The Gentleman Poet
Kathryn Johnson
Avon, 2010
Elizabeth Persons, an orphan, ends up in Bermuda after being shipwrecked, where she falls in love with the ship's cook and is befriended by a mysterious poet, William, who writes a play for the survivors about their predicament on the island.
At first, I assumed this was a story of some depth and character; after all, William Shakespeare was a character. Soon I discovered that it had all the elements of a typical romance novel without any of the charm of a Shakespeare creation. In fact, I was supremely disappointed in the flat and stereotypical characters (a crotchety mistress, a headstrong servant girl, a mysterious stranger, etc. etc.), the typical boy meets girl plot sequence, and the unreliable historical details. I looked in vain for evidence that Shakespeare actually went on a boat trip to America; if this isn’t true about an actual person, then what else did the author use liberties with?
Romance readers may love this book; it has all the elements of a light-hearted love story with a happy ending. Historical fiction and Shakespeare fans may want to look elsewhere.
Rating:
Kathryn Johnson
Avon, 2010
Elizabeth Persons, an orphan, ends up in Bermuda after being shipwrecked, where she falls in love with the ship's cook and is befriended by a mysterious poet, William, who writes a play for the survivors about their predicament on the island.
At first, I assumed this was a story of some depth and character; after all, William Shakespeare was a character. Soon I discovered that it had all the elements of a typical romance novel without any of the charm of a Shakespeare creation. In fact, I was supremely disappointed in the flat and stereotypical characters (a crotchety mistress, a headstrong servant girl, a mysterious stranger, etc. etc.), the typical boy meets girl plot sequence, and the unreliable historical details. I looked in vain for evidence that Shakespeare actually went on a boat trip to America; if this isn’t true about an actual person, then what else did the author use liberties with?
Romance readers may love this book; it has all the elements of a light-hearted love story with a happy ending. Historical fiction and Shakespeare fans may want to look elsewhere.
Rating:
This is the author’s first novel.
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