Stephanie Cowell
Nicholas Cooke: Actor, Soldier, Physician, Priest (1993) and The Players: A Novel of the Young Shakespeare (1997)
New York: Norton
In these works of historical fiction, Stephanie Cowell focuses on two extraordinary men: one real, one fictional, both tormented by the attempt to discover their true place in life. The real man is William Shakespeare: in The Players, Cowell covers Shakespeare’s life up to 1595, with the majority of the novel dedicated to his early years in London. Readers follow Shakespeare through events that form the foundation of his later success and fame: meeting John Heminges, taking his first roles on stage, writing history plays and sonnets. The fictional man is young Nicholas Cooke, star of the eponymous novel. After running away from his hometown, Nick finds his way to the London theater scene, where he acts with the Lord Chamberlain’s Men as Heminges’ apprentice.
Though separated by age, Cowell’s Shakespeare and Nick are kindred souls: both are country boys who felt stifled in their hometowns, yet become somewhat lost in London. An affair distracts Shakespeare from his writing; Nick, who knows that acting is not his real calling, darts off on various (mis-) adventures in an attempt to find his true path. Because of their similarities, Nick looks to Shakespeare as a kind of mentor, and in turn, Shakespeare offers Nick help and advice.
These two books can be read on their own, but reading them together (the latter picks up roughly where the former ends) makes for a richer, more rewarding experience, one which brings readers closer to Shakespeare as a person, rather than a legend. Nevertheless, most will likely still agree with Nick when he describes the playwright as “the beloved and never quite accessible person that was my [Shakespeare]” (247). Nick’s adventures continue, albeit without Shakespeare, in Cowell’s The Physician of London (Norton, 1995).―BS