What do you think?
Rate this book
Christopher Uptake: The Life and Times of a Godless Play-Maker
Christopher Uptake: The Life and Times of a Godless Play-Maker
“Chris, you’re guilty! You’re an atheist!”
In the 16th Century your faith, or lack of it, could get you killed…
Christopher Uptake, an outspoken free-thinker, is easy prey. The penalty for atheism, in Elizabethan England, is death.
A scholarship boy, Chris is sent from home to undergo a grim, rigid schooling. He hopes University will be better, but the rules are as strict and the teaching as dull.
Chris escapes to the noise and life of the streets, and to the colour of the theatre he loves. His talent attracts the patronage of wealthy Edmund Brentwood.
But Brentwood, a Catholic, is involved in dangerous Tudor politics.
Enter a ruthless spy-master, who hunts down and destroys Catholics, and who threatens Chris with arrest, torture and execution as a heretic, unless he spies on his friend.
Chris tries to warn Brentwood, but learns that his patron is also a dangerous man.
Caught up in these plots, can Chris escape with his life?
Download a free sample, or click on ‘Look Inside’ to try the book.
Susan Price is an acclaimed author of over 60 books, which have been translated into many languages, including Japanese, Chinese and Russian. She has written for almost every age-group, and has won several awards, including the Carnegie and the Guardian, and has been short-listed for the Whitbread.
She is a founder member of the Authors Electric Collective (Find them on-line.)
Visit her Amazon Author Page to find out more about her books, and links to her website and blogs.
“Chris, you’re guilty! You’re an atheist!”
In the 16th Century your faith, or lack of it, could get you killed…
Christopher Uptake, an outspoken free-thinker, is easy prey. The penalty for atheism, in Elizabethan England, is death.
A scholarship boy, Chris is sent from home to undergo a grim, rigid schooling. He hopes University will be better, but the rules are as strict and the teaching as dull.
Chris escapes to the noise and life of the streets, and to the colour of the theatre he loves. His talent attracts the patronage of wealthy Edmund Brentwood.
But Brentwood, a Catholic, is involved in dangerous Tudor politics.
Enter a ruthless spy-master, who hunts down and destroys Catholics, and who threatens Chris with arrest, torture and execution as a heretic, unless he spies on his friend.
Chris tries to warn Brentwood, but learns that his patron is also a dangerous man.
Caught up in these plots, can Chris escape with his life?
Download a free sample, or click on ‘Look Inside’ to try the book.
Susan Price is an acclaimed author of over 60 books, which have been translated into many languages, including Japanese, Chinese and Russian. She has written for almost every age-group, and has won several awards, including the Carnegie and the Guardian, and has been short-listed for the Whitbread.
She is a founder member of the Authors Electric Collective (Find them on-line.)
Visit her Amazon Author Page to find out more about her books, and links to her website and blogs.
189 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 1981
1 person is currently reading
10 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 27, 2016
A story wherein moral ambivalence encounters cold, hunger, greed, laziness, class, also false conscience, religion, law and best of all - drama !
could make for a great moving picture screenplay or theatre production too .
could make for a great moving picture screenplay or theatre production too .
April 3, 2018
Set in Elizabethan England the story follows the turbulent life of Cristopher Uptake. Sent to university he quickly discovers the rules and the boredom of student life means he's soon drawn to the excitement of the Cambridge streets and lure of the theatre. With very little money but some talent he luckily finds a patron in the form of the wealthy Edmund Brentwood. However, this brings a determined spy hunter knocking on his door. Christopher is given a choice, betray his friend or lose his life.
I really enjoyed reading this book and in my humble opinion this book is well worth a read.
I really enjoyed reading this book and in my humble opinion this book is well worth a read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews