BY ANY OTHER NAME

James Meunier gives an absorbing performance of this twisty historical adventure. Will Hughes is a young actor who is making a paltry living on the stage in 1590s London. He's also living under an assumed identity; his real name is Elias Wilde, and his family rose up when Queen Elizabeth's soldiers stole their land. When Elias's friend, Christopher Marlowe, playwright and spy for Queen Elizabeth, is brutally murdered, conflicted Elias is swept up in trying to prevent a plot against the queen--and falls into a forbidden romance with young Lord James Bloomsbury. Meunier's narration adds to the novel's rich atmosphere as he differentiates between upper- and working-class English accents, gives voice to Irish pirates, and delivers every exclamation of "Zounds!" with relish. J.M.D. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2023]