The Marlowe Papers - Ros Barber

The book opens and we are plunged into dark Elizabethan London and all it's terror. Heretics heads are displayed on spokes along Tower Bridge and the plague ravages the city. And so Christopher Marlowe (or Marley, or indeed Morley to some) begins to recount his journey through both life and death, revealing the truth about that infamous tavern brawl that seemingly led to his demise.

Marlowe’s voracious ambition and unquestionable talent is unravelled as we learn that his naive, foolish tongue was both his rise and his downfall - “though truth was both my glory, and my ruin”. With the benefit of hindsight he is able to reflect on his situation, presenting his accomplishments alongside his failures. His passion for exciting material to fuel his writing leads him to a secondary career in espionage, which allows him to move in circles he would not necessarily have access to, ranging from the palace to the gaol.

Our flawed protagonist is whisked across the channel in an elaborate plot conjured up by his close friends in the hope of preserving his life and his contribution to the stage. And so ensues his travels abroad, where he waits for the “crab-haired queen to crumble”, in the hope that he can return to London once King James takes over the throne and his careless musings on religion will no longer be punishable.

His story has all the elements of the Elizabethan dramas he contributed to during this remarkable period of literature, both penned and performed to an audience; a journey both physical and metaphorical; a variety of disguises both male and female gaining him access to a performance of Richard III on one occasion; the arcane love that simmers below the surface.

Throughout the story his passion for writing, alongside the success, praise and status it delivers, is evident. He doesn't hide his anger at the fact that another is celebrated falsely for his own work - “the accident of needing some disguise to write beneath means all the praise belongs to my invention, Shakespeare. Who is me, and yet divorced from all my infamy”.

This is such a fantastic book, written so elegantly in verse that makes you want to recite it as you read. This may put some people off, but I would urge anyone with an interest in this period and a love of a great mystery to try this out. The language is an absolute masterpiece recounting the twists and turns of fate, love, lust, death and intrigue.

This is one of the best books I have read this year and one I will definitely return to. I hope that Ros Barber is recognised with a literary prize for this incredible accomplishment.