A Dead Man in Deptford
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Author | Anthony Burgess |
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Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Genre(s) | Historical fiction |
Publisher | Carroll & Graf |
Released | May 1995 |
Media Type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
Pages | 272 p. (hardcover and paperback) |
ISBN | ISBN 0-7867-0192-7 (hardcover), ISBN 0-7867-1152-3 (paperback) |
A Dead Man in Deptford is a book written later in Anthony Burgess's life, and the last of his novels to be published during his lifetime. It depicts the life and character of a young Christopher Marlowe. Marlowe is one of the greatest playwrights of the Elizabethan era.
Starting in Marlowe's youth, Burgess builds this period novel with serious detail to Elizabethan England. Marlowe's life as a homosexual may have had difficult consequences but perhaps not so great as being a classical playwright and a spy for Queen Elizabeth. In A Dead Man in Deptford, Marlowe is portrayed as a secretive, solitary and eventually isolated person. Burgess explores Marlowe's sexual addiction and passion for the theater through a life with dangerous friends and companions.