My Name is Not Peaseblossom
Page 14
Shakespeare wrote in hard times, when a hasty word might get your head chopped off. I suspect he not only wrote many versions of his plays, to suit the varied audiences, but also kept them loose enough so that they might be played in different ways.
Nor do I think he’d mind what I have done. Shakespeare took the work of others and made it brilliant. I’ve taken his work and made it twenty-first century. I hope he might at least say, ‘A workable attempt, Mistress French.’
There are so many, many people to thank for the joy in writing this series: Cristina Cappelluto, who saw the potential in what would have seemed to others an odd proposal — putting what might be there into Shakespeare’s plays; Nicola O’Shea for brilliant editing; Pam Dunne for the most expert proofreading possible, picking up inconsistencies we’d missed in the last fifty readings. (I like to think that missing details, like it was Tuesday in paragraph three and Sunday in paragraph four, or a character has three ‘other’ hands, means the story is so gripping that we miss them. We are all entitled to fool ourselves now and then.) Thanks, too, to the designers for the totally perfect cover for each book in the series, including Amy Daoud for the Peaseblossom cover.
But two people, as always, stand out: Angela Marshall, who takes a dyslexic’s mess and turns it into a manuscript, as well as having a pack rat’s knowledge of history like my own, except with (mostly) different hunks of knowledge in those packs. Nor does she rely on Wikipedia for her sources, but has gleaned them from letters, diaries et al. for over six decades, as I have. Because of Angela, I can write with confidence, because if I muck up entirely (as opposed to a position I can substantiate even if we cannot tell exactly what is true) Angela will let me know — with reference, details and suggestions.
And always, Lisa Berryman, whose friendship I value even more than her supreme editorship. The world works better if everyone simply accepts that what Lisa says is right. It also saves a writer much time too. Lisa does not let me get away with leaving out the hard bits with the mental excuse ‘the reader can imagine that’. True, they can — but why should they have to put in the bits I find emotionally or creatively difficult if they are forking out time and/or money to read my book?
Mostly, though, I would like to thank you, whoever is reading this book. Somehow, miraculously, I have been given the career I dreamed of since I was three years old, as well as one that I can continue now I am partially disabled. (You might want to imagine me writing each book now with my left leg up on three pillows. On the other hand, better not.)
It has been a joy to write this series, but every book is written in partnership with the reader. As the Master said in Henry V, ‘’tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings’. I hope we’ve both had happiness, adventure, intrigue, introspection, enlightenment, wonder, many giggles, some laughter, a few tears, as well as escape and friendship as we share these pages, even if we never meet.
Jackie French
Araluen Valley, 2019
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JACKIE FRENCH AM is an award-winning writer, wombat negotiator, the 2014–2015 Australian Children’s Laureate and the 2015 Senior Australian of the Year. In 2016 Jackie became a Member of the Order of Australia for her contribution to children’s literature and her advocacy for youth literacy. She is regarded as one of Australia’s most popular children’s authors and writes across all genres — from picture books, history, fantasy, ecology and sci-fi to her much loved historical fiction for a variety of age groups. ‘Share a Story’ was the primary philosophy behind Jackie’s two-year term as Laureate.
jackiefrench.com
facebook.com/authorjackiefrench
ALSO BY JACKIE FRENCH
Australian Historical
Somewhere Around the Corner • Dancing with Ben Hall • Daughter of the Regiment • Soldier on the Hill • Valley of Gold • Tom Appleby, Convict Boy • A Rose for the Anzac Boys • The Night They Stormed Eureka • Nanberry: Black Brother White • Pennies for Hitler • Pirate Boy of Sydney Town
General Historical
Hitler’s Daughter • Lady Dance • How the Finnegans Saved the Ship • The White Ship • They Came on Viking Ships • Macbeth and Son • Pharaoh • Oracle • Goodbye, Mr Hitler • Just a Girl
Fiction
Rain Stones • Walking the Boundaries • The Secret Beach • Summerland • A Wombat Named Bosco • Beyond the Boundaries • The Warrior: The Story of a Wombat • The Book of Unicorns • Tajore Arkle • Missing You, Love Sara • Dark Wind Blowing • Ride the Wild Wind: The Golden Pony and Other Stories • Refuge • The Book of Horses and Unicorns
Non-Fiction
A Year in the Valley • How the Aliens from Alpha Centauri • Invaded My Maths Class and Turned Me into a Writer • How to Guzzle Your Garden • The Book of Challenges • The Fascinating History of Your Lunch • To the Moon and Back • The Secret World of Wombats • How High Can a Kangaroo Hop? • Let the Land Speak: How the Land Created Our Nation • I Spy a Great Reader
Miss Lily Series
1. Miss Lily’s Lovely Ladies • 1.5. With Love from Miss Lily: A Christmas Story • 2. The Lily and the Rose • 2.5. Christmas Lilies • 3. The Lily in the Snow
The Matilda Saga
1. A Waltz for Matilda • 2. The Girl from Snowy River • 3. The Road to Gundagai • 4. To Love a Sunburnt Country • 5. The Ghost by the Billabong • 6. If Blood Should Stain the Wattle • 7. Facing the Flame • 8. The Last Dingo Summer
Shakespeare Series
I am Juliet • Ophelia: Queen of Denmark • The Diary of William Shakespeare, Gentleman • Third Witch • My Name is Not Peaseblossom
The Animal Stars Series
The Goat Who Sailed the World • The Dog Who Loved a Queen • The Camel Who Crossed Australia • The Donkey Who Carried the Wounded • The Horse Who Bit a Bushranger • Dingo: The Dog Who Conquered a Continent
The Secret Histories Series
1. Birrung the Secret Friend • 2. Barney and the Secret of the Whales • 3. The Secret of the Black Bushranger • 4. Barney and the Secret of the French Spies • 5. The Secret of the Youngest Rebel
Outlands Trilogy
In the Blood • Blood Moon • Flesh and Blood
School for Heroes Series
Lessons for a Werewolf Warrior • Dance of the Deadly Dinosaurs
Wacky Families Series
1. My Dog the Dinosaur • 2. My Mum the Pirate • 3. My Dad the Dragon • 4. My Uncle Gus the Garden Gnome • 5. My Uncle Wal the Werewolf • 6. My Gran the Gorilla • 7. My Auntie Chook the Vampire Chicken • 8. My Pa the Polar Bear
Phredde Series
1. A Phaery Named Phredde • 2. Phredde and a Frog Named Bruce • 3. Phredde and the Zombie Librarian • 4. Phredde and the Temple of Gloom • 5. Phredde and the Leopard-Skin Librarian • 6. Phredde and the Purple Pyramid • 7. Phredde and the Vampire Footy Team • 8. Phredde and the Ghostly Underpants
Picture Books
Diary of a Wombat (with Bruce Whatley)
Pete the Sheep (with Bruce Whatley)
Josephine Wants to Dance (with Bruce Whatley)
The Shaggy Gully Times (with Bruce Whatley)
Emily and the Big Bad Bunyip (with Bruce Whatley)
Baby Wombat’s Week (with Bruce Whatley)
The Tomorrow Book (with Sue deGennaro)
Queen Victoria’s Underpants (with Bruce Whatley)
Christmas Wombat (with Bruce Whatley)
A Day to Remember (with Mark Wilson)
Queen Victoria’s Christmas (with Bruce Whatley)
Dinosaurs Love Cheese (with Nina Rycroft)
Wombat Goes to School (with Bruce Whatley)
The Hairy-Nosed Wombats Find a New Home (with Sue deGennaro)
Good Dog Hank (with Nina Rycroft)
The Beach They Called Gallipoli (with Bruce Whatley)
Wombat Wins (with Bruce Whatley)
Grandma Wombat (with Bruce Whatley)
Millie Loves Ants (with Sue deGennaro)
Ko
ala Bare (with Matt Shanks)
Dippy’s Big Day Out (with Bruce Whatley; concept by Ben Smith Whatley)
When the War is Over (with Anne Spudvilas)
Happy Birthday Wombat (with Bruce Whatley)
BACK ADS
Discover the other books in Jackie French’s acclaimed Shakespeare series . . .
Everyone knows the story of Juliet Capulet and her love for Romeo. The star-crossed lovers from the warring Capulet and Montague families of Verona whose love was doomed. But who was this girl Juliet?
She is the girl who will be queen: Ophelia, daughter of Denmark’s lord chancellor and loved by Prince Hamlet. But while Hamlet’s family stab, poison or haunt one another, Ophelia plans a sensible rule. Even if she has to pretend to be mad to make it happen . . .
Annie Grasseyes is not a witch, but when her mistress Lady Macbeth calls for a potion to ‘stiffen Macbeth’s sinews’, Annie is caught up in plots that lead to murder, kingship and betrayal.
He was a boy who escaped small-town life to be the world’s most acclaimed playwright. A lover whose sonnets still sing 400 years later; a glover’s apprentice who became a gentleman. But was William Shakespeare happy? And could he put down his pen forever like a true gentleman?
COPYRIGHT
Angus&Robertson
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, Australia
First published in Australia in 2019
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Jackie French 2019
The right of Jackie French to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
HarperCollinsPublishers
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ISBN 978 1 4607 5478 8 (paperback)
ISBN 978 1 4607 0917 7 (ebook)
A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of Australia
Cover design by Amy Daoud, HarperCollins Design Studio
Cover images by shutterstock.com