From 1599 until her death in 1603, Queen Elizabeth’s reign begins to lose its magic. She’s worked hard to be a Prince ‘in a feeble woman’s body,’ the almost mythic Gloriana, but her powers may be waning. Tensions outside her control contribute: intermittent bad weather and crops, possibilities of the recurrence of plague, threatening Irish rebels, worries that Spain might mount another attack. Perhaps the country needs a younger leader, some think. Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex once the Queen’s dear Robbie, may fancy himself such a man.
The Queen remains stalwart. As with all tense times, fear can outrun actual threats. Social change or even disaster hover, particularly because childless, she has not named a successor to the throne. A handful of Stuart cousins and noblemen with royal blood have their advocates.
This era is reflected in the plays William Shakespeare writes, from the light-hearted Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night, to Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida, and his two ‘problem comedies’, Measure for Measure and All’s Well that Ends Well.
Alexander Cooke, protagonist of Bedtrick and the actor who plays the leading female roles in these plays, views the issues of the day from a unique perspective. Sex, gender, and disguise on and offstage play through the story of Sander Cooke’s unique marriage of convenience.
Bedtrick is scheduled for release November 1, 2021. See publisher’s website for more information: https://cuidono.com/Webber_Bedtrick.html.
This book can be preordered from your local bookstore or from Amazon.