Customer Reviews

Interred with Their Bones

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

If you are a Shakespeare lover, you will be absolutely seduced by the quest for a lost play. Even if you are not, the adventure and appeal of this story might send you back to the bookstore to buy Hamlet immediately after you finish it! The other reviews offer more plot detail, but I will say that while this book can't possibly escape comparisons to the Da Vinci Code, this is so much better written (without the silly withheld information or artificial cliffhangers). The novel is loaded with thoughtful discussions of the various mysteries about Shakespeare, but they never get in the way of a steadily moving plot that only gets better and better as the novel goes on. I read it while traveling, and never has a plane flight gone so fast. I highly recommend it and will be buying it for all my friends for Christmas.

Let's get one thing perfectly clear at the outset. This is a "Da Vinci Code" clone. Live with it! It is better than Dan Brown's original--but, then, what isn't?

As has been noted elsewhere in these Amazon reviews, perhaps the most interesting portion of this book is to be found in the Author's Note at the back of the volume. In it, Dr. Carrell tells how she came upon Shakespeare's possible lost plays in E. K. Chambers' magisterial four-volume study, "The Elizabethan Stage."

"I began to wonder," she writes, "what would it be like to find one of these plays. Where might one unearth such a thing? What would the moment of discovery feel like? And what would the finding do to the shape of one's life--apart from the obvious bestowal of instant wealth and fame?" [Hardback edition, page 407]

"Interred with Their Bones" is Dr. Carrell's 405 page attempt to answer the questions generated by her reading of Chambers.

The format of the answering takes the form of an academic quest generously laced with copious amounts of homicide, general looniness and sight-seeing. The object of the quest, the McGuffin, is a manuscript of a play that was produced before the English royal court in 1613 under the name "Cardenno" or maybe "Cardenna" that may or may not have been the same as a play registered in 1653 (but never published) under the names of John Beaumont and William Shakespeare and called "Cardenio."

The course to be followed by the protagonists is the one set out in that universal guidebook for lunatic quests, "The Da Vinci Code." Faithful to its precepts, the questors will find themselves beset by people who drop mysterious clues because, for some unexplained reason, they refuse to express themselves in simple declarative sentences. There are enough deaths to make one think that at least one of the characters must be a second cousin to an unusually aggressive upas tree. Naturally, commonsense is in short supply or there wouldn't be a book at all. (After all, why should one waste breath talking to the cops merely because one's nearest and dearest friends are dropping like flies: there are files to be rifled and planes to catch!) And it need hardly be said that the whole is seasoned with regular lashings of surprises, hair-breadth escapes, betrayals, revisions and then re-revisions of relationships.

So far, so good. But what is a Brownian academic mystery without crackpot theories? This book abounds in them, hardly a surprise considering the history of Shakespearean scholarship. Included in the crackpot-iana, but by no means exhausting the list, are theories about the skullduggeries of Jacobean aristos, the origins of the play "Cardenno" or "Cardenna" or maybe "Cardenio," the identity of the author(s) of what we call Shakespeare's works, the validity of Shakespeare's sonnets as autobiographical material and the identities of the Dark Lady and the Fair-haired boy who shared the name "Will" with the poet. Ee-haw!

The presentation of the book is competent enough. Dr. Carrell's prose is professionally adequate, although memorable or witty passages--if any--are few and very far between. The crackpot theories are well and fairly presented, some at considerable length--but what's the value of a mad theory in an academic mystery that isn't long-winded, eh? The theories, themselves, are mostly old-hat to anyone who has ever dipped into the wilderness of mirrors that is the "Anti-Stratfordian" controversy.

