Finished at the end of July 2023, my first attempt at historical fiction if you accept the late 1950s is not yet considered ‘historical’ as some apparently do. The story is set in 1590, in London, in an imagined theatre south of the Thames in Southwark. The main character carries the name of a real person, James Sandys, who is mentioned in a couple of actors’ wills in the early part of the 1600s. No more is known of him, except the gifts were quite generous, a cloak in one, 40 shillings in the other, so James was an appreciated guy, perhaps a younger actor or apprentice. Other novelists over the years have used him as a protagonist in their books.
In my story, James is sixteen, a boy actor looking forward to taking on more mature roles, maybe a prince or lord. His hopes take an unexpected twist when he catches a runaway in the theatre yard after a performance. And the runaway is not what he first expected either.
Further complications arise when his master, the leader of the troupe, asks him to deliver a series of letters to houses around London. James meets a mysterious woman at one, dressed at first in man’s clothes, and an imposing gentleman at another. Each letter seems to drag him deeper into a tale in which he cannot be quite sure which side he helps – does he aid a Protestant successor for the queen, or has he been tricked into allowing a Catholic rival to take the crown?
Along the way, a former schoolfriend turns up, now a talented actor and also it appears working for High Lord Treasurer William Cecil’s band of agents. Their meeting rekindles the strong feelings James once held for the young man.
As the two stories play out (excuse the theatrical pun), James finds both adventures bring him into danger and even tragedy. It becomes a race against time to save the runaway, and, it turns out, the future of England and Queen Elizabeth’s life.
And the runaway has become someone special to James. Can he protect them from the growing dangers?
Jamie Neve 