A longtime college teacher in California, Jinny Webber has always been fascinated by the vibrant theater and society of the Elizabethan era, and in particular its complicated gender roles on and off-stage. She has explored those themes in earlier novels The Secret Player and Dark Venus. Her short stories and essays have been published in Blood and Roses, Library Book: Writers on Libraries, Splickety Spark, and Greek Myths Revisited. Her plays include Dearly Begotten, a spin-off from Titus Andronicus, Qualities of Mercy, Queen Undaunted: Margaret of Anjou, and Bedtrick, based on the novel. She has acted in local productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Taming of the Shrew, and directed As You Like It and David Starkey’s How Red the Fire.
Jinny Webber blogs at jinnywebber.com
“What a treat it is to encounter a fine piece of historical-literary fiction such as this … a unique weaving of historical events with complex conversations … engaging from the first page to the last.” — Chautauqua Prize Reviewers
"... an absorbing and credible picture of the world of Elizabethan theatre. Highly recommended." — Ray Thompson, Historical Novels Review
“Over four dozen mostly real-life characters … bob in and out of the narrative, adding to the portrait of London’s vibrant, high-caliber arts community. … Was such open-mindedness really possible in 17th-century England? Maybe not. But the protagonist’s likability — and Bedtrick’s immersive richness — makes us want to believe it anyway.” — Gisèle Lewis, Washington Independent Review of Books
"It takes at least five 'wonderfuls' to praise Bedtrick, this gorgeous and immersive novel of the final years of Elizabethan England. … Webber not only understands the human heart and the transmutable nature of love; but in Bedtrick, she also proves to be an astute Shakespeare whisperer." – Leslie Carroll/Juliet Grey, author of the acclaimed Marie Antoinette trilogy
"Filled with quotations from Shakespeare and an insider’s view of his plays, this is a charming story of love triumphing in the midst of intolerance." — C. P. Lesley, New Books Network and LitHub: listen to the podcast conversation
"Steeped in the mores and events of the Shakespeare’s London, Bedtrick vibrates with contemporary resonance." — Paul Mason Barnes, Director, Great River Shakespeare Festival
"From its opening pages, Bedtrick envelopes us in its richly imagined world as we cheer for its genderbending hero, Sander Cooke, a character so complex and appealing surely Shakespeare himself would have envied Webber’s creation." — David Starkey, author of What Just Happened
" . . . a behind-the-scenes look at London and Shakespeare’s stage and company. Webber’s choice of gendering Alexander Cooke cleverly provides a space to interrogate the gender and gender fluidity of the time.” — Hardy Cook, Editor Emeritus, SHAKSPER
“Passion, sensuality, sexuality, and survival interwoven into a rollicking fine tale. Webber brings Shakespeare's era to life engaging us both on and off the stage.” — E. Bonnie Lewis, Co-Artistic Director, DramaDogs
“… a wonderful read about the theatre and gender in London during the transition from Elizabeth I to James VI.” — Mort Weisman, Emeritus Publisher, The Swallow Press
Gender, sex, and disguise, on stage and off ...
Once a boy player in Shakespeare’s company, Sander Cooke is now a hired man playing female roles. When Frances Field reveals she is pregnant by Sander’s brother, Johnny, a fellow actor and aspiring playwright, Johnny makes it clear that marriage is not in his plans. But if Frances gives birth to a bastard, she’ll lose her shop on London Bridge and her position as one of Queen Elizabeth’s silkwomen. Sander would like to come to Frances’ rescue: only Sander has a secret, kept both onstage and off – she is actually a woman. Even their friend Moll Frith, who goes around blatantly as a man, wouldn’t marry a woman, but she does find Sander and Frances a wayward, short-sighted priest to perform the wedding. It is a marriage of convenience, but can these two women make a true union of it?
Winding around this unconventional marriage, the London stage of the period comes alive, alongside political anxieties and rebellion, troubles in Ireland, the plague, and the aging Queen’s failure to name a successor.
November 16, 2021
$17, paperback, 344 pages
ISBN 9781944453145
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eISBN 9781944453152
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