Fools and Mortals by Bernard Cornwell

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

I got this book in exchange for a review.

Okay, anyone who knows me, knows that I am a huge fan of Bernard Cornwell, so it’s no wonder that I’ve requested this book. But I did not expect to be approved!

Now, the book is set in Elizabethan England and it is connected to the great William Shakespeare. But the tale is not told from his point of view, but rather from the point of view of his brother, Richard Shakespeare, struggling actor who has to resort to thieving occasionally and is perpetually in debt to his landlady as well as trying to find his place in a company for which his brother writes. Having a famous brother, it seems, is not easy.

As an English student, I am a huge fan of Shakespeare, of course, and I am interested in Elizabethan England, but far less than I am interested in Medieval England (I adore Cornwell’s Last Kingdom series). And yet, that was not important as Bernard Cornwell paints a great and vivid image of London in those times and the struggles of less fortunate people. There is intrigue in this book, plays, betrayals and plot twists, worthy of five stars. It pulls the reader in at the beginning and does not let them put the book down until they are finished.

I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to read the book before it was published and if you are interested in historical fiction (and Elizabethan theatre), this is the book for you!