Book Review | INTERRED WITH THEIR BONES
. Authors, Bard, Book reviews, fiction, Jennifer Lee Carrol, Mother Talk, murder - mystery, Reviews, Shakespeare, shakespearean lore, The Globe Theatre
...The evil men do lives after them
(feminist revision of history) and the good is oft
Interred with their bones
(contrived feminist amnesia) --- William Shakespeare...
Personally, I am especially drawn to old books,
the ones found in archaic corners, exiled for
decades in stuffy dark corners, sheathed in a
cloak of cobwebs and dust bunnies. Those are
the most fun! Almost like a treasure discovery,
if you open an old book or two, you may find
lost love letters or pictures of bygone eras,
hidden in their pages .
This book makes a smooth transition, at once
you feel at home nestled in it's pages. This will
be one of many reviews I will be posting on
this blog, and one of many sponsored by
Mother Talk.
Onto the review of:
Jennifer Lee Carrell's second published
book Interred with their bones.
I picked up my copy of this book. The cover felt smooth.
A very substantial book. Wrapped securely in
its jacket, I was reminded of Shakespeare 's cloak.
On the first page of this work, you realize it is written in first
person, in 2004, through the eyes of Kathrine Stanely, an
American woman who lands a stage production at the newly
erected replica of The Globe theater w, in London, directing
Hamlet w no less.
Kathrine the main character, is deeply moved by
Shakespeare's w writings and is well versed in the
curses and hidden codes that dwell within the
Shakespearian lore w. The Globe is hallowed
ground for her. Unbeknown to Kathrine, she
will be visited before the production by her once
celebrated, now estranged mentor - Harvard
Shakespearean Professor Rosalind Howard. The
Professor , a.k.a Roz, brings with her a mysterious
gold boxed gift for Kathrine. Although Kathrine is
at once indignant towards this surprise visit, her
curiosity gets the best of her and she accepts the
strange gift.
That same night, her beloved Globe theater is engulfed
in flames, to her horror she has become a shocked
spectator. Once the flames have been extinguished ,
she finds Roz, dead , mirroring the same manner of
death as Hamlet's own father, in the play Hamlet.
Kathrine is beside herself, as images of Roz's death
and the fire conjure up eerie reminders of Shakespeare's unrelenting ghost.
Kathrine opens the gold box, the last connection to her old friend , and finds a Victorian mourning brooch info, with flowers reminiscent of Ophelia w, a character also of Hamlet fame.
Alarm bells sound in her head, and spur her on a harrowing trek across the Atlantic and beyond, to decipher the clues and find the truth. Unfortunately a killer lays chase, murdering those who volunteer to testify what secrets they hold, a hurried effort to silence all those who could help uncover an archaic deceitful plot, which would certainly change history.
"In the history of the English-speaking peoples, he has no equal. Tongue-in-cheek propaganda about seriously-meant, split-level propaganda implies a depth of understanding that was supposedly not available to the uneducated masses. But he still entertained them in his own lifetime, even if it was just in a little wood & thatch theater. By the time we began to understand what he understood, he was long-dead." --- quoted from an unnamed Bard Lover
Interred with their bones promises to intrigue even the least schooled in Shakespearean lit. A thoughtful creation that glorifies all that is Bard w, this book will entertain. Much as Will's own word smithing, the playful yet dangerous dance with his ghost in this book proves enlightening.
For an interesting author account and the story behind the book visit here.
Find more about the author at her website : http://www.jenniferleecarrell.com/
