John Arden (1930–2012)

John Bale was a friar, poet and playwright during the time of Henry VIII. He became Protestant, in part from personal conviction, but also for the same reason as Henry--he wanted to be able to marry: in Bale's case (at least in this version), his love was a one-time prostitute, dancer, actor and musician, Dorothy, aka "Haut-Jambes", a force of nature and an amazing character. He eventually becomes a bishop in the new Church, but falls out of favour in the reign of Mary and has to flee to Germany.

The book is far from straightforward historical fiction: instead it is a series of vignettes of Bale, Dorothy, their daughter Lydia and grand daughter Lucretia (in Arden's imagining, Shakespeare's Dark Lady). The religious exposition dragged a bit for me, but whenever those women came on the scene, I was riveted. Bale remains something of a cipher, seen from a variety of perspectives but never his own, a kind of absence in the centre of the story.… (altro)