THIS THING OF DARKNESS

In Batchelder’s novel, William Shakespeare fakes his death and settles in Jamestown among hostile neighbors and a night-prowling beast.

Bored with retired, domestic life in Stratford, William Shakespeare decides to fake his own death and set out for the New World under a new name. Accompanying the newly minted William Kemp is his Black illegitimate son, Xander, who was entrusted to William’s care by his dying mother. While at sea, William befriends Margaret, a man living as a woman. The unlikely trio move into a house on the outskirts of Jamestown; they discover the house was left vacant after the previous owners were killed by a mysterious beast. The locals prove to be unfriendly, prejudiced against Margaret and Xander, and unwilling to help hunt down the mysterious creature, even as it claims more victims. Left to his own devices, William finds that he’s willing to go to any lengths to protect his newfound family. Lovers of Shakespeare and his contemporaries will find plenty of Easter eggs sprinkled throughout the story (readers are given about half the book to piece together clues about Will Kemp’s original identity before the name Shakespeare is thrown out haphazardly in a flashback scene). What seems like a setup for a rollicking adventure is ultimately revealed to be a melancholy rumination on family, society, outcasts, and the things worth valuing in life. Glimpses of Shakespeare’s trademark wit, along with a satisfying ending, keep the story from getting too grim. Any fictional depiction of Shakespeare faces the challenge of living up to the original’s facility with words. This story succeeds at the task without trying too hard to be clever: “‘I have a magnificent beast. But you have not, and a searching party can only travel at the speed of its slowest member.’ ‘Marry, sir, I know not which is worse, that you do think me slow, or worse, a ‘member.’’”

A dark but entertaining novel for Shakespeare diehards and casual fans alike.