Not many people know that Bram Stoker was the manager of the Lyceum Theatre in the West End. This is a story about the struggles and inspirations that influenced Bram Stoker’s literature. We learn that the brilliant and charismatic actor Henry Irving and to a certain extent Oscar Wilde were the inspirations for enigmatic Count Dracula and, further, that the gorgeous actress Ellen Terry was the muse for the romantic element in the novel. Joseph O’Connor has written a wonderful tribute to the man who created one of the most unforgettable characters in English literature that explains how the events and people around him during his time as theatre manager resulted in the creation of this masterpiece of gothic literature.

Bram Stoker, Ellen Terry, Henry Irving, Oscar Wilde, Dracula, Jack the Ripper and the Lyceum Theatre...what a role call and what a novel! O'Connor has a wonderful way of bringing his characters to life. You feel like you are almost in the room with them. Absolutely beautiful and so much fun.

Absolutely beautiful. I loved every word. The (fictional) story of Bram Stoker with a fabulous cast of players, The Chief - Henry Irving, The leading lady - Ellen Terry and the flamboyant - Oscar Wilde. I savoured every word and felt a bit lost when it finished. The story centres around the Lyceum Theatre in London 1878 when Stoker was manager and friend to Henry Irving. I found myself laughing out loud at Irving's larger than life character one minute then trying to swallow the lump in my throat the next. I highly recommend this.

He may be famous now for writing one of the most enduring Vampire tales out there, but in his lifetime, Bram Stoker was better known for being the manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London. This book tells that story (while based in fact, it is a work of fiction). Through extracts of Stoker's diary, letters, and interviews with the famous actor Ellen Terry, we are drawn into the late nineteenth century, led through the story as each narrative takes us by the hand, showing us the wonders of Irving's Lyceum. There are tantrums, there are achingly tender moments, and there are one or two ghosts who drift around: ghosts of the past who dance in the theatre's 'ghost-light', and spectres of the future which drift in and out of Stoker's dreams. Shadowplay is a beautiful story, filled with heart, and one which will stay with me for quite some time. If you like stories about the theatre, fancy reading something like a Dracula origin story, or even just fancy an adventure into the late nineteenth century, then this one is for you.

This novel is absolutely brilliant. Utterly captivating from the first paragraph. Joseph O Connor has written, in my humble opinion, the best novel of 2019. The writing is superb without needing to be flashy, the story told with perfect pace and precision, the characters infect each page with their all too believable faults and frailties. Shadowplay is a novel that totally immerses the reader in its world. Joseph O Connor has an almost supernatural ability to take a tale of love, loss, heartbreak and redemption and tell it in such a way as to make most of his contemporaries look clumsy and obvious. I have not been this moved, this captivated by a novel since Dubliners(no coincidence that both authors are Irish). I have no doubt that I shall be reading this novel again and again for many years. A brilliant novel from a brilliant writer.