Oddly, though, there are occasionally jarring little quirks of carelessness that seemed strange from a Ph.D. in literature with a bent for Shakespeare. For example, the phrase, "All that glitters is not gold" or variations on it, appears several times in the book. Not once does the supposed academic superstar heroine ever note that Shakespeare actually wrote "All that glisters is not gold." Even worse, is an old letter bearing the following dateline: "20 May 1881, The Savoy, London." I can't help but think that the heroine might have been disposed toward doubt about the contents of this missive had she realized that the Savoy Hotel in London opened its doors to the public for the first time on August 6, 1889.

Then there is a little motif that I suspect was originally intended to lead somewhere but simply peters out in the published version of the book: fires are started in two different cities, each of which covers the theft of a Shakespearean First Folio. Fair enough. But the folios are casually described at beautiful books. Anyone who has ever taken a good, close look at a Folio or even a facsimile of one will immediately realize that it is a perfectly dreadful-looking book, a distinctly inferior example of the printing art of the early 17th Century, as is amply demonstrated by the willingness of its owners to chuck it out when the much better looking Second Folio was published some years later. In one of those fires, it is clear that a Gutenberg Bible displayed beside the First Folio had been destroyed, a fact that elicits not the slightest hint of regret from anybody in the book. In fact, a First Folio is a mere collectible. Its true (as opposed to monetary) value resides solely in its text, something that has been relentlessly examined and reproduced for the better part of four centuries. If all the First Folios were to be burnt, the world would not be appreciably worse off. A Gutenberg Bible, on the other hand, was a magnificent work of art on the day it was first printed and remains so to this day. The loss of one out of the survivors of the original printing run of about two hundred would be an artistic catastrophe.

Finally, there is Dr. Carrell's peculiar omission of the fact that a claim was made in the late 20th Century that "Cardenio" had actually been found. It was identified as an old play that had never actually been lost, a piece traditionally attributed to Massinger under the title of "The Second Maiden's Tragedy." Admittedly, the claim has not exactly taken the academic community by storm. On the other hand, it hasn't generated a string of murders--yet.

This is a first novel about a lunatic academic quest. It is generally more intelligent and respectable than "The Da Vinci Code," rather less over-hyped and breathless, and just about as illogically plotted. For devotees of academic puzzlers, it's probably worth four stars, but for the general mystery reader, three will do.

I wanted to like this book, I really did. I snapped it up as soon as I saw it at the library as I am always interested in all things Shakespeare. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed. It is clear that the author has done her research, and she is clearly very much enamored of Shakespeare and his work as well. What I was unable to disbelieve were the actions of the main characters. I couldn't buy that an academic would doggedly keep pursuing a literary mystery despite an ever mounting body count of individuals who "helped" her on her quest. It seemed to me that after the first murder she would have thought, "I think I am in over my head. I'll let the authorities handle it and go back to my research." I also was annoyed that the killer was constantly announcing his presence by loudly drawing a knife from his sheath. Seriously, this was a very overused plot device. It seemed as though at every possible opportunity the author wanted to emphasize that the killer was carrying a knife. Okay, I get it, scary, scary, scary! I wish I could recommend this book as a thriller, but I can't. It does have some merit as a fun way to learn more about some of the theories regarding Shakespeare's identity.

Conspiracies abound in this novel, which shifts from London's Globe Theater in 1613 to a restored Globe in 2004, where Shakespearean scholar Kate Stanley is making her directorial debut. On the eve of the opening, Kate receives a visit from and old and sometimes contentious friend, Rosalind Howard, Harvard Professor of Shakespeare. Asking for Kate's help after years of estrangement, Roz hints at an important discovery she has made, thrusting a gold-wrapped box into Kate's hand as they hastily arrange a meeting for later that night. Waiting on a quiet hillside for Rosalind, Kate feels uneasy, vulnerable; about to leave, she sees her beloved Globe go up in flames in the distance. Rushing back, Kate is followed, but narrowly escapes thanks to her friend, renowned actor Sir Henry Lee. The newly restored building alight, save for the theater itself, Kate goes to her office only to discover Rosalind's body.

