A Dead Man in Deptford

By: Anthony Burgess

Narrated by: David Thorpe

Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's Summary

A Dead Man in Deptford re-imagines the riotous life and suspicious death of Christopher Marlowe.

Poet, lover, and spy, Marlowe must negotiate the pressures placed upon him by theatre, Queen, and country.

Burgess brings this dazzling figure to life and pungently evokes Elizabethan England.

©1993 Anthony Burgess (P)2014 Audible Studios

Critic Reviews

"One of the most productive, imaginative and risk-taking of writers... It is a clever, sexually explicit, fast-moving, full blooded yarn" (Irish Times)

An overlooked gem

I'm surprised that there aren't more reviews. I'm a fan of Anthony Burgess and more importantly, Christopher Marlowe, heretofore to be called Kit, as those who knew him did.
His life, his poems and plays, his work as a spy and his assassination nearly lost to the annals of history in favour of his contemporaries. Thankfully, Burgess uses historical record , previous biographies plus his muse to flesh out a man who lived and loved (the love that dare not speak its name) hard and was brave (or foolish) enough to question the church, state and the Machiavellian machinations of royalists, loyalists, Catholics, protestants and God himself. His work as a spy was somewhat reluctant and his attempts to untangle himself led to his death
We get insight into his interactions with the various nobles, members of the Privy Council, fellow spies, fellow writers, including Shakespeare, privateers and even Sir Walter Raleigh who introduced him to the "nymph" tobacco. This becomes a fine historical romp through the Elizabethan era that shines an ugly light on the dark (is there any other) side of religion and politics that still seems to permeate the modern world.
As the 30th of May marks the 425 anniversary of his murder, it is more the reason to read it

Dull and uninspiring

This book is without interest. From the start it fails to engage. The characterisation and construction are poor and very amateurish.

Needs better narration

The narrator imposes a sort of jolly country bumpkin delivery which works against the rhythms of the prose and slips into simply "reading words" (albeit in an impressive accent) rather than conveying meaning. It often bounces along indefatigably, paying little heed to the mood and subtleties in the text. I defaulted to the paperback and found it much more intelligible - a fantastic rich read that I recommend. Unfortunately the audio version is a case of the teller obscuring the tale.