The Ghost Theatre : Utterly transporting historical fiction, Elizabethan London as you've never seen it

Author: Osman, Mat

Historical fiction

Published on 28 March 2024 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC in the United Kingdom.

Paperback | 320 pages
197 x 129 x 24 | 226g

** NOW WITH BONUS MATERIAL EXCLUSIVE TO THIS EDITION **BOOK OF THE YEAR - EVENING STANDARD, THE OBSERVER and THE TIMES ‘Fiction that's larger than life and twice as much fun’ Guardian'Rich and evocating; the kind of story you get lost in' Independent 'Osman brings the underworld of Elizabethan London to life' Sandra Newman, author of JuliaOn a rooftop in Elizabethan London two worlds collide. Shay is a messenger-girl and trainer of hawks who sees the future in the patterns of birds. Nonesuch is the dark star of the city's fabled child theatre scene, as famous as royalty yet lowly as a beggar.

Together they create The Ghost Theatre: a troupe staging magical plays in London's hidden corners. As their hallucinatory performances incite rebellion among the city's outcasts, the pair's relationship sparks and burns against a backdrop of the plague and a London in flames. Their growing fame sweeps them up into the black web of the Elizabethan court, where Shay and Nonesuch discover that if they fly too high, a fall is sure to come…Fantastical and captivating, The Ghost Theatre charts the rise and dramatic destruction of a dream born from love and torn apart by betrayal.

'Wildly inventive and full of fantastical elements jostling alongside gritty realism’ The Times 'Rich and evocative with shades of Angela Carter' Ever Dundas'A story of rebellion and magic, of mysticism and broken love in the streets and theatres and rooftops of Elizabethan London. Beautifully written, delicate and sad. I'm still haunted by it' Mariana EnriquezReaders LOVE The Ghost Theatre‘An incredible novel that completely transported me’‘Mat Osman is a magical writer’‘One of those books you find yourself thinking about long after the final page’‘A captivating and brilliant novel’‘Mesmerising… I didn’t want it to end’‘A magical flight across Elizabethan England’‘An enthralling read from beginning to end’