In a series of feints and counter feints, Kate Stanley applies herself to the mystery of Roz's discovery, with the help of Sir Henry and a young man who professes kinship to Rosalind. But at every turn, new dangers arise. Undaunted, Kate sidesteps even the police investigator in an effort to find the secret first. As she realizes all too well, someone else is traveling the path, frequently one step ahead. A few narrow misses convince Kate that her protector, Ben Pearl, is an asset, at least for the moment. With Ben's security connections opening doors that allow her to evade the police- and hopefully the killer- Kate follows a convoluted trail, marked at every turn by Shakespearean couplets and centuries-old letters written in a code only a scholar such as Kate can comprehend, from London to Harvard to Utah, Spain and Washington, DC, bodies strewn everywhere in her wake, each modeled after a Shakespearean play.

For lovers of all things Shakespeare, this novel is a treasure trove of innuendo, rumor, and the kind of intellectual debate that has followed the Bard for generations. The few poignant scenes in the early 17th century give some indication of the political intrigue of the era and its passionate causes. Meanwhile, in real time, in spite of increasing menace, Kate persists, eventually turning on those she thought were friends, only to be caught up in yet another level of a very serious game. It is this sense of insecurity and confusion that confounds the heroine, though she forges on for love of the truth. Clearly, prodigious research went into this project, the author leading from one perplexing situation to another, revealing history's mordant sense of humor along the way. From Shakespeare's lost plays to Cervantes' Don Quixote and the mystery of Shakespeare's true identity, Carrell leaves no stone unturned, no grave free from the meddling of those who want answers. Luan Gaines/2007.

The plot of "Interred With Their Bones" is promising. Who can resist arcane Shakespeariana, travel and detection? Sadly, the book is a disappointment from the first chapter and rapidly degenerates to irritating. The heroine is presented as a highly educated, artistic wunderkind yet she impetuously decides to withold information from the police in their investigation of her friend's murder and proceeds to conduct her own, at the trifling expense of the lives of several of her acquaintances. She seems to have no reason for this other than a selfish desire to hoard the victim's gift to her, which constitutes the first clue, and an arrogant belief that due to her Ivy League education she can do a better job than the police of two countries can.

Her lack of remorse for putting her friends in harm's way compounds the cold arrogance of her intellectual superiority. The author, J.L. Carrell, self conciously displays her own familiarity with the resources and politics of academia's most clubby elites by dragging her heroine from one to the next, rapidly turning reader curiosity into irritation. It's like being invited into a store the proprietors know you can't afford to buy anything in. The story line is necessarily choppy due to the switches in locale and secondary characters, the Shakespeare arcania emphasizes high-flown academic criticism rather than the more generally accessible text, and the characters, from the heroine on down, are two dimensional and unengaging since they exist only to serve the irrational plot line. By the time the climax is reached, the story's logic has broken down completely and the denouement is just silly.

Don't bother.

I thought that this book, promising a historic romp through Elizbathan England, probing the many mysteries surrounding the life and identity of William Shakespeare, would be just up my alley. It combines several themes I love -- history, thrillers, England and Shakespeare. Unfortunately, it fell far short of its promise.
The author clearly loves her history and knows enormous amounts about Shakespeare and Shakesperean arcania, Bacon, the Earl of Oxford, Cervantes, Elizabethan politics, the Old West and the theater. But she is unable to construct a coherent plot to put all this information together. The plot indeed is preposterous and quickly becomes incoherent. Bodies pile up faster than in Titus Andronicus but why they are all being killed is beyond me and eventually I stopped caring. The characters are thin. Not one of them is convincing. The heroine is brilliant but cold -- she is amazingly unmoved when completely innocent people drop dead in bizarre ways for no apparent reason. Scenes shift so quickly I got jet-lagged just reading it. We start in London, then move to Boston, to Utah, to New Mexico, back to London, to Stratford upon Avon, to Spain, back to the United States and on and on and on.
This book earns frequent flyer miles but no literary kudos from me.

