Concealed in the language of Shakespeare’s beloved comedy Much Ado About Nothing are clues to a captivating story. Signs suggest that the witty lovers Beatrice and Benedick had a previous youthful love affair, which ended bitterly, before being reunited in the play. How did they meet, why did they part, and what brought them back together again? Messina, Sicily, 1588. Beatrice of Mantua is brought to live at the stunning court of her uncle Leonato, to be companion and governess to his daughter, Hero. Wandering the streets of Messina, and watching young couples embrace in sunlit courts, Beatrice wants nothing more than a love of her own.
That momentous summer, Spanish lordling Don Pedro visits for a month long sojourn on the island with his regiment. In his company is the young soldier Benedick of Padua, who instantly catches Beatrice’s eye.
Benedick and Beatrice begin to wage their merry war of wit, which masks the reality that they dance a more serious measure, and the two are soon deeply in love. But the pair are cruelly parted by natural disaster and man made misunderstanding. Oceans apart, divided by war and slander, Beatrice and Benedick begin their tenyear odyssey back to Messina and to each other.
In a journey that takes us from the sunlit southern courts of Sicily to the crippled Armada fleet and from a bitter curse uttered as a woman dies at the stake to the glorious Renaissance cities of the north, Marina Fiorato tells a story of intrigue, treachery and betrayal that will shed a new light on Shakespeare’s most alluring lovers, and make us consider whether love must truly be tested in order to endure.
To celebrate the release of BEATRICE AND BENEDICK on the 8th of May we are giving away THREE copies to three lucky winners!
If you would love to be in with a chance of winning simply answer the following question correctly:
Which of the three lines below is NOT from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing?
A)
I do love nothing in the world so well as you. Is not that
strange?
B)
Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow,
That I shall say good night till it be morrow.
C)
Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.
Answers in the comments box below.
Good luck!
Open to residents of the UK only. A winner will be chosen at random from all correct answers. Competition closes 29th May 2014. Any entries made after this date will not be recognised.
BEATRICE AND BENEDICK is available to purchase in all good bookstores and online now.
Competition courtesy of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers