THE STARRE, THE MOONE, THE SUNNE

Derek Jacobi's performance is up to the high standard we expect from him. Without actually creating voices for the many characters in this novel, he makes clear who is speaking and how they are feeling, using vocal color and accents. Author Ron Destro is less adept in tracking the story, which jumps around through the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It includes a fair amount of irrelevant biography in its attempt to prove that Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford, wrote the works we attribute to Shakespeare. Sadly, the logic of the argument is not always solid, and some of the historical evidence is entirely conjectural. Still, the listener gets to enjoy time spent with Jacobi. D.M.H. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2024]