Age 12+

Jan Mark’s clever reimagining of Will Shakespeare’s teenage years recalls the great Hollywood tradition of kids who decide to put on a show in the barn. Some Stratford friends take it upon themselves to perform a Whitsun entertainment, and 15-year-old Will sets out to write his first script. Starting with a scrap of someone else’s mystery play, he invents a new story in which the villain inspires sympathy and the hero turns out to be something of a hypocrite. Mark follows the workings of the writer’s mind with insight, ingenuity and an ear for Shakespeare’s cadences. The cast consists of ill-assorted schoolboys and workmen, turned gradually into a competent team. The real hero of the novel is Wat the illiterate plasterer, who turns out to have unexpected talents for acting and management. Against the odds, the show goes well. Mark gives the timeless joshing of a bunch of lads a Tudor flavour, and fills her novel with people we could believe were the inspiration for characters we now know. She brings the history to life for readers who are new to Shakespeare, although the more of him you have read, the more resonant and the more fun it will be.

STRATFORD BOYS by Jan Mark

(Hodder £5.99)

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