A historical novel set at the Golden Theatre during Shakespeare’s reign there!The Story.I’ve never had a proper name – never known me mum or dad, neither. The only name I’ve had in this life was called me at the orphanage – Widge. It’s the name I’ve been known by for all me fourteen years, and it tells a truthsome tale – that there are none who know and love me.Dr. Bright took me in when I was a puny lad of seven. He seemed favorably disposed towards me and even taught me to read and write a special code of shorthand. I soon kenned for what purpose he had taught me this skill – it was only that I might aid him in stealing the works of others. But what cared I for the right or wrong of it? If I did not copy, I was not fed. So I copied.Then, in my fourteenth year, a man came. He was altogether fierce, but he offered my master ten pounds for me and he – having no special affection for me – gladly relinquished me for so large a sum. I soon learned that my new master, Simon Black, wanted me for a particular purpose. He ran an acting company and he wanted me to attend the premieres of William Shakespeare’s new plays and take them down word for word, that way his troupe of players might stay abreast of the hottest London plays. I saw no reason to refuse, and thus it was that I was conducted to London and set in the performance of Hamlet…But as I meet the players and Mister Shakespeare himself, I begin to wonder – is what I’m doing right?Discussion. I picked this book up in 2012, recognizing it from its popularity on Goodreads. I decided I would read it while snobbishly agreeing with myself that I probably wouldn’t like it because, after all, it was liked by the masses! And my tastes were obviously far superior to that of the masses! I ended up loving it. What a good lesson for my snobbish little nose.In The Shakespeare Stealer, Gary Blackwood has created an utterly unique story. I’ve read lots of books in which some young character has a fleeting and highly forced encounter with a historical figure. But none of them have been so riveting, so real as The Shakespeare Stealer. TSS fully immerses its readers into not only Shakespeare’s historical and geographical setting, but also the breadth and majesty of Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. Because through a course of events, Widge joins Shakespeare’s troupe of actors and begins to act in the play himself!And then there’s another thing – Widge’s progression as a character. When we first meet Widge, he has been tossed from an orphanage into the hands of an unscrupulous master. He has known no love or familial connection and has never been taught even the most basic concepts of right and wrong. He does what is profitable for himself and cares little as to whether his actions are good or bad. It is at this juncture that he is sent to London to steal Hamlet.First, Widge is entranced with the majesty of the play – the beauty of the words, and the breathtaking excitement of the duels. After he loses his notebook in the theatre, his only choice is to join the company while he tries to recover it. The other players swarm around him, offering him their friendship and a sense of belonging. At first, Widge doesn’t know how to respond to the goodwill being offered him – he is accustomed to being treated only with slurs and kicks. But he grows into not only his role as an extra, but also his role as a friend. At this point, as he witnesses all of the hard work that goes on to make a play successful and the fierce loyalties amongst the players, he begins to question himself. Is it right to take another man’s work without paying for it? Am I justified in stealing a play just because I am afraid of what might happen to me if I don’t? These people have offered me there friendship – what do I owe to them based on the relationships we have established?I don’t want to give away the story, but I’ll just say that I was pleased with the moral progression that Widge demonstrated. : )In Shakespeare’s time, it was considered shameful for a woman to play on the stage, so boys played the part of women, wearing dresses and wigs and speaking in a high voice. Towards the end of the story we learn that one of the boys who plays women’s parts is actually a girl who disguised herself as a boy to get into the troupe so that she could pretend to be a woman! #confusingWidge says on page 46 that he’s heard of a sport called “bear-baiting”. He briefly describes it and concludes that “it did not sound very sporting to me.” [pg. 46] In one of the last chapters, two men duel and one of them is killed.In one brief conversation, the apprentices puzzle over why Shakespeare is so pensive. One boy suggests that he is brooding over a thwarted love affair, to which another of the boys indignantly responds that Shakespeare is already married.Omens are mentioned – Widge crosses himself on one occasion. Also, the ghost of Hamlet’s father makes an appearance, but everyone knows it’s an actor dressed up as a ghost.As far as language goes, the favorite exclamations by far are ‘Gog’s bread’ and ‘Gog’s blood’, although God’s name is used twice and ‘d***’ once. Also, ‘Holy Mother’ and ‘Mother Mary’ are used once or twice as exclamations. One man insults another by calling him a ‘college a**’ which doesn’t have the same connotations of the American use of the word, but is still worth mentioning.Conclusion. Fine – superb. I loved this story and I think that lovers of classic literature will enjoy it as well.Visit The Blithering Bookster to read more reviews!www.blitheringbookster.com
Even though this novel had promise I can't bring myself to give it more stars, I want to, but there were too many gaps and the author didn't have very good writing. The plot was interesting- being set in Shakespeare's time and that's mostly why I liked this book. The characters made it exciting and that's how the author got through, not because of good writing or description. The main character, even though, made the story line move along and was a very well developed character, the author didn't show him as well as he could at some places. It took too long for him to make up his mind about what to do even though it was so obvious...But I did like how he changed through the story and matured... Here is my review:A poor orphan called Widge is ordered to steal a play from Shakespeare, because the boy knows a coded language in which words can be written, his master uses it and sends him to write the whole play down as the actors say it onstage. At the theater, the actors take him in and start training him to be an actor, not knowing what to do and knowing that what he was doing was wrong by stealing the play, the orphan boy starts to understand who he is and what he was meant to be doing.This is a very good mystery story but some parts I wanted more of and I definitely wanted to see more of Shakespeare! :) I understood the main character and really liked him because he was unique and needed to feel "belonged" and who of us doesn't? Relatable characters and a good plot make this book a one of a kind... Again, I'm always in love with books with a good background history plot so I liked this one a lot because of that too. I would most likely recommend. Interest level: Medium-high Reading level: Medium
What do You think about The Shakespeare Stealer (2000)?
