Review: THE CORISCO CONSPIRACY: A Memoir of William Shakespeare, by Raphael Sóne

In The Corisco Conspiracy, Raphael Sóne's has written a book of fanfiction that takes readers on a wonderful romp, exploring possibilities about the mystery that is Shakespeare. It can be a fun for any reader, but especially for those aware of four things:

(1) Shakespeare authorship debate (and authorship collaboration research).
(2) The Gunpowder Plot.
(3) Shakespeare scholarship’s "turn to religion," circa 2000, considering (among other things) Catholic influences.
(4) Awareness of how Shakespeare has been used as a tool of empire, mostly for the benefit of fair-skinned English people.

The Corisco Conspiracy: A Memoir of William Shakespeare, combines some of these, as well as an awareness of how the author’s Jesuit predecessors attempted to overthrow the English government and return Protestant England to Catholicism.

Many agree that Shakespeare collaborated with other writers far more than the First Folio would have us believe. What if some of them were African, or Muslim, or women, or cross-dressers, or disguised Catholic spies? If we allow ourselves to imagine even (or especially) the most strange and assumption-challenging possibilities, we might be stretched for the better.

"Universal" comes from Latin, but "Catholic" (via Greek) means something more like "inclusive of the whole"; Sóne's book certainly stretches readers toward new possibilities of inclusivity.

Two regrets:
1) We don't often glimpse Catholic characters debating, or interacting in productive, tolerant ways with Protestants, embodying the kind of tolerance of diversity (and love of enemies) that they themselves would like to be granted.
2) We never see Shakespeare and his collaborators in church, hearing a gospel or an official homily, which might inspire one of the many allusions in the plays.

That said, Raphael Sóne's book is still a delightful romp, one that I recommend wholeheartedly.

Sóne organizes the annual Musketman Shakespeare Poetry Award (MUSPA). (Full disclosure: I was a past MUSPA winner and happy to receive a free copy of his book.)


IMAGES:
Book Cover via Barnes and Noble: https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/9798886930108_p0_v1_s600x595.jpg

Raphael Sóne via his Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=598083653940979&set=pb.100012180484876.-2207520000&type=3


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Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promote any religion over another, nor am I attempting to promote religious belief in general; only to explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
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