Who was the real architect of the Gunpowder Plot? Who was the first person to
wear a Guy Fawkes mask? Why was Shakespeare’s Dark Lady dark?
These and many other questions are answered in Graham Holderness’s new
novel, which combines historical fiction, psychological mystery and
supernatural thriller in a highly original and imaginative re-telling of the
Gunpowder Plot.
It is 1604. The Gunpowder Plotters are tunnelling under the palace of
Westminster, and confront an immovable obstacle. Guy Fawkes travels to
Europe to fetch help, and brings back more than he bargained for. Who is the
mysterious Dark Lady? Who is the man in the mask? Why is London over-run
by a plague of vampires, and who is going to defeat them?
From a Westminster vault to a Transylvanian mine, from the crypt of Lambeth
Palace to the under-stage of the Globe theatre, Black and Deep Desires takes
the reader on a tour of historical, psychological and mythical underworlds,
delving deep into some of history’s unexplored corridors, into the secret
thoughts of Catholic terrorists, and into the dark wellsprings of Shakespeare’s
poetry.
In Black and Deep Desires Graham Holderness combines the expertise of an internationally-recognised Shakespeare scholar, the narrative flair of his
2001 novel The Prince of Denmark, and the poetic sensibility that won his
verse collection Craeft a Poetry Book Society award.
Read an Excerpt 1 July 1606. Hampton Court Palace Silence. William thought the play brilliant, masterful, awe inspiring in its tragedy and terror. It had brought back to him all the horror and sublimity of his own recent encounters with the arch-assassin Guy Fawkes, with the Gunpowder Plot, and with the plague of the Undead; so much so that when Lady Macbeth leapt to her death, he shed a secret tear in memory of Ilona, his own late, lost, lamented Dark Lady. Forman sat in silence, staring at the page he had written, as if he too were seized with the overmastering power of the drama, or of the memories it released. But only one opinion mattered, of course. Cecil’s. Was he pleased? Delighted? Indifferent? As usual nothing could be deciphered in the opaque liquidity of his eyes. He sat for a while in silence, looking at William. About the Author
Graham Holderness is a senior academic and creative writer with over 40
published academic and creative books. He has published two novels; an
award-winning collection of poems; and a play performed at Shakespeare's
Globe, and by RSC actors in Stratford-upon-Avon. .
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29 June 2015
Black and Deep Desires, William Shakespeare, Vampire Hunter by Graham Holderness Spotlight!
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