The Shakespeare Conspiracy - A Novel: The Story of the Greatest Literary Deception of All Time - Based Entirely on Historical Facts

I read this book because of my growing interest in Marlowe, who happens I think to be one of the most interesting characters in literary history, a larger than life personality credited with transforming the blank verse which many associate with Shakespeare.He was a poet, a spy, and an outstanding playwright, and reputed to possibly be gay.His plays Edward the second and Dr Faustus have been made into movies, but all his plays are excellent. But for his premature death in 1593, scholars speculate that his achievements would rival those of Shakespeare. Some earlier Shakespeare scholars have even claimed that Marlowe did write several plays attributed to Shakespeare.The First and Second Parts of the Contention (aka Henry the sixth parts 1 and 2) were first published anonymously in 1594 and 1595 respectively. A second quarto also anonymous followed in 1600, after Shakespeare's name first appeared on a play in 1598. A third quarto with the name W. Shakespeare appeared in 1619 , three years after Shakespeare died as part of the ten False Folio publications where certain plays were backdated and some were given the false attribution of by W Shakespeare, as were these two. This play has been discounted by scholars as written by William Shakespeare. Yet an extensively rewritten and renamed version appears four years later in the First Folio of 1623, with about 1200 new lines is considered to be by Shakespeare.Marlovian theory proposes the supposed murder in 1593 did not really happen, but was staged as he was about to be charged with atheism and numerous other charges, so that he could continue to live and write without being religiously persecuted. The first recorded appearance of Shakespeare as a writer occurs within days of Marlowe's death as the writer of Venus and Adonis.There is a tremendous repetition of Marlowe phrases throughout the Shakespeare canon, so much so that one can rightly wonder, was Shakespeare a blatant plagiarist, or did Marlowe live and continue to write his work under the name of Shakespeare.Bacino's book follows conventional Marlowe theory, and I personally found it very entertaining. I think this book would make for a great movie and found the account to be quite compelling. If I was the writer I would probably change a few things.For example, I would introduce the Shakespeare Sonnet narrative so that letter sent to his lover would show the consistency between Marlowe's life and the sonnets.Some of the scenes described simply sparkled, and moved smoothly from scene to scene. I did like for example the interactions between Marlowe and Shakespeare, and the idea of a pursuit theme enhanced the sense of what was at stake, making it life and death.Currently the idea of Marlowe as a vampire seems to be in vogue. A recent movie by Jim Jarmusch features John Hurt as the vampire Marlowe, resentful that Shakespeare is getting credit for all his work. There are also vampire books by Rosemary Laurie featuring a vampire Kit Marlowe.A more conventional book is an outstanding no vampire in sight blank verse novel by Ros Barber, The Marlowe Papers, which has won several literary prizes, and impressively made several year end recommended book lists.Just because a book is about Marlowe is no guarantee of brilliance, and they do vary in quality. However, I do recommend The Shakespeare Conspiracy.I think it does need enhancement in certain areas particularly tying it in to both the Sonnet narrative, entirely consistent with a life of banishment and exile, and to having scenes with the plays being performed,and seeing parallels between the story in a play and Marlowe's experiences, or even parallel quotes to Marlowe plays.I think if the subject of Marlowe interests you, you will enjoy this book.

Interesting presentation of what may have been. Never paid much attention to the conspiracy idea. Bought it because the author seems to have come from my hometown and it showed up in a school newsletter. Kept my attenton, but the theory may be off-putting to more conservative folk than I, as it deals with homosexuality.

I did a video review of this book here: [...]But to sum up:This book feels like a first draft. At best. The characters are uninteresting, the narrative voice can't seem to decide whether it's a novel or a textbook, and the entirety of the novel is in dire need of a proofread.

I felt the who story was told very well and the way each chapter was verified at the end was excellent.

Great book and a really interesting concept and theory...read it and it just may open your eyes to it !!!

My brother is a Shakespeare maven so I got it for him. He read a chapter and quit. Not very good says him.

A meaty fictional novel on how the author thinks Christopher Marlowe staged his death and lived on to be the actual writer of Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets. Note: I’m a huge proponent of the theory that Shakespeare didn’t write the plays; my favorite notion is Marlowe, but I don’t insist on it. I had no idea this book was about that when I digitally picked it up, but I’m sure that played a part in why I enjoyed it. On the other hand, there was much that could have been done better.First and foremost, I think the author is pushing it when he insists that the common lines between Marlowe and Shakespeare are proof of the former still being alive. Plagiarism would seem to be the horse rather than the zebra here. There were points where I thought the writing could have been improved as well. But the other historical evidence he uses, some of which I hadn’t heard before, is spot on, and the fact it plays right into my own beliefs only makes it all the more fun. My favorite line is about Shakespeare holding horses for the gentry while they were watching the plays; so he wasn’t even a good enough actor, he was just the valet!A bunch of notes, almost a fifth of the book, at the end on what is fact and what is fiction; some are rather startling.3.5 pushed up to 4/5

