{"product_id":"the-old-man-and-the-norman-lock-9781954276666","title":"The Old Man and the Heath: A Novel and Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eShakespeare reimagined in a novel of King Lear, resurrected from the heath to bear witness at time's end, and six stories that present the Bard's bit characters anew\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNorman Lock recasts King Lear as a survivor of Shakespeare's tragic play, condemned to live as an old man forever on the heath, where the bucolic landscape evolves into a post-industrial ruin. Reduced from the pinnacle of power to the depths of homelessness and servitude, Lear observes history's processional across the centuries. In the seventeenth century, he witnesses the stoning of a young woman, whose martyrdom is commemorated by pilgrims who erect a cathedral to house her bones. Later, he must eke out a living as the site becomes a garrison for Cromwell's soldiers; then an abbey during the plague; a shoe factory at the start of the Industrial Revolution; a military hospital during the First and Second World Wars; a late twentieth-century Shakespearean repertory theater; a swank apartment building; and, in the near future, a \"shooting gallery\" from which he rescues a young woman whom he names Cordelia.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the companion stories to Lear's tale, Lock brings six of Shakespeare's minor characters to center stage, where they emerge from their traditional roles in \u003ci\u003eA Midsummer Night's Dream\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMacbeth\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eRomeo and Juliet\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Merchant of Venice\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAntony and Cleopatra\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eHamlet\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn homage to Shakespeare's enduring hold on our imagination, \u003ci\u003eThe Old Man and the Heath\u003c\/i\u003e is a triumph of originality and invention.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Norman Lock\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1954276664\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781954276666\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Bellevue Literary Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/23\/2027\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 320\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback","brand":"Norman Lock","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48801254670591,"sku":"9781954276666","price":18.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-old-man-and-the-norman-lock-9781954276666","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}