Gender fluidity and political intrigue abound in “Boy,” New York Times best-selling author Nicole Galland’s engrossing new novel. However, this is no contemporary tale. Instead, it is thought-provoking historical fiction, nestled in London’s Globe Theater and Elizabethan court.
Galland, who excels in cinematographic descriptions, deftly drops us into this world in the first chapter. “On this side of the Thames … theater was the pinnacle of culture. Every afternoon but Sunday, the round open-air playhouses — the Rose and the larger, new Globe — welcomed thousands eager to be transported to another time, another place, to put aside their own petty problems and marvel at the struggles of warriors, magicians, doomed lovers, runaways, tyrants, Jews, Moors, orphans, fairy queens, sprites.”
Within the company is our effeminate male protagonist, the “willowy and graceful” Alexander (“Sander”) Cooke, a celebrated — and courted — apprentice boy actor playing women’s roles. In this, the last precious season of his apprenticeship, we discover that Sander plucks his face to keep the wispy hairs at bay. “He knew he had marvelous bone structure. He had been told this so many times, the angles of his cheek and brow and chin had been so often commented upon, sketched, and serenaded that his awareness of them was no more prideful than awareness that he had black hair or ice-blue eyes.”
Just as Sander is transitioning back into britches, his dearest friend since childhood, Joan Buckler, begins to don them. Although not formally schooled, Joan possesses a quick, intellectual mind and a thirst for learning, particularly natural philosophy. With Sander’s help, she dresses as a boy, Jack, which allows her to interact with the great minds of the day. The most prominent is the Queen’s advisor, Francis Bacon, who, as an avid admirer of Sander’s, agrees to take “Jack” on, curious to see if he can school an untrained mind for the benefit of society.
Both Sander and Joan find a certain power in portraying the opposite sex. Women — and some men — have always thrown themselves at Sander’s feet. But he fears what will happen as he grows too old for the female parts. Sander bemoans to Joan, “They’re replacing me … What will I do? This is all I have. It’s all I know. I don’t know how to be a man.”
Joan, on the other hand, finds newfound freedom when dressed as Jack. Galland writes, “She spread her shoulders wider, claimed more space without asking permission. It felt absurd, yet thrilling.”
As the two navigate their changing lives, the nature of their relationship comes into question.
Bacon, too, is an interesting character in this triangle. Although a man of intellectual pursuits, he is equally one of Elizabeth’s court. And as Sander tries to figure out what to do next — whether to remain with the company or seek a wealthy patron — and Joan pursues the life of the mind, the two young people get entangled in Bacon’s shifting allegiances and political intrigues. Sander finds it all very stimulating after his initial political foray: “There. He had accomplished it. So quick, so simple, with momentous outcomes. This was a thrill he’d never known before: to be a small, invisible cog in the machinery of state rather than an idol of the superficial theater world. It gave him a sense of substance, of meaning, as if he had dined on fruit all his life and was now being offered venison.”
But as the stakes get ever higher, Galland skillfully builds the tension, making “Boy” a compelling, perfect page-turner.
Shakespeare’s world comes alive in Galland’s novel, with familiar references sprinkled throughout to his plays, the Globe, and actors at the time. Asked why she is drawn to this period, Galland responds, “It’s a happy place that I can have all to myself, and also share with the community that is both intimate and worldwide.” Referring to the enormous amount of scholarship available, she adds, “It’s the perfect distance between being known and unknown. It was 400 years ago, so we can’t really know it that well. But the world has already done a lot of the work; I just get to customize it to my private preferences.”
Although anchored in the past, “Boy” speaks to issues around identity today. Galland says, “I wrote this with a contemporary readership in mind. And to them, I would say both: Look how far we’ve come (although we’re not there yet). Boys need not grow up to be manly men to thrive; girls are welcome in the sciences and also, generally, pants. Today’s conversation about gender sounds very different from those of eras past, but it has really been a continuous, evolving discussion.”
“Boy: A Novel,” by Nicole Galland. Available at Edgartown Books and Bunch of Grapes.