This book was interesting in some parts, but in other parts, I felt that it was repetitive and almost as if the author was running out of things to say. Sometimes, I found myself almost wanting to put the book down and get another book. I think if there was some more humor, the book would have been more interesting and I would have enjoyed it more. Overall, I liked the plot and mostly, how events were organized in the book. I might recommend this to someone who wants to read a more interesting historical fiction book.
—Allison C
The last book i read this summer is shakespeare stealer by Gary Blackwood. This was about a young boy Widge that was placed in orphanage at a very young age when his mother died, the orphanage was ran by Mistress MacGregor. Widge desired for someday a real family to claim him as there own, as and orphan child would have. At the age of seven widge's desire became reality, a rector named Dr. timothy Bright from a nearby village was looking for a apprentice and mistress macgergor suggested widge and it was settled that widge now belonged to Dr. Bright. Even though widge was not keen on the idea of being a apprentice he obeyed the orders Dr. Bright gave him. Later in the book Dr. bright taught Widge a type of shorthand language and how to transcribe a paper or a script as fast as people say it out loud that Dr. bright uses in his studies, he taught him this so he could steal other preachers sermons for himself. deeper in to the book widge is passed on to a new master, the mans named that he was passed on to is Mr. simon bass. when Mr. Bass found out widges talent in short hand he wants to use them to steal Shakespeare play Hamlet for himself. widge was ordered to find away in to the globe theater and write the play down in shorthands and send it off to london to Mr. Bass's friend Falconer. Widge's first attempt he failed to steal the play his second attempt he failed again. Then Widge attempted to poses as a performer hoping to be accepted by the other performers and luckily Widge is accepted in lord chamberlain's men and Widge finally felt that he is in a true loyal family that he always wanted. But that didn't stop falconer from persisting Widge to steal the play and Widge is torn between staying with loyal friends and his following his masters orders. This book has a great ending and has a true meaning of trust friendship and loyalty and a great historical novel this wasn't my favorite book but i was extremely interesting and i recommend it to any body who is interested in Shakespeare or really history in general and to any body who is looking for a good historical read.
—Mina
Good: The characters were really interesting and I loved how the author gave a sort of family atmosphere on the story. The story had some cool surprises like Julian actually being a girl and Nick. I don't know why but I thought Nick would be the typical Tsundere character. I just used an anime term but its the best descriptor for the type of character. A Tsundere character is one that is hard on the outside and kind on the inside. Nick was surprisingly enough not that character, he was just mean and greedy just like he appeared. I really appreciated the language which stayed true to the period, there were even a couple moments I had to re-read to get what the character was saying. There was even a moment that I don't know if the author was trying to make a joke or not but one of the characters said "At least were not in a Tennis Court." I am aware the Tennis Court Oath is 200 years later but I thought it was funny, it just seemed like a subliminal bash on the French! Oh geeze, the Euro nerd is coming out. Well, while I'm on my soap box I might as well talk a little about the history, I loved how accurate it was, it used little details I only learned about in my British Literature class, I love that the author throws those details in, in a book aimed at gradeschoolers! It makes makes my little teacher heart flutter. (In case I haven't mentioned this already I plan on becoming a Grade School teacher. :) )Bad: As I mentioned earlier, I kind of saw the plot coming, the cover was a bit misleading but I knew Widge would have an oppressive master and he would be adopted by the company then not steal it, the master would then try to take revenge. I had troubles keeping all the characters strait and was tempted to flip back and forth to figure out who was who but the book would straiten that out soon enough. I really can't complain too much, the book really doesn't have too many problems, if anything it seems like the author expects the reader to understand a lot about the Elizabethan era. Honestly I think it's good to expect that of kids. :)
—Abigail Geesey
