Play the Fool: A novel

In PLAY THE FOOL, Laurence Gardiner returns home after university with a BA in theatre, devoid of opportunity and passion. But when an encounter with a ghost (there’s always a ghost) transports him to a strange land, the world of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, his senses are reawakened. In his hometown, he discovers the ghost’s unfinished adaptation of Shakespeare’s play, which he is determined to complete, while in the world of the play, he embodies the character of Launcelot, the Fool. Here, he throws off the idyllic life of the fool to save Jessica, who finds herself in increasing danger.
 
Laurence shifts between worlds, determined to succeed in both. In his small town, he gathers a motley crew of community theatre actors to complete his new adaptation: one that recaptures the overlooked character, Jessica. This version of Laurence is meek, and struggles to overcome clashing personalities and poor working conditions, fighting to keep his sinking ship afloat until they reach the shore that is their finished production.
 
In Venice, the Fool is hopelessly in love with Jessica. Jessica, who, driven by lust, left her father and Jewish background, and eloped with her love. However, she discovers that reality does not live up to her dreams. Her new husband is not the dashing hero, and she is as much an outsider in her new world as she was in her old. At first, Laurence’s mission is to free her from this life, to cheer her up and maybe win her love, but as Jessica begins to unravel, Laurence discovers that she is an unwilling participant in a conspiracy to overthrow the Duke of Venice, a conspiracy that, if she’s not careful, will claim her life. One wrong move in either world and Laurence loses Jessica: her fictional self and her real one.