''The Devil and His Boy'' is a 1998 young adult novel by
Anthony Horowitz. The book is set in
Tudor times
The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England that began with t ...
and follows the adventures of a young boy as he meets several influential people from that time period.
Plot
The book follows Thomas "Tom" Falconer, a young and somewhat naive boy that works at a pub and is mistreated by his caretakers, Sebastian and Henrietta Slope. He tolerates their abuse with the awareness that there are those worse off than he is. This helps draw the attention of wealthy traveler William Hawkins, who attempts to purchase Tom from his caretakers, who refuse. Meanwhile Sebastian decides to plan with the highwayman
Gamaliel Ratsey to steal William's treasure by waiting for him in the woods.
Sebastian later tries to kill William for attempting to steal Tom away to London. William defeats Sebastian but is later killed by Ratsey's ambush. Tom's horse spooks during the encounter and through a series of events, ends up in a pub far from home where he's cared for by the pub's landlord and one of the cooks. He continues on to London, where he sees Ratsey and knows that he is there with the purpose of killing Tom. Tom tries to gain employment, but is horrified by one of the jobs he manages to find, which is to cripple children to gain sympathy while begging. He's later befriended by the thief
Moll Cutpurse, who gives him clothes and takes him to the theater, where he meets
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
.
Tom ends up agreeing to perform in the play ''The Devil and his Boy'' for a foreign man named Dr. Mobius, but swiftly notices that something is very strange with Mobius and the other performers. All have a cross tattooed onto their arms and Mobius gives money to a strange disguised man. While rehearsing and preparing for the play, Tom is again attacked by Ratsey and is warned by Mobius's nephew to leave before it's too late. Tom choose to ignore this and later goes on to perform the play for Queen Elizabeth I, who applauds his performance. However the glow from this praise is short lived when Tom realizes that the performing group is actually a group of assassins out to kill the Queen. Tom manages to keep Mobius from assassinating her, only to still be imprisoned in
Newgate
Newgate was one of the historic seven gates of the London Wall around the City of London and one of the six which date back to Roman times. Newgate lay on the west side of the wall and the road issuing from it headed over the River Fleet to Mid ...
.
Tom is later saved by the intervention of Ratsey and Moll, who remembers Tom talking about William's last words to him, telling him to go to Moorfield. She realizes that this is the name of a British Lord. They contact the man, who gets the Queen to intervene and save Tom from being executed. It's later revealed that Tom is her grandson, the Queen having had an illegitimate child who was Thomas's father. Tom encourages her to release Mobius's nephew, as he was largely innocent of the crimes against her, and spends the rest of his days acting and living with Shakespeare.
Reception
Critical reception for the book was mostly positive, with the book gaining reviews from the
Horn Book Guide and the
School Library Journal
''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with ...
.
Booklist also gave a positive review, praising Horowitz's attempts to ground the more fictional elements of the story in historical fact. A reviewer for Kliatt wrote that the book "rollicking, often fanciful fun ...despite the inclusion of some rather gory details".
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devil and His Boy
1998 American novels
Novels about William Shakespeare
Historical novels
Novels set in Tudor England
Novels by Anthony Horowitz
Walker Books books