Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for A Tip for the Hangman by Allison Epstein - Available

A Tip for the Hangman

A Novel

by Allison Epstein
James Meunier
Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
2 of 2 copies available
An Elizabethan espionage thriller in which playwright Christopher Marlowe spies on Mary, Queen of Scots while navigating the perils of politics, theater, romance—and murder.

England, 1585. In Kit Marlowe's last year at Cambridge, he is approached by Queen Elizabeth's spymaster offering an unorthodox career opportunity: going undercover to intercept a Catholic plot to put Mary, Queen of Scots on Elizabeth's throne. Spying on Queen Mary turns out to be more than Kit bargained for, but his salary allows him to mount his first play, and over the following years he becomes the toast of London's raucous theater scene. But when Kit finds himself reluctantly drawn back into the world of espionage and treason, he realizes everything he's worked so hard to attain—including the trust of the man he loves—could vanish in an instant.
 
Pairing modern language with period detail, Allison Epstein brings Elizabeth's lavish court, Marlowe's colorful theater troupe, and the squalor of sixteenth-century London to vivid, teeming life. At the center of the action is Kit himself—an irrepressible, irreverent force of nature.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    February 9, 2021

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593348895
      • File size: 395200 KB
      • Duration: 13:43:19

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      December 21, 2020
      Epstein’s diverting debut gallivants through Elizabethan England clutching the breeches of playwright Christopher Marlowe, here in service to the queen as a spy. Kit, as Marlowe is called, is rarely caught writing his “mighty line.” He’s too deep into espionage, uncovering Catholic conspiracies. Having infiltrated the household of Mary, Queen of Scots and foiling the Babington Plot, Kit has a crisis of conscience over Mary’s execution. After he is caught spying by Catholic rebels, he gets out of the jam by claiming to be a double agent working on their behalf, then travels to the Netherlands to counterfeit gold coin for the Catholic cause. His Protestant minders track and arrest all involved, but while Kit’s treasonous friends go to the gallows, he is set free. Epstein takes liberties with Kit’s ultimate fate (the circumstances of his murder remain disputed), but in Kit she also creates a Marlowe too all-over-the-map to be plausible. Kit’s lover, Tom, accuses him of seeking out danger, but rapid-fire POV changes necessary to advance the action-packed plot prevent the reader from getting a full sense of him, and the romance passages are the stuff of bodice rippers. Still, it’s a fun escapade.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      James Meunier's fluent narration of this reimagining of the shadowy life and violent death of Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe brings out the best features of this first novel. Was Marlowe, while at Cambridge, recruited for Queen Elizabeth's secret service? Did he pose as a footman in Mary Stuart's service during the Scottish queen's house arrest and break the coded letters that condemned her? Listeners familiar with the era and the rich period detail of a novelist like Hilary Mantel may find Epstein's narrative thin brew. But the animating power of Meunier's narration gives her story credibility and conviction, and draws the listener chapter by chapter into one of the great mysteries of literary history. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading
Check Out What's Being Checked Out Right Now