and one isn't always sure about which are which.
The book's central characters meet by chance. Shay, a young woman who prefers to dress as a man because of the freedom and additional safety this persona gives her, comes from a Aviscultan (bird worshiping) community. She's just released all the birds from a shop where they are sold and is racing across London on its rooftops, trying to escape the store owner and others pursing her. Nonesuch, a boy actor from Blackfriars Theatre, is also on the rooftops and aids her flight. Their lives quickly become intertwined with Shay working as a prompter in the theatre, and soon the two are lovers.
Nonesuch imagines a theatre that will tell the stories of ordinary Londoners, rather than the high drama served at Blackfriars. Shay and three friends join him in creating The Ghost Theatre, where they act out stories based on their own lives and their struggles as members of a marginalized underclass. This underground theatre draws in both the poor and the rich—those who find themselves represented in these new works and those from higher classes, who find these works outré. When plague comes to London, the small group of players takes to the road to continue performing.
That sums up the basics of the plot, but doesn't begin to give a sense of the magic Osman creates—not the sparkling, fluffy magic of bibbity-bobbity-boo, but a more dangerous magic that emerges within and is threatened by the daily violence experienced by the majority of Londoners. Powerlessness creates a kind of freedom, but powerlessness is still powerlessness. The Blackfriars boys are unwillingly rented out by the theatre's owner for "private entertainments." Shay, for whom birds are Gods and the Gods are birds, can read the underlying meeting in the flight of birds—and she also sees her gods being slaughtered, consumed, and forced to fight one another.
Besides issues of class, The Ghost Theatre explores issues of gender, trust, and race, and does so in a way that is compelling, rather than didactic. The book grows in richness as it progresses, and I found my reading speeding up as Osman built his world. By the end, I found myself racing through the text with an uneasy mix of trepidation and hope.
While Osman's London is similar in many to the historical London, the differences between the two are specific and complicated enough that readers will need time to feel grounded. This is a book that expects readers to live with unanswered questions as pieces gradually fall into place. The patience this requires is amply rewarded.
I received a free electronic review copy of The Ghost Theatre from the publisher via Edelweiss; the opinions are my own.
December 23, 2023
4/5 stars
“The thing is, Shay: the stage is the only place where anything makes sense. “Out there”, he flung his arms wide, “is arbitrary. Heroes die and the good suffer.” He stomps his foot on the theatre roof: “This, here, is where truth lives. Outside everything is dead, and nothing can breathe and nothing can grow. Words are stillborn. But here." He stood with one foot forward, like he did for heroic roles , and he spoke for the clouds; "we are kings.”
An absolutely magical story about a girl outlawed for her worship of birds, and a boy who lives the lives of others on stage to escape his own, against the background of the rich atmosphere of Elizabethan London. When the two of them collide, the subsequent spark ignites a revolution of the classes that ripples through every layer of London's society.
I loved how The Ghost Theatre transported me into its world of stage-magic, plays and "roles" (in more than one sense of the word), in a way I haven't experienced since reading The Night Circus. Don't get me wrong; The Ghost Theatre has a very different and more dark feeling to it, but with their similar themes of theatre, magic and a doomed relationship in a richly described historically British setting, the tickled similar parts of my brain regardless.
With his creative ideas, intriguing protagonists and an element of magical realism that I absolutely loved (Shay's underground religion in which Gods are birds and Birds are gods), Mat Oseman had all the ingredients for a 5-star read in his hands. Unfortunately, for every hit his rythmic and descriptic prose lands, he misses one too. Meandering at best, getting lost in nonsensical metaphors that placed style and "sound" over content at worst. A great example of this, I saw pointed out in Erica Wagners review written for The Guardian. There's a point in which Oseman describes Nonsuch's name as “a name made of stone and glass". I mean; it sure sounds pretty when you first hear it, but on second thought, it doesn't actually mean anything really.
Regardless of the occasional prose that overstayed its welcome, The Ghost Theatre is strong contender for one of the top fantasy releases I've read in 2023 and one I highly recommend to any historical fantasy fan.
“The thing is, Shay: the stage is the only place where anything makes sense. “Out there”, he flung his arms wide, “is arbitrary. Heroes die and the good suffer.” He stomps his foot on the theatre roof: “This, here, is where truth lives. Outside everything is dead, and nothing can breathe and nothing can grow. Words are stillborn. But here." He stood with one foot forward, like he did for heroic roles , and he spoke for the clouds; "we are kings.”
An absolutely magical story about a girl outlawed for her worship of birds, and a boy who lives the lives of others on stage to escape his own, against the background of the rich atmosphere of Elizabethan London. When the two of them collide, the subsequent spark ignites a revolution of the classes that ripples through every layer of London's society.
I loved how The Ghost Theatre transported me into its world of stage-magic, plays and "roles" (in more than one sense of the word), in a way I haven't experienced since reading The Night Circus. Don't get me wrong; The Ghost Theatre has a very different and more dark feeling to it, but with their similar themes of theatre, magic and a doomed relationship in a richly described historically British setting, the tickled similar parts of my brain regardless.
With his creative ideas, intriguing protagonists and an element of magical realism that I absolutely loved (Shay's underground religion in which Gods are birds and Birds are gods), Mat Oseman had all the ingredients for a 5-star read in his hands. Unfortunately, for every hit his rythmic and descriptic prose lands, he misses one too. Meandering at best, getting lost in nonsensical metaphors that placed style and "sound" over content at worst. A great example of this, I saw pointed out in Erica Wagners review written for The Guardian. There's a point in which Oseman describes Nonsuch's name as “a name made of stone and glass". I mean; it sure sounds pretty when you first hear it, but on second thought, it doesn't actually mean anything really.
Regardless of the occasional prose that overstayed its welcome, The Ghost Theatre is strong contender for one of the top fantasy releases I've read in 2023 and one I highly recommend to any historical fantasy fan.
May 28, 2023
Mat Osman's The Ghost Theatre is a tour de force of imaginative storytelling, an exhilarating dive into an Elizabethan London seen through a kaleidoscope of magic, rebellion, and love. The book kept me riveted from the first page to the last, leaving me yearning for more of this bewitching and vivid world Osman has created. Truly, I did not want the story to end.
Osman’s vivid rendering of Elizabethan London is remarkable – a city both golden and dark, teetering on the brink of tumultuous change. At its heart are the novel's characters – so beautifully fleshed out that you can't help but invest in their destinies. Shay, with her mystical ability to predict the future through the movements of birds, and Nonesuch, the charismatic star of the Blackfriars Theatre, are irresistibly drawn to each other, their growing bond driving the story and providing a riveting exploration of the intoxicating highs and devastating lows of love.
In the creation of the Ghost Theatre, Osman’s storytelling genius takes flight. This underground troupe performing fantastical plays echoes the audacity and resplendent grandeur of the Elizabethan theatre. Their performances, shimmering with magic, rebellion, and the essence of theatre itself, ignite the hearts of the city's downtrodden and ultimately challenge the status quo.
