BLACK SWAN CL [Hardcover]

Farrukh Dhondy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 27, 1993

Rose becomes embroiled in a dangerous mystery involving political and academic intrigue, a puzzle that has its roots in Elizabethan England, the turbulent theater world, and the argument over the authorship of Shakepeare's plays.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Multilayered, challenging and filled with mysterious beauty, this quirky novel will provide a rare treat for sophisticated readers who enjoy the works of Peter Dickinson, Jill Paton Walsh and Robert Westall. Aspiring actress Rose, who lives with her mother in a poor London neighborhood, has recently graduated from a prestigious secondary school which she attended on scholarship. When her mother falls ill, Rose takes over her job as cook and housekeeper for eccentric old Mr. Bernier, who lives in Salman Rushdie-like isolation. Mr. Bernier has acquired an Elizabethan manuscript, which he believes to be the diary of one Simon Forman, "a scientist and a magician and necromancer and all sorts of other things," including friend to the playwright Christopher Marlowe and his lover, the black man known as Lazarus. Mr. Bernier dictates to Rose from the manuscript, recounting a tale of cunning machinations, thwarted love and the "true" origins of Shakespeare's plays; meanwhile, Mr. Bernier's enemies draw near. Both the 16th-century and the contemporary story lines are utterly engrossing. Dhondy's pulse-quickening novel makes crystal-clear the revolutionary power of the written and the spoken word. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

By an Indian-born author, an elaborately convoluted novel with a framing story about an aspiring young actor, Rose, who's caring for mysterious old ``Mr. B,'' for whom she transcribes a document comprising the book's other narrative--the journal of Simon Forman, an Elizabethan physician embroiled in theatrical politics. Forman's intricately plotted revelations center on a black man known as ``Mr. W. H.'' or ``Lazarus,'' whose terrible adventures include feigned death and new identities--as do, it emerges, Mr. B's: He's a former political figure, now in hiding; like Lazarus, he's come from the Caribbean. Kit Marlowe, too, fakes his own murder and lives to love Lazarus; singly and together, they write the plays attributed to Shakespeare (here pictured as a drunkard of small talent), with Othello expressing Lazarus's grief at his betrayal by Marlowe. It's an intriguingly complicated construction, though Dhondy introduces more issues and ideas--in both eras--than could be comfortably accommodated in twice the space. The bard's plays as the creation of a cruelly tormented black man is an imaginative concept; but Forman's narrative, though carefully honed and incorporating phrases from the plays, is unconvincingly Elizabethan, even given the identity that Dhondy (in a last twist) gives its author. Still, a fast- moving, idea-packed read that will stretch young minds. It's outrageous that the publisher underestimates their intelligence enough to call Rose's mother ``Mom.'' (Fiction. 12+) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 217 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin; First Edition edition (September 27, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395660769
• ISBN-13: 978-0395660768
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,419,348 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars very good but a bit "queer" -if you know what i mean, April 24, 2000

By 

"vezel" (America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: BLACK SWAN CL (Hardcover)

This book is an interesting literary mystery. However it does go into the more shadowy aspects of human character. Some parts (but not many) of the book are very boring though. If you like mysteries, you should read this book.

4.0 out of 5 stars very good but a bit "queer" -if you know what i mean, April 24, 2000

By 

"vezel" (America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: BLACK SWAN CL (Hardcover)

This book is an interesting literary mystery. However it does go into the more shadowy aspects of human character. Some parts (but not many) of the book are very boring though. If you like mysteries, you should read this book.