“Margaret Sweatman's historical novel is far grittier and realistic than the period pieces you'll see on TV or at the movie theatre. And more erotic, too... Sweatman's writing flows as smoothly as a muscular northern river, with a stunning control of voice. She keeps the reader engaged every moment, introducing us to a company of intriguing characters.” - Mark Frutkin, The Globe and Mail
Full Review “Margaret Sweatman's The Players is the kind of novel that just feeds the desire for and appreciation of good writing. I read it and loved it as a reader, but I appreciated it, and was inspired by it, as a writer as well…” - Inkslinger, The Over Decorated Bookcase.
Full Review “The Players is a magical tale, much akin to Douglas Glover’s Elle and Bill Gaston’s The Order of Good Cheer. …this is a wonderfully humourous tale filled with playful language.” - Andrew Armitage, The Sun Times
Full Review |  Goose Lane Editions, 2009 Synopsis It is 1665, and young Lilly Cole must learn to act, to perform in the King’s theatre company of “players.” For Lilly, acting is the way to save her own life. At the same time, two French explorers, Pierre Esprit Radisson and Médard Chouart des Groseilliers, arrive in Court to charm two ships from the English King. Set in the libertine era of Restoration England, The Players takes us on a voyage of discovery. This is a tale of beginnings, and of invention. While this novel is set in the 17th Century, the world it evokes is remarkably contemporary. In The Players the ability to perform – on stage, in Court, in private quarters and in the brutal cold of James Bay – this is the way of survival. A Personal Note about The Players When people ask what the next novel is about, I find myself telling them that it’s about actors and explorers. Then I add that it’s set in the 17th century. The Players doesn’t seem to me to be an “historical novel.” One powerful source of inspiration for this novel was the portraiture by the 17th century painter, Sir Peter Lely – whose paintings can be found on the internet on the National Portrait Gallery website, under Sir Peter Lely. Lely’s portraits are dark – suggesting the sadness, the sense of mortality that I feel drives the characters in The Players. What was so important to my process, and to the novel as a result, is that I photocopied these portraits, and this photocopying exaggerated the darkness already existing in the Lely’s great, honest, canny (We All Die) portraits. What I worked from was mediated: photocopies saturated in sadness and ink. On the National Portrait Gallery website there’s a portrait of “Prince Rupert, Count Palatine” – standing (the cameo one is awful, but the standing one breaks my heart). There’s also one called “Possibly Nell Gwyn.” And others – a nasty cameo of King Charles that captures – again – his morose, satiric determination. These portraits of the characters in The Players are of vivid realists. The novel is not an historical romance; it’s not about romantics but about realists who wish the world would offer them the opportunity to be otherwise. |