It Was Marlowe: A Story of the Secret of Three Centuries

In June 1593, plague empties the streets of London and Christopher Marlowe walks them alone, a man of dangerous genius and a target. This novel imagines the final weeks of the Elizabethan era's most radical playwright, as he navigates political intrigue, espionage, and a forbidden romance with the mysterious Lady Anne. When a young companion named Tabbard arrives with troubling news, Marlowe must keep a clandestine meeting while evading the informers who have been paid to destroy him. The novel is steeped in atmospheric period detail and the dangerous world of Elizabethan theatre, where a warrant for heresy hangs over Marlowe's head and no patron can be trusted. Written at the height of the Shakespeare authorship debate, Zeigler's book argues the provocative thesis that Marlowe, not the Bard of Avon, wrote the works attributed to Shakespeare. It remains a fascinating period piece, a lush and melancholy reconstruction of a great talent's final days, and a romantic argument for the overlooked genius.