Shay and Nonesuch are young and poor, surviving on their wits in Elizabethan London. Shay is a member of the Aviscultans, a cult that worships birds as gods. Nonesuch is a celebrated child actor, thrilling audiences on stage every night. When they meet, Shay is drawn into Nonesuch’s theatre world, entranced by the shows.

But behind the beauty and mystique, the backdrop is sordid. Nonesuch and his fellow actors have been stolen off the streets, their acting supplemented by ‘private masques’ they perform for rich gentlemen. Shay’s escapades bring trouble to the Aviscultans.

Together, they form the Ghost Theatre, a troupe that performs magical plays in London’s hidden corners. Their fame quickly grows. But with the Elizabethan court paranoid about rebellion, and the rich and powerful arrayed against them, can Shay and Nonesuch really change the script that has been written for them?

The Ghost Theatre is a gloriously written novel, with Elizabethan London evoked in all its beauty and filth. Readers are immersed, running across the rooftops with Shay, feeling the cold of the frozen Thames, and the thrill of the stage. Yet the intersection of money and power feels unchanged across the centuries. A wonderful debut by Mat Osman (yes, brother of Richard).

Reviewed by Melinda Woledge