But it's not just the grand moments that captivate. The Ghost Theatre thrives on its details - the religion of birds, the poignant plight of young actors, and the gritty resilience of London's underbelly. Osman’s gift for conjuring a vivid and sensory world makes you smell the musty air of the back alleys, hear the flutter of Shay's bird friend Devana's wings, and feel the collective breath-holding anticipation of an opening night. It’s an immersive experience that lingers long after the final page.
In addition, Osman’s writing style is as wonderful as the story itself. I fell deeply in love with the beauty of his sentences. His prose is lush, lyrical, and evocative, deftly balancing the dreamlike qualities of magic realism with the grittier details of historical fiction. He explores the human condition in all its rawness and grandeur and touches on themes of identity, power, and the dangerous allure of ambition, while the undercurrents of prophecy, rebellion, and anarchy add depth and richness to the narrative.
Above all, The Ghost Theatre is a love letter to the transformative power of art. It underscores how stories can shape societies, ignite revolutions, and reveal the profound connections between us.
Thanks to ABRAMS and NetGalley for the early read.
Osman’s vivid rendering of Elizabethan London is remarkable – a city both golden and dark, teetering on the brink of tumultuous change. At its heart are the novel's characters – so beautifully fleshed out that you can't help but invest in their destinies. Shay, with her mystical ability to predict the future through the movements of birds, and Nonesuch, the charismatic star of the Blackfriars Theatre, are irresistibly drawn to each other, their growing bond driving the story and providing a riveting exploration of the intoxicating highs and devastating lows of love.
In the creation of the Ghost Theatre, Osman’s storytelling genius takes flight. This underground troupe performing fantastical plays echoes the audacity and resplendent grandeur of the Elizabethan theatre. Their performances, shimmering with magic, rebellion, and the essence of theatre itself, ignite the hearts of the city's downtrodden and ultimately challenge the status quo.
But it's not just the grand moments that captivate. The Ghost Theatre thrives on its details - the religion of birds, the poignant plight of young actors, and the gritty resilience of London's underbelly. Osman’s gift for conjuring a vivid and sensory world makes you smell the musty air of the back alleys, hear the flutter of Shay's bird friend Devana's wings, and feel the collective breath-holding anticipation of an opening night. It’s an immersive experience that lingers long after the final page.
In addition, Osman’s writing style is as wonderful as the story itself. I fell deeply in love with the beauty of his sentences. His prose is lush, lyrical, and evocative, deftly balancing the dreamlike qualities of magic realism with the grittier details of historical fiction. He explores the human condition in all its rawness and grandeur and touches on themes of identity, power, and the dangerous allure of ambition, while the undercurrents of prophecy, rebellion, and anarchy add depth and richness to the narrative.
Above all, The Ghost Theatre is a love letter to the transformative power of art. It underscores how stories can shape societies, ignite revolutions, and reveal the profound connections between us.
Thanks to ABRAMS and NetGalley for the early read.
August 19, 2023
Two teenagers meet on a rooftop in Elizabethan London. The one comes from a bird worshipping community and the other is owned by theatre. They are drawn to one another and can't help but fall in love. Together with their friends they put on their productions, get the attention of the Queen herself and they come up with the Ghost Theatre. The Ghost Theatre is a series of fantastical plays in the dark corners of London.
When Shay, the girl who worships birds, has to give a prophesy to the Queen, it brings danger upon her. Chaos is unleashed all over England.
The prose of this book was truly beautiful. Everything was so poetically described. I just wasn't totally captured by the storyline, I felt a bit removed from it all. The big twists and turns at the end didn't really affect me much for some reason and I felt myself skimming. I think that perhaps the magic system and characters' lives could have been developed a bit more, together with the beautiful descriptions of the scenery.
When Shay, the girl who worships birds, has to give a prophesy to the Queen, it brings danger upon her. Chaos is unleashed all over England.
The prose of this book was truly beautiful. Everything was so poetically described. I just wasn't totally captured by the storyline, I felt a bit removed from it all. The big twists and turns at the end didn't really affect me much for some reason and I felt myself skimming. I think that perhaps the magic system and characters' lives could have been developed a bit more, together with the beautiful descriptions of the scenery.
February 1, 2023
Smart, bold, and original, THE GHOST THEATRE brings to life a slantwise Elizabethan London where appearance is everything and nothing you see can be trusted. Every page is alive with the heady, dangerous energy of an opening night, and Shay and Nonesuch are unforgettable. For readers who like their historical fiction with imagination and flair, this book is a must-read. Thanks to the publisher for sending me an advance copy for a blurb!
June 16, 2023
Usually if I run to the bookstore like a madwoman to get a book I desperately want on publication day, my anticipation level is inversely proportional to my level of enjoyment on reading it. Not so this time. I just savoured this one like a slice of gooey Ottolenghi chocolate cake.
Shay is a rebellious messenger girl, a hawk trainer and an 'Aviscultan' who has to predict the future during the Elizabethan time. Like so many of us, she wants to escape the life she's destined for. One day, when she's on the run over the London roofs because she did something that wasn't exactly allowed, she meets Nonesuch. He is a creative actor in a child theatre - even more rebellious than Shay -, who dreams up new lines and plays all the time.
Outside the theatre, the pair is frowned upon by society, but in the theatre, both become massive stars. Together with a few friends, they found The Ghost Theatre. They are staging plays in the most unexpected places in London while past, future and dark figures keep haunting them. They even catch the Queen's attention... Which is not without danger... Then the real drama unfolds.
The backdrop of this all is the plague, social unrest and the clash between the higher and the lower classes. Osman transports you back to the Elizabethan era in his cinematic and baroque writing style. He provides you with a lot of details, so it's probably not to everyone's taste, but I just loved being swept away by it.
Osman is an excellent storyteller who makes you fall in love with his characters. I -incapable of running - felt like I was running with Shay over the roofs. I felt her pain and her doubts. I understood her choices, I understood Nonesuch's choices. I loved all the characters, even the ones you're not supposed to love.
Long story short: I recommend this one!
Shay is a rebellious messenger girl, a hawk trainer and an 'Aviscultan' who has to predict the future during the Elizabethan time. Like so many of us, she wants to escape the life she's destined for. One day, when she's on the run over the London roofs because she did something that wasn't exactly allowed, she meets Nonesuch. He is a creative actor in a child theatre - even more rebellious than Shay -, who dreams up new lines and plays all the time.
Outside the theatre, the pair is frowned upon by society, but in the theatre, both become massive stars. Together with a few friends, they found The Ghost Theatre. They are staging plays in the most unexpected places in London while past, future and dark figures keep haunting them. They even catch the Queen's attention... Which is not without danger... Then the real drama unfolds.
The backdrop of this all is the plague, social unrest and the clash between the higher and the lower classes. Osman transports you back to the Elizabethan era in his cinematic and baroque writing style. He provides you with a lot of details, so it's probably not to everyone's taste, but I just loved being swept away by it.
