Plots and Players

by Pamela Melnikoff

Overview

It is 1594 and young William Shakespeare is working on a new play, The Merchant of Venice, amid growing anti-Jewish sentiment in England. Three Jewish children try to save Queen Elizabeth’s Jewish physician when he’s falsely accused of spying for Spain. Not until Shakespeare meets the Fernandez family does he begin to see the prejudice around him. But will he soften his portrait of Shylock, his play’s lead character? And can the children save the physician’s life?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780827605763
Publisher:	The Jewish Publication Society
Publication date:	08/01/1996
Edition description:	1 PBK ED
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

Editorial Reviews

A rich moment in history is embalmed in this lumbering tale of Jews in Elizabethan England. Melnikoff writes of the fictitious Fernandez family, ``New Christians'' from Portugal who secretly practice Judaism, interacting with such historical figures as William Shakespeare, the Earl of Essex, Queen Elizabeth and leaders of the Marrano community. The historical kernel of the story is the arrest of Queen Elizabeth's Jewish doctor, Lopez, on false charges of spying for Spain. The Fernandez children gain access to the mightiest figures in the land and do their implausible bit to win freedom for Lopez; to no avail, for he is executed for treason. The focus of the story shifts abruptly from Robin Fernandez, 12, to brother Philip, nine, to sister Frances, 11, and then back to Robin. The period is not well evoked and, with their jarringly modern speech, the characters seem like actors on a rest break at a Renaissance fair. Ages 12-up. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly