Author: Anthony Burgess
Publisher: Vintage
Publication Date: 2010 (1992)
Pages: 288
Format: Paperback
Genre: Fiction
Source: Birthday Gift
A Dead Man in Deptford re-imagines the riotous life and suspicious death of Christopher Marlowe. Poet, lover and spy, Marlowe must negotiate the pressures placed upon him by theatre and Queen and country. Burgess brings this dazzling figure to life and pungently evokes Elizabethan England. (Goodreads Synopsis)
I loved A Dead Man in Deptford from the very first page. Burgess' prose style really evokes the period and he makes a Kit a memorable and loveable character; I just adored him from start to finish. The prose style does make this a little stodgy at times, considering it is only a short novel, but I didn't find that a detraction in this instance. If anything, I had to remind myself it was only fiction a couple of times, and I ended the book with a desire to read some more scholarly works on Marlowe's life, and to re-watch Doctor Faustus and dig out my old Edward II programme from the Globe production.
This is a wonderful read for fans of historical literary fiction and for those interested in the Elizabethan period and theatre history.
A great review of a great book. I also enjoyed reading it both as historical fiction and as another stylistic triumph by Burgess. It reminds me that I should be reading some more Burgess in the new year.
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