Osman is an excellent storyteller who makes you fall in love with his characters. I -incapable of running - felt like I was running with Shay over the roofs. I felt her pain and her doubts. I understood her choices, I understood Nonesuch's choices. I loved all the characters, even the ones you're not supposed to love.
Long story short: I recommend this one!
December 6, 2022
Rounding up to three stars
Unfortunately this book didn't live up to my own expectations.
I'd find myself a bit lost as to what was going on.
There are some lovely scenes, brought to life with words, but just not often enough.
It was a book I never rushed back to.
Unfortunately this book didn't live up to my own expectations.
I'd find myself a bit lost as to what was going on.
There are some lovely scenes, brought to life with words, but just not often enough.
It was a book I never rushed back to.
May 3, 2023
Content Warnings: Dementia, slavery, kidnapping, animal death, animal endangerment, death
Thank you Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
I really want to like this book, the premise was super interesting, the ending was gripping… But it felt like there was no plot? Barely anything happened until around 75% of the way through, and the finale - while great - I was very confused on why and especially how it happened.
Set in Elizabethan London (yes, not victorian as some reviews are seemingly saying 😅) with a magical realism theme, Shay runs away from her bird-worshipping community to join a theatre group as a prompter. Eventually though her ties to the bird community are revealed and so come forth all the superstitions and rumours around them. And.. Honestly that’s just most of the book. People see Shay for the bird part of her and then weird things happening with Shay around that. And it’s not explained even slightly.
If you enjoy just chilling with characters not doing much and just kinda.. Living? You might like this at least until it finally gets into some action towards the end. If you like things to have a solid plot line (even just a single one), things to be explained even at the most basic level and things to make sense… Might be a frustrating read for you.
It does suck, because I loved the ending and how things happened. The weird bird power stuff dotted throughout the book was super interesting, the finale was gripping and tense. But just nothing made any sense, especially that finale. The final chapter as well I re-read like 5 times and still couldn’t understand what it was.
The characters felt very flat, the romance felt rushed, the only thing that had depth and was a strong narrative was the Aviscultans (the bird-worshippers) and their culture. But even then we get no true backstory, explanation for the powers, reasoning for why or how they came about worshipping the birds, nothing. Not even the tattoo that’s a main staple throughout the book is really explained to *why* she has one and why that specific tattoo.
Though for the finale, I think it was really made just weird and uncomfortable due to one of the trigger warnings listed. It felt like it had no real reason to happen other than shock/create something sad and so it was just hard to read those parts...
I think this book could really have benefited from some extra editing and a solid plan of the story from start to finish. I would love to see if more comes from this universe though as I absolutely love the idea of the Aviscultans and really want to see that explored further!
2.5/5
Thank you Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
I really want to like this book, the premise was super interesting, the ending was gripping… But it felt like there was no plot? Barely anything happened until around 75% of the way through, and the finale - while great - I was very confused on why and especially how it happened.
Set in Elizabethan London (yes, not victorian as some reviews are seemingly saying 😅) with a magical realism theme, Shay runs away from her bird-worshipping community to join a theatre group as a prompter. Eventually though her ties to the bird community are revealed and so come forth all the superstitions and rumours around them. And.. Honestly that’s just most of the book. People see Shay for the bird part of her and then weird things happening with Shay around that. And it’s not explained even slightly.
If you enjoy just chilling with characters not doing much and just kinda.. Living? You might like this at least until it finally gets into some action towards the end. If you like things to have a solid plot line (even just a single one), things to be explained even at the most basic level and things to make sense… Might be a frustrating read for you.
It does suck, because I loved the ending and how things happened. The weird bird power stuff dotted throughout the book was super interesting, the finale was gripping and tense. But just nothing made any sense, especially that finale. The final chapter as well I re-read like 5 times and still couldn’t understand what it was.
The characters felt very flat, the romance felt rushed, the only thing that had depth and was a strong narrative was the Aviscultans (the bird-worshippers) and their culture. But even then we get no true backstory, explanation for the powers, reasoning for why or how they came about worshipping the birds, nothing. Not even the tattoo that’s a main staple throughout the book is really explained to *why* she has one and why that specific tattoo.
Though for the finale, I think it was really made just weird and uncomfortable due to one of the trigger warnings listed. It felt like it had no real reason to happen other than shock/create something sad and so it was just hard to read those parts...
I think this book could really have benefited from some extra editing and a solid plan of the story from start to finish. I would love to see if more comes from this universe though as I absolutely love the idea of the Aviscultans and really want to see that explored further!
2.5/5
May 12, 2023
THE GHOST THEATRE, by Mat Osman is a Victorian, historical fiction novel. With a great cast of characters, full of emotion, this book just carried me away from the first page on. Beautiful writing style, and an unforgettable story.
Recommended.
Recommended.
Shelved as 'gave-up-on'
December 8, 2022I'd like to thank Edelweiss and the publisher for allowing me a chance at reading this book.
I don't know what expected from the story, but nothing was really happening by 15% in and the magic / world building had not been established that I could get a grip as to what I was reading.
I think Sanderson spoils me in terms of world building and magic lore.
I don't know what expected from the story, but nothing was really happening by 15% in and the magic / world building had not been established that I could get a grip as to what I was reading.
I think Sanderson spoils me in terms of world building and magic lore.
January 16, 2023
A gorgeous and inventive re-imagining of Elizabethan England, with cameos (and more) from real figures including Black trumpeter John Blank and Elizabeth herself. The language flies and paints pictures and makes a ghost theater come to life, indeed, in the mind. The swirl of birds, a religion based on their movements, actors, Greek fire, plots within plots, daring escapes and terrible captures--all against the backdrop of a London that isn't, or wasn't , but easily seems like it could have been. A delicious read.
August 1, 2023
Romanzo molto bello, dalle atmosfere molto belle, che si aggira (se queste valutazioni hanno senso davvero) intorno alle 3/4 stelline. Atmosfere belle sì, e alcuni spunti molto interessanti (Birdland e il culto degli uccelli, teatro vs realtà, i ragazzi orfani). Sembra però che manchi qualcosa per arrivare in fondo, qualcosa che tiene queste trecento e passa pagina davvero insieme. Avrei voluto più cura su tutto, più dettagli, più torbido e discesa nel pantano. Molto buono comunque e qualsiasi romanzo citi Dee per me sarà sempre sì.
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March 9, 2024This is a strange book. Although it’s set at the end of the reign of Elizabeth I, the atmosphere feels more Victorian to me. It’s loosely based on the story of the Blackfriars Boys, who were kidnapped and forced to become actors, living in squalid conditions and suffering neglect and abuse. Shay, a teenage girl who belongs to a cult that worships birds, infiltrates the troupe and sets in motion a series of dramatic events.