American Shakespeare scholar Kate Stanley has had the great good fortune to be be appointed director of a new production of Hamlet at London's Globe Theater. Renowned British actor Sir Henry Lee agreed to play the ghost, providing the icing on the cake. It's all going swimmingly until Kate's mentor Rosalind unexpectedly drops by with a cryptic message relating to a stupendous literary discovery. Before she can explain, Roz is murdered ala Hamlet's father, while the Globe itself goes up in flames. The chase is on - can Kate, Sir Henry, and self-appointed bodyguard Ben Pearl first identify, and then locate Roz's extraordinary, probably priceless, find? Can they elude their pursuers, who are unknown to Kate but who will clearly stop at nothing to beat her to the prize?

Author Carrell has woven her story around a basic thriller/mystery framework, embellishing it with her impressive store of knowledge about all things Shakespeare. Kate is a smart, personable heroine, fiercely determined to solve the puzzle as a memorial to her friend. (It is a bit disturbing that Kate continues to doggedly pursue her goal while so many innocent others are dying because of her.) The novel itself is comprised of 5 acts, with most of the action taking place in present time, with much briefer, parallel interludes set in Elizabethan times. The murders, of which there are many, mimic those from famous Shakespearean scenes. And until Act 5, the question of who are the bad guys and who are the good is up in the air.

I always enjoy novels in which the hero exclaims something like, "I gotta get to a library!" While there is plenty of adventure in Interred, this is a didactic book, in which the action is frequently brought to a standstill by the need to explain history, events, dates, and theories. There are so many Elizabethan characters and entanglements in the story that it was often necessary to reread sections in order to keep things straight. Readers who have a strong interest in Shakespeare and his times will be willing to wade on through, but those who don't will probably be less tolerant of the lengthy interruptions. This might have been a 5 star work if the subplot, with its focus on the perennial debate over the Bard's true identity, had been left for another novel.

I'm usually a fan of this genre...history, mystery, England of the 1600's; and yet, the book fell flat. I didn't care about the characters or the mystery surrounding Shakespeare and his (or possibly NOT his)missing play. I didn't care who was committing murder. I didn't care about the dark woman and the lovely, blond youth. I found myself halfway through and didn't care if I finished or not. So, I didn't! Life is too short to read a dull book. Full steam ahead to something more promising.

Interred with Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell is the story of the quest for a lost Shakespearean manuscript and the danger that hides around every corner. Kate Stanley is an expert in occult (knowledge hidden within the texts, not supernatural) Shakespeare who is about to direct Hamlet at the newly built Globe Theater in London. But things quickly take a twist for the strange when her mentor, Roz, shows up with a gift and mysterious message for Kate, then turns up dead at the theater, killed in the manner of Hamlet's father. Kate opens the gift to find a brooch and a message alluding to a lost work of Shakespeare. As she traces Roz's steps to find it, she's hunted and betrayed at every turn. I love books like this! Carrell packs in action, suspense, a hint of romance, and a lot of Shakespeare and Elizabethan trivia making the book a joy to read with every turn of the page. Kate can't quite figure out who to trust and neither can the reader as she flies from England to the US to Spain and back. Carrell's love for The Bard shines through on every page while bringing up questions as to the authorship of the works he's been given credit for. She throws in political machinations from Elizabeth's court and a few scandals, and she weaves fact and fiction so cleverly together, it's nearly impossible to sort them out. (I spent part of the book with Wikipedia open). But God bless her, Carrell also takes the time in length author's notes to separate fact from fiction while still leaving plenty of mystery. The writing and characters are solid. I've read comparisons of this to The DaVinci Code; Dan Brown only wishes his books were this good!

This book is really fun, smart, thrilling, and ultimately satisfying. What an absolutely painless way to learn a wealth about Shakespeare, and even if that isn't your objective you'll love this book. It is just a great story well told.