BRIEF REVIEWA disappointing book I was looking forward to reading and one which really does not advance the Marlovian venture very far. It has obviously been well-researched but the arguments hinge on weak historical evidence and, although the writer made a great effort to write a novel from "historical facts", the style is not assured. I remain unconvinced although I am pleased I read it.FULLER VERSIONHaving been interested in this subject for many years, I have a shelf full of books in the genre and this novel, with the catchy title, attracted my attention while buying "The Reckoning" by Charles Nicholls.The black cover, b/w Shakespeare and Marlowe drawings peering out and Gothic lettering reminded me of Hammer House of Horror for some reason - not a good start. The opening dedications to Marlowe, "May he some day receive credit for all his works" and Hoffman, "Who kindled the flame of enquiry" followed by one of those "Da Vinci Code" type statements, i.e. "All documents, persons, dates, Shakespearean quotes (annoying noun/verb confusion - my brackets)... are historically accurate ..." and the "Fact versus Fiction" section , made me wonder if Bacino "doth protest too much, methinks". I was only fifty words in by that stage. Hoffman may have fanned the Marlovian flame but he did not kindle what was already burning brightly.Never one to judge a book by its cover and always willing to give an author a chance, (even when changing up into speed-reading mode), I read it with interest and expectation at normal speed. Always willing to make the writer welcome, like the sheep in Orwell's "Animal Farm", I often find myself agreeing with the writer I am reading at the time, so convincing do some of their arguments read.The textual appearance struck me immediately - very short paragraphs and much of it dialogue - and, with some exceptions, this continued throughout; an author without the use of varied paragraph lengths, therefore few developed and explored descriptive sections, is deprived of an essential element of the authorial voice and neglects a vital factor of the readers' expectations. My uneasy uncertainty with the narrative structure and voice was exacerbated by a growing feeling that there was uncertainty in the writer's mind as to whether this was a novel or a factual, "scholarish" account, confirming my already established uncertainty from previous texts about the concept of "factual fiction"; it is an unhappy liaison, a confusing and unconvincing oxymoron. Add to this the proof-reading inaccuracies I wanted to correct on the page - the "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" in me - and I was losing faith in Bacino.Despite my allegiance to Shakespeare, the insubstantial man (apart for his plays and will!), something made me want to like this book and I continued to offer the writer another chance. (That catchy title again!) Having found the idea compelling and, in many ways believable, I continued reading with generosity, to be rewarded in many ways. Bacino is obviously an assiduous, punctilious and determined scholar very capable of finding his way around the myriad of references, sources and hints remaining from this fascinating period of English and British history and marshalling them into effective fighting units ready for the fray he knows will come; he is also a very competent writer with some wonderful turns of phrase and observations, even if he did decide to deny himself authorial opportunities, i.e. the fuller, developed paragraphs. (The absence of the enhanced paragraph is indicative of the nature of the material; an author telling a story created/being created in the mind, uses the developed descriptions to relate and build the narrative, i.e. it is an internal process being externalised. The historian or detective is "merely" organising facts already in existence in order to prove a point.) A novel writer needs to engage readers with the characters by creating them in the minds and hearts; historians tend to cater only for the mind. The characters do not belong to them, their lives are their own and they have lived them.By Part Three "The Chase Across Italy" (P 113), I had denied Bacino my belief and read out of duty, pesonal and academic interest; the writing style was changing, an indication that there were no facts to relate and "creativity", an understandable reaction given the extreme dearth of material available, apart from a knowledge of Italy and the later Shakespeare plays. In some ways, it is more fluid writing.Once I divested myself of the heavy weight of expectation and angrily corralled the disappointment, I finished the book and enjoyed it for what it was - "a tale ... signifying nothing".The theory is founded on speculation and insubstantial links. "FACT - Marlowe had been living with Thomas Kyd for two years and had recently moved in with Sir Thomas Walsingham. The common term for two men living together was "chamber fellows". "FACT - Homosexual relationships were quietly accepted at that time was long as one's liaisons remained within one's own class." (Page 241) The mere juxtaposition of the sentences does not guarantee or bestow verity on the content - even if - nod, nod, wink, wink - there "was a common saying on the streets of London about the new King (James I) `That young men lie in his bedchamber and are his minions'", he did not wash and "had a constant habit of playing with his codpiece".As Bacino stated more than once in the "Historical Data" end section - "There are, however, strong opinions on `both' sides ..." on a sizeable number of issues. All in all, with the questionable historical facts, a non-engaging narrative, and a clear lack of proper proof-reading, regardless of which side of the Shakespearean Authorship Debate readers are on, this book did not advance it any further. Others may read it differently.For readers not already familiar with the Tudor Secret Service, the shadowy world of Sir Francis Walsingham and the murky life on the Tudor and Jacobean streets, this book will fascinate them; he creates the times with a great deal of detail (and debunks the "Virgin Queen" along the way. Recruited at Cambridge as an undergraduate, Marlowe's time as a "secret agent" is well known and, of course, Cambridge has been recruiting ever since.Disappointing but I am pleased I read it. Even if the GPS system leads one down the wrong track, one learns about the mistaken route, the route one should have taken and the usefulness of GPS systems."And therefore sit you down in gentleness,And take upon command what help we haveThat to your wanting may be minst'red."As You Like It Act 2, scene 7, 120-126PS There was a little, encouraging hint involving computer analysis but that is a longer review for another time but the search is on.