For me, the combination of fantasy and magic realism and historical fiction didn’t quite work. It’s hard to imagine a bird worship cult being tolerated in Elizabethan England. Also, there were a number of anachronisms, which distracted me. Tea and coffee were not introduced to England until the mid-17th century and cardboard until the 19th century. Similarly, the guinea coin was not minted until 1663. These might seem like small points, but they do influence one’s reading of the story.
Mat Osman writes the action scenes well with a strong sense of suspense and excitement. You feel you are there witnessing the events. But several loose ends are left dangling inconclusively.
For me, the combination of fantasy and magic realism and historical fiction didn’t quite work. It’s hard to imagine a bird worship cult being tolerated in Elizabethan England. Also, there were a number of anachronisms, which distracted me. Tea and coffee were not introduced to England until the mid-17th century and cardboard until the 19th century. Similarly, the guinea coin was not minted until 1663. These might seem like small points, but they do influence one’s reading of the story.
Mat Osman writes the action scenes well with a strong sense of suspense and excitement. You feel you are there witnessing the events. But several loose ends are left dangling inconclusively.
November 10, 2024
so many conflicting views in my mind when it comes to this book...
The book portrayed an interesting take on the magic of theatrics and the power of persuasion words have... the little paragraphs that spoke about these topics were appealing to read.
for the first 50% of the book the writing was extreme in description but very vague in terms of plot and the character development etc. And while i loved the exposition at some points the description would feel dragged and i would lose my focus easily, on the other hand the parts that contributed to the plot were just swept over in one two lines and i would find myself lost.
the book gained clarity in between (spoiler alert) when shay was kidnapped by the jagger and her experience there was well executed and for that brief time i felt in sync with the story. However after her escape, the action was written in a confusing and poor manner often leaving out details that left me baffled.
All in all i personally felt that the main characters didn't have a lot of depth but were just vessels through which the story transpired. Shay and Nonesuch both had humungous potential to be really strongly built and developed characters but it just didn't happen. On the contrary, i enjoyed Alouette's appearances in the book and wished there was more of her.
What drove me nuts is that there was so much build up for birdland and shay's loyalty and faith towards the birds as her god, but i never actually understood what happened of birdland at the end of the day... It all just seemed out of place..
Another thing, is that this book gave me major deja vu. Not to say that this wasn't an original work, its just that the tropes and the premise has been done several times so this just wasn't something too unique for me.
As i finish this review.. i understand that the problem could've been me.
The 3 stars is for the quality of writing when it came to the descriptions, world building for birdland and the magical way in which the ghost theatre was brought out.
The book portrayed an interesting take on the magic of theatrics and the power of persuasion words have... the little paragraphs that spoke about these topics were appealing to read.
for the first 50% of the book the writing was extreme in description but very vague in terms of plot and the character development etc. And while i loved the exposition at some points the description would feel dragged and i would lose my focus easily, on the other hand the parts that contributed to the plot were just swept over in one two lines and i would find myself lost.
the book gained clarity in between (spoiler alert) when shay was kidnapped by the jagger and her experience there was well executed and for that brief time i felt in sync with the story. However after her escape, the action was written in a confusing and poor manner often leaving out details that left me baffled.
All in all i personally felt that the main characters didn't have a lot of depth but were just vessels through which the story transpired. Shay and Nonesuch both had humungous potential to be really strongly built and developed characters but it just didn't happen. On the contrary, i enjoyed Alouette's appearances in the book and wished there was more of her.
What drove me nuts is that there was so much build up for birdland and shay's loyalty and faith towards the birds as her god, but i never actually understood what happened of birdland at the end of the day... It all just seemed out of place..
Another thing, is that this book gave me major deja vu. Not to say that this wasn't an original work, its just that the tropes and the premise has been done several times so this just wasn't something too unique for me.
As i finish this review.. i understand that the problem could've been me.
The 3 stars is for the quality of writing when it came to the descriptions, world building for birdland and the magical way in which the ghost theatre was brought out.
January 2, 2024
Devastatingly DNF’ing this book - something I am loathe to do. I just couldn’t connect with it, and it was a struggle to stay focused and concentrated on each page. It took me 3 months to eventually put this one down. Unfortunately just not for me.
June 29, 2023
Where was the plot? Did not invite to continue reading, felt like work. Beautiful writing though.
November 16, 2023
I wanted more about the mystical bird worshipping people, less about minors being sexually abused.
Shelved as 'couldn-t-get-through-it'
January 24, 2024DNF page 98, end of section 1. This was an impulse read for me - I wanted something historical, immersive, fast-paced, adventurous, with a hint of the speculative and bonus points for a female protagonist with a reasonable amount of kick assedness. No brilliant worksmithing or philosophical subtleties required. Basically, my idea of easy fun reading. I thought I found it for the first 50 or so pages, and then became increasingly disenchanted. My main problem was that I didn't feel that the story was effectively grounded in the year of the action - 1601. There were few historical markers that separated the story from any other pre-19th century era, apart from the theater, where boys play the female parts. Without that, the rest of the book - plot, characters - felt pretty thin. According to the book flap, Queen Elizabeth I makes an appearance, but by that point it's too little too late for me.
April 15, 2023
I have just finished reading another of the books I have got from Netgalley to review, and I really heartily recommend this particular novel, called The Ghost Theatre, by Mat Osman, who, incidentally, is/was the bassist in the rock band, Suede.
It is really different, as it is not just a Historical novel, but also a great work of Magic Realism/Surrealism, along the lines of the late Angela Carter. As I love both genres, I found this novel particularly engaging.
The action occurs during the era of Queen Elizabeth 1st, around the late 1590s, and its location is the area of Southwark, in London: the 'playground' in which the bear pits, cock fighting arenas, whorehouses, and, of course, the theatres, like Shakespeare's Globe, were located at the time. The Theatre itself-in this case, Blackfriars, in which the Boys' Companies, the 'young eyases' to whom Shakespeare refers so disparagingly, as they were hated rivals of his adult acting own company, were located.
The Boys' Company is represented as being, in large part, comprised of boys snatched away, or purchased, from their parents, rather than being there voluntarily. This gives their characters a huge amount of pathos. Not only are they adolescents, with typical adolescent issues, but they are motherless, ill-treated, and know that, when they reach an age when they outgrow their roles in the Company, they will be discarded to survive on the streets. The Manager is depicted as cruel, too: a man called Evans, a scrivener and entrepreneur who not only puts on plays for the public in the Theatre itself but also traffics boys to 'parties' where wealthy nobles can sexually and physically abuse them for money. Here is a link to some further info. about Evans and the Children's Companies: https://academic.oup.com/book/11451/c...
One of the boys, a highly gifted young actor who calls himself 'Lord Nonesuch' plays leading roles in the company, and becomes something of a celebrity amongst theatre-goers, as well as a leader of the boys themselves. Despite his undoubted brilliance as an actor, he is still subject to the same abuse and trafficking as all the others.
