Bartholomew Fair

From a well-known teller of contemporary tales, this is a marvelous 16th-century confection of society's lowborns and highbrows meeting at the fair. Starving Will Shaw, Elizabeth I, one of her filthiest kitchen maids, two schoolboys, and nouveau rich Mr. Kempton are among the hundreds of splendid folk who make their ways to the fair; by day's end, Will has eaten his fill and found a new life while all the others have also not been untouched by the hours. A fabric of both humble and ornate origin, Stolz's book is a cacophony of sounds, period details, and frisky human foibles. Like any good day at the fair, it is over-satisfyingly so-but all too soon.Stolz, Mary is the author of 'Bartholomew Fair' with ISBN 9780688095222 and ISBN 0688095224.