Bram Stoker, newly married, leaves his native Ireland to accept a position in London. Henry Irving, famed actor, has hired him as manager of his rundown theatre, the Lyceum. An arduous task lies ahead for Bram, battling constant expenses and repairs and much frustration from his boss. The city is paralyzed by the horror of Jack the Ripper’s brutality and the theatre itself is haunted. Bram battles his own demons as he walks the city in search of answers to calm his unsettled artistic soul. He falls in love with Ellen Terry, the famous actress and sometimes lover of Irving. Finding solace from the belittling remarks of his boss in a remote part of the theatre, he slowly records the story of Dracula, the creature that will bring him fame many years later. The art of Shadowplay asks its audiences to accept the story-telling of cut-out figures just as the theatre asks audiences to accept the actors’ interpretations of its plays. Joseph O’Connor’s readers are asked to witness various actions and musings about life and love from characters cut out from history and to interpret what is real and what is imagined.

I’ll preface my review by saying this book was well written. I learned a great deal of the times, London, theater, and the characters, which is part of the joy in reading historical fiction. It was difficult to follow at times; the style of writing (to reflect the time and place) was overly wordy for my liking. However, I loved reading Dracula which was my attraction to Shadowplay.

The story unfolds with Bram Stoker heading back to Dublin from London. Bram Stocker writes plays, with the hope of an eventual published novel. Until he fulfills his dream, he has agreed to work for Mr Henry Irving at the Lyceum theatre in London as his personal assistant.

He marries his girlfriend Florence and they move to London to embark upon his new career (and perhaps a segue to the literary recognition to which he so aspires).

The heart of the book regards the relationship between Henry Irving (Shakespearean actor), Ellen Terry (highest paid actress) and Bram Stoker (unknown playwright/author). Theirs was a friendship that would stand the test of time; each so very different from the other, yet dependent on the other two. Very endearing in the depiction of the intertwined trio.

A lovely read; if you’re a fan of Dracula you will enjoy!

This book had such promise. I was completely sucked in and 100% on board for the premise. I read it during the week of Halloween and it was a great spooky tale of literary and theatre history, weaving in elements of the creation of Dracula by Bram Stoker, the indecency trial of Oscar Wilde, and the terror of Jack the Ripper. I even loved the conceit of the three-act structure. At the halfway point, I was all set to buy this book for people for Christmas.

But then it started spinning its wheels, the character of Irving became entirely insufferable, and the last 30% of the book (the Coda), it's a long protracted navelgaze in which the author frolics in the fields of the What Happens After. If the book had ended at the end of the 3rd act, I'd be rating it 5*. The Coda dropped it back to a 3 and I'm not buying more copies as gifts now.

This book was received from the Author, in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own


The author intricately plots a character driven romance that fights poignancy through the complex conflicts of fate. There are few authors that are as prolific as O’Connor is. This Atmospheric, riveting and intensely entertaining storyline kept me engaged with itsEerie, forbidding, gloomy, suspenseful, intriguing and a fitting representation to storyline.
Intriguing, impressive, suspenseful, and an excellent and fitting representation to storyline.

They well developed characters come to life with complex relationships, and the setting and time period are brought to life with unique details. Like Dracula, Shadowplay is constructed around letters of journals and witness testimonies the great actor Terry has contacted her old friend brought him to request memorabilia for her forthcoming memos all he has he explains is a letter is a clutch of diary page is private notes

Set in the Lyceum Theatre in 1878, and with a cast of characters including Henry Irving, Ellen Terry, Bram Stoker, and (briefly) Oscar Wilde. Fantastically evocative historical fiction with a wide streak of poignancy and an even wider streak of queer desire and anxiety

This is a really engrossing, clever novel which follows the life of Bram Stoker, author of Dracula. Stoker was never a successful author in his lifetime, when he was better known for running Henry Irving’s Lyceum Theatre in London, The novels tells Stoker’s story, from his disaffection with his boring office job in Dublin, to his move with his young wife Florence to London to take up the job with the demanding Irving. Irving was the greatest actor of his age, and although Stoker adored him, he could also be insulting and difficult. Both their lives are changed by the arrival of the renowned actress Ellen Terry, who joins the regular cast at the Lyceum. As Stoker’s marriage hits the rocks, and Jack the Ripper looms large in dark streets of London, he struggles on with his literary endeavours, using a dilapidated room at the theatre which may be haunted by the ghost of a young girl. The novel itself is haunted by the spectre of Dracula, and echoes of Stoker’s timeless story can be found on every page, along with the undercurrent of repressed sexuality. O’Connor is a masterly writer, and as the story moves from the prime to the end of Stoker’s life, hints of Dracula’s long afterlife.

The theme running through Shadowplay is that of the secret self, the occult wellspring where art and creativity and possibly murder rise from. “In every being who lives, there is a second self very little known to anyone. You who read this have a real person hidden under your better-known personality” runs the epigraph, taken from a biography of Ellen Terry. Where exactly the writer’s self is located within the man of business is the central question of this marvellous novel. Who is the real Stoker, the much-loved theatrical fixer or the lonely man up in the eaves, writing for nobody but a ghost?

#Shadowplay #NetGalley

Thanks to Europa Editions for this ARC through Net Galley.
4.5 stars for a wonderfully rich read
This book was available earlier from other publishers and there are plenty of favorable, descriptive goodreads reviews of this work of literature I need not add to beyond my appreciation for this fictional account of real characters who were early celebrities in the world of theater.
We meet the two main characters on a train heading for yet another theater tour, Bram Stoker, author of Dracula, and his boss Henry Irving, Shakespearean actor. The wheel rolls back in time to allow for the story of their initial meeting in Dublin where Stoker was a clerk and Irving was in need of a theater manager in London. The lives they led, the shifting fortunes, the other stars of the time of both theater and literature all play their parts. The story is rich in history and deeply emotional.

This book was good though I will say it lost some of its momentum towards the end. I enjoyed the characters, but the love triangle was smothered what felt like far too quickly and easily when we finally had everyone all together. All in all it was a fun read I just felt it could have been even more. I wished there had been more details and plot reveals in the end instead of the drawn out beginning and short end we received.

There are a lot of reviews for this on Goodreads already, so I'll just recommend it to historical fiction fans. O'Conner is a talented writer and it shows here.

I really appreciate the copy for review!!

There is a lot of story to read in this book. But is is very well written so that the reader does not get bogged down in plot or characters. It was interesting to see how the author worked actual historical figures into the plot.
A very enjoyable book with interesting characters. Great for lovers of historical fiction.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

The writing of this book was pretty dense. I've read several classics such as Dracula and Frankenstein and the writing in this book was similarly dense to some of these classics. I really wanted to enjoy this book, but the writing style really bogged me down and it was hard to get through. I did enjoy the premise of the book and getting into the mind of Stoker himself though.

This is an absolute masterpiece of artwork in written form. There are so many amazing historical figures deftly woven into the plot that it should have been somewhat hard to keep up with and wasn't at all. A truly compelling, sometimes bleak look at the times. Beautiful!