Eventually, with Alouette, a girl from Flanders who creates marvelous lighting and other spectacular effects, Blank, a black boy who is gifted as a designer and maker of costumes, and Trussel, a young artist who designs and paints sets, Lord Nonesuch creates his own Theatre, called The Ghost Theatre, because it acts as a 'pop-up' theatre, with the action taking place around the city, often in promenade performances, and all the dialogue is improvised by the actors themselves. Furthermore, the Ghost Theatre has a political purpose: it incites the poor and disadvantaged in society,, especially the young apprentice boys and girls, to rebel against the dire conditions in which they are forced to live and work. 'Lord Nonesuch' is something of a visionary, with his own ideas about a Utopia for those oppressed by the upper, rich classes. Towards the end of the novel, he leads hundreds of apprentice boys in a rebellion, which he calls Saturnalia, with the intention of taking the homes of the rich and giving them to the poor.
Into this group comes a rather strange girl, who introduces the magic realist elements into the novel. She is called Shay, and she is a Bird Worshipper, apparently able to tell fortunes through interpreting the movements of flocks of birds, and also to move in an incredible way over the city rooftops, almost as if she can, herself, fly. She is a visionary, too: however, in her case, she goes into trance-like states in which she sings like a bird and predicts the future. As she has the tattoo of a sparrow on her head, she is called 'Sparrow' when her fame as a predictor of the future becomes common knowledge, after she joins the Ghost Theatre.
Initially, she and Lord Nonesuch are lovers, and she stays in love almost until the end of the novel, but Nonesuch, embittered by the fact that her fame begins to eclipse his, betrays her and she becomes the prisoner of a rebel group who burns hedges, in protest at the enclosure of common land, and runs a circus where the poor and displaced can enjoy themselves for payment of entry tickets which support the Rebel movement in its enterprises.
This is a fascinating tale, which gives one an insight into the various protest movements prevalent in London and the rest of England in late Elizabethan times, as well as the world of the Theatre and the mysterious practices of the small cult of bird worshippers who live on the marshes outside London. It also exposes Elizabeth's interest/obsession with horoscopes and [predictions, and her paranoia which led to the development of spy networks and groups of violent men who killed those who were dissenters from her regime or from the Established Church. It also touches on the subject of apprentice riots, something that happened often and was considered a real danger to society at the time, as well as peasant movements in the countryside with similar aims.
As I indicated earlier, I felt very enlightened, as well as thoroughly entertained by this novel, which I could not put down. The writing style is highly accomplished, too, and the magic-realist surreal elements are vivid and highly engaging. As a result, I gave this a 5-star review on Good Reads and Amazon, and urge people to seek it out and enjoy it.
It is really different, as it is not just a Historical novel, but also a great work of Magic Realism/Surrealism, along the lines of the late Angela Carter. As I love both genres, I found this novel particularly engaging.
The action occurs during the era of Queen Elizabeth 1st, around the late 1590s, and its location is the area of Southwark, in London: the 'playground' in which the bear pits, cock fighting arenas, whorehouses, and, of course, the theatres, like Shakespeare's Globe, were located at the time. The Theatre itself-in this case, Blackfriars, in which the Boys' Companies, the 'young eyases' to whom Shakespeare refers so disparagingly, as they were hated rivals of his adult acting own company, were located.
The Boys' Company is represented as being, in large part, comprised of boys snatched away, or purchased, from their parents, rather than being there voluntarily. This gives their characters a huge amount of pathos. Not only are they adolescents, with typical adolescent issues, but they are motherless, ill-treated, and know that, when they reach an age when they outgrow their roles in the Company, they will be discarded to survive on the streets. The Manager is depicted as cruel, too: a man called Evans, a scrivener and entrepreneur who not only puts on plays for the public in the Theatre itself but also traffics boys to 'parties' where wealthy nobles can sexually and physically abuse them for money. Here is a link to some further info. about Evans and the Children's Companies: https://academic.oup.com/book/11451/c...
One of the boys, a highly gifted young actor who calls himself 'Lord Nonesuch' plays leading roles in the company, and becomes something of a celebrity amongst theatre-goers, as well as a leader of the boys themselves. Despite his undoubted brilliance as an actor, he is still subject to the same abuse and trafficking as all the others.
Eventually, with Alouette, a girl from Flanders who creates marvelous lighting and other spectacular effects, Blank, a black boy who is gifted as a designer and maker of costumes, and Trussel, a young artist who designs and paints sets, Lord Nonesuch creates his own Theatre, called The Ghost Theatre, because it acts as a 'pop-up' theatre, with the action taking place around the city, often in promenade performances, and all the dialogue is improvised by the actors themselves. Furthermore, the Ghost Theatre has a political purpose: it incites the poor and disadvantaged in society,, especially the young apprentice boys and girls, to rebel against the dire conditions in which they are forced to live and work. 'Lord Nonesuch' is something of a visionary, with his own ideas about a Utopia for those oppressed by the upper, rich classes. Towards the end of the novel, he leads hundreds of apprentice boys in a rebellion, which he calls Saturnalia, with the intention of taking the homes of the rich and giving them to the poor.
Into this group comes a rather strange girl, who introduces the magic realist elements into the novel. She is called Shay, and she is a Bird Worshipper, apparently able to tell fortunes through interpreting the movements of flocks of birds, and also to move in an incredible way over the city rooftops, almost as if she can, herself, fly. She is a visionary, too: however, in her case, she goes into trance-like states in which she sings like a bird and predicts the future. As she has the tattoo of a sparrow on her head, she is called 'Sparrow' when her fame as a predictor of the future becomes common knowledge, after she joins the Ghost Theatre.
Initially, she and Lord Nonesuch are lovers, and she stays in love almost until the end of the novel, but Nonesuch, embittered by the fact that her fame begins to eclipse his, betrays her and she becomes the prisoner of a rebel group who burns hedges, in protest at the enclosure of common land, and runs a circus where the poor and displaced can enjoy themselves for payment of entry tickets which support the Rebel movement in its enterprises.
This is a fascinating tale, which gives one an insight into the various protest movements prevalent in London and the rest of England in late Elizabethan times, as well as the world of the Theatre and the mysterious practices of the small cult of bird worshippers who live on the marshes outside London. It also exposes Elizabeth's interest/obsession with horoscopes and [predictions, and her paranoia which led to the development of spy networks and groups of violent men who killed those who were dissenters from her regime or from the Established Church. It also touches on the subject of apprentice riots, something that happened often and was considered a real danger to society at the time, as well as peasant movements in the countryside with similar aims.
As I indicated earlier, I felt very enlightened, as well as thoroughly entertained by this novel, which I could not put down. The writing style is highly accomplished, too, and the magic-realist surreal elements are vivid and highly engaging. As a result, I gave this a 5-star review on Good Reads and Amazon, and urge people to seek it out and enjoy it.
February 22, 2024
• Welcome to the Ghost Theatre!
Secret Location - Coming soon! •
🦅🎭🔮
Eine überaus gelungene Mischung aus historischem England, Schauspielkunst, Wahrsagern und Seelenverwandten. Trotz der teilweise schweren Themen des Buchs geht die Ästhetik dessen, was die beiden Protagonisten für die Schauspielerei/Wahrsagerei/einander empfinden, nicht verloren.
Mein einziger Kritikpunkt ist das abrupte Ende des Buchs bzw. was damit einhergeht.
Secret Location - Coming soon! •
🦅🎭🔮
Eine überaus gelungene Mischung aus historischem England, Schauspielkunst, Wahrsagern und Seelenverwandten. Trotz der teilweise schweren Themen des Buchs geht die Ästhetik dessen, was die beiden Protagonisten für die Schauspielerei/Wahrsagerei/einander empfinden, nicht verloren.
Mein einziger Kritikpunkt ist das abrupte Ende des Buchs bzw. was damit einhergeht.
Read
January 21, 2023What an outlier the Osman family is, where Suede's towering bassist is neither 'the tall one' nor 'the one who was famous from another medium before turning novelist'. Still, he makes a pretty good go of it all the same, here conjuring up an Elizabethan London which feels solid in all its filth and splendour. So much historical fiction is happy with a flat costume drama feel, a this'll-do approximation, but The Ghost Theatre brings it to life with the details of fashionable attire, the stench of the city, the sheer bustling life of streets where "In ten minutes' walking they heard five languages, twenty accents", where silks from India compete for space with Dutch merchants and Seville oranges – though just when this feels like a rejoinder to the neverland of Brexit nostalgia, there's the sly detail of said fruit being "labelled, hopefully, Moriqo, so that buyers' patriotism wouldn't be questioned." Ever a world city, yet ever uneasy with that – Osman gets London, which I think may be even more important than period detail in the writing of a London historical. Not that this is exactly our history – the trained wolves in the opening chase made me think of The Wolves Of Willoughby Chase, and I'd say that's a decent guide to how far off our timeline Osman's taken us. Although the main difference comes from one of the protagonists' background in a bird cult based in the Wapping marshes. Their name, the Aviscultans, feels a little will-this-do, but I was more concerned that in creating a semi-detached outsider tribe associated with fortune-telling, the book was trying to swap in substitute Gypsies who were less likely to draw flak than if actual Gypsies had been used, which feels...awkward. Still, they do provide a route towards some lovely writing about birds, even if it tends also to be self-doubting: "The paucity of language infuriated Shay. How to express the audacity of a magpie's tail-feathers or the cruelty of an eagle's beak? What words could capture a hummingbird's unlikeliness, or cage a hawk's talons?"
The unevenness continue as the Aviscultan – or, to the vulgar, 'flapper' – lead Shay becomes increasingly entangled with the boy-player Nonesuch (a Nicholas Hoult role if ever I saw one, though he's too old for this now). The idea of whole theatre troupes of adolescents, reputed to include snatched scions of nobility, is an evocative one, a McLaren-esque Lost Boys fantasy even as it acknowledges the sinister edge to that whole notion, with the theatre's patrons feeling thoroughly entitled to its stars: "The private masques tend to be more...improvised than that. More...um..audience-led." And where once I might have cavilled at the heavy-handed representation of the dynamic between haves and have-nots, these days it barely even needs the veneer of alternate history to feel like a straight description: "It's not enough that they have more than us. So much more than us. They want us to have nothing. They ruin us over and over again and then they despise us for our poverty." The problem is more that Nonesuch and Shay embark on a series of capers where, as they escalate, it's increasingly obvious that it's all going to blow up in their faces. Now, heavens know this is not exactly implausible for teenagers, but you need to sell that rush of hormones, first love, folie à deux to carry the audience along with it – an area where Osman's band were experts, but one I'm not altogether convinced he's carried over here. Or then again, maybe it's just that I'm old now. Certainly it's not hard to wince at the doomed rescue of fighting cocks who, freed from their cages, simply turn on each other, a metaphor that isn't subtle but doesn't need to be: "They died down there in the dirt and piss and bones while all the time a huge, empty sky hung above them." And the appropriate heady note definitely catches once Shay, Nonesuch and their friends break away from the playhouse to set up their own alternative, the Ghost Theatre of the title – even if, when you stop to think about it, they seem basically to have invented immersive theatre early, complete with special effects by John Dee (who gets a splendid, unsavoury cameo).
There's plenty more to come after that - high society, fame and fortunes, plague, a provincial tour, unrest, and a very good bear. All building to a climax which is at once widescreen and downbeat. Not all of which worked for me, but none of which lacked for a strong sense of Osman being fully invested in it. It's an ungainly book in some ways, and certainly not always a successful one, yet I can't entirely hold that against it; certainly it makes a nice change to read something new and get the feel of a cult novel, as against a book which desperately wants to be a cult novel.
(Netgalley ARC)
The unevenness continue as the Aviscultan – or, to the vulgar, 'flapper' – lead Shay becomes increasingly entangled with the boy-player Nonesuch (a Nicholas Hoult role if ever I saw one, though he's too old for this now). The idea of whole theatre troupes of adolescents, reputed to include snatched scions of nobility, is an evocative one, a McLaren-esque Lost Boys fantasy even as it acknowledges the sinister edge to that whole notion, with the theatre's patrons feeling thoroughly entitled to its stars: "The private masques tend to be more...improvised than that. More...um..audience-led." And where once I might have cavilled at the heavy-handed representation of the dynamic between haves and have-nots, these days it barely even needs the veneer of alternate history to feel like a straight description: "It's not enough that they have more than us. So much more than us. They want us to have nothing. They ruin us over and over again and then they despise us for our poverty." The problem is more that Nonesuch and Shay embark on a series of capers where, as they escalate, it's increasingly obvious that it's all going to blow up in their faces. Now, heavens know this is not exactly implausible for teenagers, but you need to sell that rush of hormones, first love, folie à deux to carry the audience along with it – an area where Osman's band were experts, but one I'm not altogether convinced he's carried over here. Or then again, maybe it's just that I'm old now. Certainly it's not hard to wince at the doomed rescue of fighting cocks who, freed from their cages, simply turn on each other, a metaphor that isn't subtle but doesn't need to be: "They died down there in the dirt and piss and bones while all the time a huge, empty sky hung above them." And the appropriate heady note definitely catches once Shay, Nonesuch and their friends break away from the playhouse to set up their own alternative, the Ghost Theatre of the title – even if, when you stop to think about it, they seem basically to have invented immersive theatre early, complete with special effects by John Dee (who gets a splendid, unsavoury cameo).
There's plenty more to come after that - high society, fame and fortunes, plague, a provincial tour, unrest, and a very good bear. All building to a climax which is at once widescreen and downbeat. Not all of which worked for me, but none of which lacked for a strong sense of Osman being fully invested in it. It's an ungainly book in some ways, and certainly not always a successful one, yet I can't entirely hold that against it; certainly it makes a nice change to read something new and get the feel of a cult novel, as against a book which desperately wants to be a cult novel.
