I lay very still, with all my senses telling me that I had gone mad. The plague? Nobody's had the plague for centuries . . . Nathan Field, a talented young actor, arrives at the newly rebuilt Globe Theatre in London to play Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream. As rehearsals begin, eerie echoes of the past begin to haunt Nat, and he falls sick with a mysterious sickness.

When he wakes, Nat finds himself in 1599, an actor at the original Globe - and his co-star is none other than the King of Shadows himself: William Shakespeare.

Nat's new life is full of excitement, danger and the passionate friendship that he has longed for since the tragic death of his parents. But why has he been sent to the past - and is he trapped there forever?

Susan Cooper is a world-renowned author of children's books. Born and brought up in England, she worked as a journalist before moving to America, where she now lives. Her fabulousThe Dark Is Risingsequence has won the Newbery Medal and was twice shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. HerBoggarttitles have won the Scottish Arts Council Children's Book Award and been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Smarties Prize.King of Shadowswas also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. As well as writing novels, Susan Cooper writes successful plays, and screenplays for film and television.

Award-winning author Susan Cooper brings the vivid, magical world of Shakespeare's London to life in this rich and powerful novel.