Sat 16 Jan 2016
A Non-Mystery Review by Dan Stumpf: CARYL BRAHMS & S. J. SIMON – No Bed for Bacon.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[7] Comments
CARYL BRAHMS & S. J. SIMON – No Bed for Bacon. Michael Joseph, UK, hardcover, 1941. Thomas Y. Crowell, US, hardcover, 1950. Various reprint editions exist.
This book is about a lot of things.
— Sir Francis Bacon’s Finagling to get one of Queen Elizabeth’s touring beds; the attempts of rival impresarios Henslowe and Burbage to burn down each other’s theatres; Sir Walter Raleigh’s efforts to out-dress the earl of Essex and the culinary debut of the potato — but the most intriguing sub-plot centers around rising playwright William Shakespeare and a young gentlewoman named Viola who aspires to be an actress and gets on stage by impersonating a boy playing girls’ parts — the makers of Shakespeare in Love disavow all knowledge.
Be that as it may, No Bed stands very ably on its own merits as a shrewdly observed, deftly-plotted and often riotously funny comedy. Brahms and Simon are adept at broad slapstick, sly repartee, and the occasional jibe at History, as when Shakespeare and Bacon argue over how a scene should be played and Will asks rhetorically, “Master Bacon, did you write this play or did I?†There’s also a nice running gag about Shakespeare trying to write past the first page of his forthcoming hit, Love’s Labour Wunne.
There was one rather lengthy bit here that puzzled me for a moment, though: late in the book there’s a long scene where the Queen and her favorites sit around reminiscing about Drake whipping the Spanish Armada out of the Channel. It’s not a bad passage, per se, but it goes on for some pages and doesn’t move the story along a bit. I wondered at first why the authors were spending so much ink on this, then I remembered this was written in England in 1941 — a time when memories of Britain beating back a vastly superior invading force must have appealed to readers and author alike.
It slows things down perhaps, but it doesn’t dampen the irreverent charm and sly humor of the thing, and I can recommend No Bed to lovers of History, lovers of Shakespeare, and anyone who just loves a good laugh.
January 16th, 2016 at 3:29 pm
Brahms & Simon also wrote crime stories set in Vladimir Stroganoff’s Stroganova Ballet Company.
An interesting difference between Shakespeare in Love and No Bed for Bacon is that in 1941 Brahms & Simon could accept homosexual love in the Globe theatre company [“The lad’s in love with you.” says Burbage to Shakespeare], while the film’s Shakespeare had to be resolutely heterosexual.
January 16th, 2016 at 3:49 pm
Shouldn’t the date of the Us hardcover be 1950?
January 16th, 2016 at 6:46 pm
Randy
Once in a while my finger slips. Wait till you get older.
January 16th, 2016 at 5:26 pm
This book seems to hit all my buttons. I love history and Shakespeare and I need a good laugh. I just ordered a copy from abebooks.com for only $4.25 which includes shipping.
January 16th, 2016 at 6:35 pm
Delightful book as were their one of a kind mystery novels. No one seems to write this kind of light hearted romp of a novel much anymore.
January 16th, 2016 at 7:10 pm
Really, Steve, how much older could Randy possibly get?
January 16th, 2016 at 8:08 pm
Frankly, I can’t top either of the last two comments so I won’t even try!