An utterly spellbinding and equally shattering novel we are thrilled to celebrate as a LoveReading Star Book. Shay, Nonesuch, and other young performers create The Ghost Theatre in Elizabethan London, staging plays that threaten to encourage a rebellion. From the moment I began I knew I would be heading into a darkness that I might not return from, and it’s all the more powerful for that. This hovers on the edge of genre, don’t expect anything other than the world in which you find yourself. This is a time of strife, defiance, and savagery, yet there is a whisper of underlying hope throughout, hope that I was almost too fearful to reach out and touch in case it flew away. This novel took me deep into the souls of the main characters and I felt entirely invested in their beautifully compelling lives. As the pace danced and rampaged through plot I found myself slowing down and speeding up as I read, becoming at one with the words. I felt a pure tidal wave of emotion, I laughed and I cried. The heady intimacy of the setting, the connectivity with the birds and animals, the danger that hovered with lit touchpaper, all entered my thoughts and took up residence. A Liz Pick of the Month, The Ghost Theatre is an all-consuming almost overwhelming novel, and yet a complete joy to experience.
** 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 Julia
On 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 Enriquez
Readers 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'
