Speech Day

EXCLUSIVE: An interview with James Hartley

What is 'Shakespeare's Moon'?

Shakespeare's Moon is the name of the world all of these books and stories are set in. I think of it as the Shakespeare's Mooniverse (laughs). Basically the books are set in and around a school called St Francis'. The school appears as a character in all the books and stories and through the various books and stories we learn about the history of the school and the people who work and study there. What's interesting about the new book, The Unexpected (Lodestone, May 28th, 2019), is that it is set in the future and that it tells the 'end' of the St Francis story.

Tell us about 'The Unexpected'.

The Unexpected is the third novel proper in the series, after The Invisible Hand and Cold Fire. Each book is loosely based on a Shakespeare play – The Invisible Hand was Macbeth and Cold Fire was Romeo and Juliet. The Unexpected is Julius Caesar and Caesar himself features in the book, although most of it is set in the future, on a ravaged, polluted Earth where most people live underground. St Francis' exists, although the students walk to classes via subterranean tunnels and work a lot in a high-tech Dome which is situated near the old Main Buildings. The book itself tells the story of two children who are sent to school from their home on Mars. They get mixed up in some magic involving the school and that's when things happen.

Can you tell us a bit about the magic in the books?

Well most of it centres on an old red ledger-style book which is kept in the school library and which is said to have powers. It is said that those chosen – called Writers – have the power to make anything they write in the book come true. Not everyone can be a writer and there are various ways, of course, that things can come true. It's that mix which informs the magical side of the books. The Invisible Hand is probably the best place to start if you want to understand the idea of 'The Book' and how its power can be used and abused. The main character in that book, Sam Cauldhame, features in Cold Fire and The Unexpected, too.

Do you have to read the books in order?

Not at all. They are standalone novels which take place in the same place – the Shakespeare's Mooniverse, as I said. One of the things I really wanted for the books was for teachers and students studying Shakespeare's plays to be able to read them and get some fresh perspectives on the plays. So, for example, in The Invisible Hand, Sam and his class are studying Macbeth when he is drawn into the events of the plays. He even meets Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. In Cold Fire, the story is told of Romeo, a young man who turns up naked, out of the blue, on the school playing fields one day, and Gillian, a girl at the school. There are characters and places which crop up in all the books, and the books and stories are all intertwined and complimentary but the idea is that you can start anywhere and work forwards or backwards however you like.

What about all the short stories?

The main novels in the series are based on Shakespeare's plays but the short stories and, in the case of Speech Day for example, the novellas, are based on the world of the books, on the school or on characters from the novels. In Speech Day, the idea is to give readers and introduction to the world they are going to experience in The Unexpected. The stories cover lots of different aspects of St Francis' life. Heart of Winter takes place before The Invisible Hand and is a kind of prelude to the whole series. I like to leave them out there, floating about, for anyone who might be interested.

The Unexpected will be published by Lodestone Books on May 28th, 2019.

More information at James Hartley Books.com and from Lodestone.

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Contact James at james@jameshartleybooks.com