(Netgalley ARC)
December 15, 2022
Mat Osman’s second novel sets the bar for 2023 very high.I enjoyed his debut a great deal, but it was a rock star writing about a rock star. Here he gives his imagination free reign (although if I was being reeeeaaaallly pedantic, I’d note that he’s still concerned with entertainers and performances), moving us four hundred years back in time ands vividly evoking an Elizabeth England that is stuffed with cruel predators and misery but also with mystery and wonder. It’s not a full-blown alternate history fantasy novel by any stretch, but there’s enough delicious occult strangeness here to give it a twist of the weird that most historical novels lack. It’s rich, hallucinatory and engrossing, and I loved it.
April 3, 2023
So close to being a really good book but it got too caught up in the small details and failed to establish a larger plot that was engaging enough to keep you reading.
The writing was really evocative in parts and I really loved the alternate London and the subtle mythology of the Flappers, but the story never really seemed to be headed anywhere definitive.
The writing was really evocative in parts and I really loved the alternate London and the subtle mythology of the Flappers, but the story never really seemed to be headed anywhere definitive.
October 8, 2024
3.5
Sulla carta questo romanzo sembrava promettere meraviglie per le mie aspettative alla ricerca di qualcosa di originale e ben costruito. E, in parte, devo dire che sono state soddisfatte.
Insomma, il setting della Londra del 1600; il culto degli Aviscultan unito alla compagnia teatrale dei Blackfrias Boys attraverso i due protagonisti; il rapporto con il padre affetto da perdite di memoria; la dura vita di strada e del palcoscenico; la storia d’amore adolescenziale travagliata; le profezie ecc… la trama in fin dei conti è corposa e particolare, nulla da dire in merito. Aggiungiamoci pure lo stile narrativo crudo e delle ottime atmosfere e ambientazioni e abbiamo fatto bingo!
Se non fosse che…
Eccetto la sporcizia, la povertà, lo schiavismo ecc non riuscivo a percepire davvero il contesto storico. Poteva essere il 1600 come il 1800 o il 1900. Non c’erano descrizioni o particolari che supportavano appieno questo setting, così come tutte le storyline sono state rese in modo approssimativo. E rimpiango davvero che non ci fossero più approfondimenti sul culto degli uccelli perché era davvero interessante e dava a questa lettura un’ottica diversa rispetto ad altri romanzi del genere.
Insomma, buone idee, ma tutte abbozzate. Senza contare che le varie scene sembravano disconnesse tra loro al limite del confuso.
Il finale poi… ho dovuto rileggerlo due volte per capirlo.
Ma se a livello stilistico e narrativo mi aspettavo molto di più, i personaggi sono comunque riusciti a mantenere viva la lettura. Shay e Nonesuch mi sono piaciuti per la loro complessità e difetti, così come ho passato tutto il romanzo a preoccuparmi del falco di Shay.
Piccola lei.
Nel complesso non posso dirmi delusa, ma una parte di me piange per le possibilità mancate perché c’era davvero tanta legna sul fuoco in questa storia. Forse un po’ troppa.
Se vi piacciono i romanzi storici o volete una storia diversa dal solito, questa potrebbe stuzzicarvi nel suo piccolo.
Sulla carta questo romanzo sembrava promettere meraviglie per le mie aspettative alla ricerca di qualcosa di originale e ben costruito. E, in parte, devo dire che sono state soddisfatte.
Insomma, il setting della Londra del 1600; il culto degli Aviscultan unito alla compagnia teatrale dei Blackfrias Boys attraverso i due protagonisti; il rapporto con il padre affetto da perdite di memoria; la dura vita di strada e del palcoscenico; la storia d’amore adolescenziale travagliata; le profezie ecc… la trama in fin dei conti è corposa e particolare, nulla da dire in merito. Aggiungiamoci pure lo stile narrativo crudo e delle ottime atmosfere e ambientazioni e abbiamo fatto bingo!
Se non fosse che…
Eccetto la sporcizia, la povertà, lo schiavismo ecc non riuscivo a percepire davvero il contesto storico. Poteva essere il 1600 come il 1800 o il 1900. Non c’erano descrizioni o particolari che supportavano appieno questo setting, così come tutte le storyline sono state rese in modo approssimativo. E rimpiango davvero che non ci fossero più approfondimenti sul culto degli uccelli perché era davvero interessante e dava a questa lettura un’ottica diversa rispetto ad altri romanzi del genere.
Insomma, buone idee, ma tutte abbozzate. Senza contare che le varie scene sembravano disconnesse tra loro al limite del confuso.
Il finale poi… ho dovuto rileggerlo due volte per capirlo.
Ma se a livello stilistico e narrativo mi aspettavo molto di più, i personaggi sono comunque riusciti a mantenere viva la lettura. Shay e Nonesuch mi sono piaciuti per la loro complessità e difetti, così come ho passato tutto il romanzo a preoccuparmi del falco di Shay.
Piccola lei.
Nel complesso non posso dirmi delusa, ma una parte di me piange per le possibilità mancate perché c’era davvero tanta legna sul fuoco in questa storia. Forse un po’ troppa.
Se vi piacciono i romanzi storici o volete una storia diversa dal solito, questa potrebbe stuzzicarvi nel suo piccolo.
May 23, 2024
3.5/5
Das Vogelmädchen von London war eine angenehm düstere Geschichte, es gibt zu wenig Bücher, die sich trauen, eine dunkle und bedrückende Stimmung aufrechtzuerhalten, aber das hat mir sehr gut gefallen. Es macht die Momente des Glücks in der Geschichte so viel wertvoller, aber man weiß auch immer, dass es jederzeit kaputt gehen könnte und gerade diese Spannung reizt mich sehr.
Auch sehr gut gefallen hat mir der komplett unerwartete Verlauf der Story, man wusste nie, was als nächstes passiert und auch die Charaktere waren oft moralisch im Graubereich unterwegs, niemand war klassisch gut oder schlecht.
Aber nicht alles war gut, manche Handlungsstränge waren mir etwas zu kurz und die Tragweite mancher Handlungen war mir nicht weit genug. Die Charaktere waren insgesamt alle gut geschrieben, aber die Gefühle der handelnden Personen hätten für mich noch ausführlicher beschrieben werden können, vor allem wenn es um die Liebesbeziehungen geht. Aber vermutlich hat das auch nicht ganz in das Setting der Geschichte gepasst, insofern kann ich die Entscheidung trotzdem gut nachvollziehen.
Was mich leider auch immer wieder aus der Geschichte rausgebracht hat, war die manchmal komische Wortwahl. Ich weiß nicht, ob das vielleicht an der Übersetzung liegt, aber das war manchmal etwas ungeschickt gewählt.
Nichtsdestotrotz hat mir das Buch gut gefallen, der Bezug zum Theater, aber vor allem auch zu den Vögeln hat mir sehr gut gefallen, das war wirklich erfrischend und mich als kleinen Birdnerd hat es sehr gefreut. Den einen falschen Fakt über Wanderfalken hab ich gekonnt überlesen.
Das Vogelmädchen von London war eine angenehm düstere Geschichte, es gibt zu wenig Bücher, die sich trauen, eine dunkle und bedrückende Stimmung aufrechtzuerhalten, aber das hat mir sehr gut gefallen. Es macht die Momente des Glücks in der Geschichte so viel wertvoller, aber man weiß auch immer, dass es jederzeit kaputt gehen könnte und gerade diese Spannung reizt mich sehr.
Auch sehr gut gefallen hat mir der komplett unerwartete Verlauf der Story, man wusste nie, was als nächstes passiert und auch die Charaktere waren oft moralisch im Graubereich unterwegs, niemand war klassisch gut oder schlecht.
Aber nicht alles war gut, manche Handlungsstränge waren mir etwas zu kurz und die Tragweite mancher Handlungen war mir nicht weit genug. Die Charaktere waren insgesamt alle gut geschrieben, aber die Gefühle der handelnden Personen hätten für mich noch ausführlicher beschrieben werden können, vor allem wenn es um die Liebesbeziehungen geht. Aber vermutlich hat das auch nicht ganz in das Setting der Geschichte gepasst, insofern kann ich die Entscheidung trotzdem gut nachvollziehen.
Was mich leider auch immer wieder aus der Geschichte rausgebracht hat, war die manchmal komische Wortwahl. Ich weiß nicht, ob das vielleicht an der Übersetzung liegt, aber das war manchmal etwas ungeschickt gewählt.
Nichtsdestotrotz hat mir das Buch gut gefallen, der Bezug zum Theater, aber vor allem auch zu den Vögeln hat mir sehr gut gefallen, das war wirklich erfrischend und mich als kleinen Birdnerd hat es sehr gefreut. Den einen falschen Fakt über Wanderfalken hab ich gekonnt überlesen.
August 6, 2024
Purtroppo le mie aspettative erano troppo alte e sono rimasta delusa. Ho trovato la narrazione a tratti disconnessa e proprio non riesco a dare un senso al finale. È possibile che la trama (secondo me con potenziale ma scarsa di carattere) non mi abbia aiutata a mantenere una buona attenzione. Nonostante tutto sono arrivata alla fine del libro, probabilmente perché speravo in qualche svolta nella trama oppure perché semplicemente le pagine dell'edizione cartacea di Blu Atlantide hanno un buon odore e creano dipendenza.
April 19, 2023
Thanks to Bloomsbury and Netgalley for a review copy of this book. This is book you can’t really pinpoint easily. Mat Osman creates a vibrant, energetic and wholly imaginative parallel Elizabethan London, but it’s the underbelly of society filled with bear baiting, cock fighting and troupes of actors who create illusionary worlds for hungry spectators. Woven into that is the small island of a special group of people who have an affinity for birds that is spiritual and religious in connection. It’s out of that society Shay emerges and in an off chance falls into company with Nonesuch one of the young players of a motley group of actors. Nonesuch lures Shay into his world and she finds that she can’t resist, and even the guilt of her blind father struggling to survive back on the island and her responsibilities there. Soon enough she becomes entangled in webs of lies, plots and all that we can associate with Elizabethan England. This is an audacious novel and told with such lively spirit I found the characters and story irresistible.
November 25, 2022
The Ghost Theatre is a marvel of a book. Taking place in London in the early years of the 17th century, it tells the story of Shay, a bird worshipper, a girl who dresses as a boy, and that of Nonesuch, a boy press ganged into the Blackfriars Theater, and who dresses as a girl in the leading roles of the plays that are performed. This is all presented against the backdrop of Elizabethan London, prime for revolt by the common people.
The book opens with Shay’s breathless flight across the roofs of London, as she’s pursued by the owner of a shop whose birds she freed. It’s there she encounters Nonesuch, and they make their way to the theater. Shay falls in with the troupe, and falls in love with Nonesuch. Somehow, because of her affinity with birds, she’s able to tell cryptic fortunes through song, though she has no memory of what she says. She eventually has an audience with the Queen, and based on what she says, Elizabeth enacts cruel domestic policies. From there, the book takes off in unexpected directions.
The author brings Elizabethan London to life. There are scenes that are so well written that I though I could smell the stench of the crowds and markets. All of the characters are well drawn, and you just can’t help, becoming involved in their stories. The author kept this reader on tenterhooks throughout the novel.
Highly recommended.
My thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing an ARC of The Ghost Theatre..
The book opens with Shay’s breathless flight across the roofs of London, as she’s pursued by the owner of a shop whose birds she freed. It’s there she encounters Nonesuch, and they make their way to the theater. Shay falls in with the troupe, and falls in love with Nonesuch. Somehow, because of her affinity with birds, she’s able to tell cryptic fortunes through song, though she has no memory of what she says. She eventually has an audience with the Queen, and based on what she says, Elizabeth enacts cruel domestic policies. From there, the book takes off in unexpected directions.
The author brings Elizabethan London to life. There are scenes that are so well written that I though I could smell the stench of the crowds and markets. All of the characters are well drawn, and you just can’t help, becoming involved in their stories. The author kept this reader on tenterhooks throughout the novel.
Highly recommended.
My thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing an ARC of The Ghost Theatre..
July 1, 2024
All the world’s a stage, said the bard, and the men are merely players. Most of us take this as a purely metaphorical (and metatextual, if you’re an English major) statement about the role humans play in our vast earthly drama. For Shay, an impoverished member of a clannish group of outsiders and our protagonist, the words of Shakespeare might have been better put to use as a warning to watch out for anyone who might fancy themselves a director. The Ghost Theatre, by Mat Osman, is a wild ride through early seventeenth-century England, the world of the theater, civil strife, and betrayal...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.
January 8, 2023
Arrgh, I think that is me done with any form of Historical Fiction.
A fantasy novel set in London was just too much of a draw for me to not give this a go. And I certainly gave it a good go, all the way through to the final glorious page (glorious in that there were no more pages to read).
I loved some aspects of the world we were presented with. And some of the characters had a lot of potential, but I just couldn’t get into a flow. That and the fact that I wasn’t enjoying the way the book was written, amounted to this ending up being a bit of a slog.
Thank You NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) for a review copy.
A fantasy novel set in London was just too much of a draw for me to not give this a go. And I certainly gave it a good go, all the way through to the final glorious page (glorious in that there were no more pages to read).
I loved some aspects of the world we were presented with. And some of the characters had a lot of potential, but I just couldn’t get into a flow. That and the fact that I wasn’t enjoying the way the book was written, amounted to this ending up being a bit of a slog.
Thank You NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) for a review copy.
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