Morality Play

Barry Unsworth was born in 1930 in Durham. He was the author of many novels, including Pascali’s Island, which was shortlisted for the 1980 Booker Prize; Stone Virgin (1985); Sacred Hunger, which was joint winner of the 1992 Booker Prize; Morality Play, which was shortlisted for the 1995 Booker Prize; Losing Nelson (1999); The Songs of the King (2002); The Ruby in Her Navel (2006); Land of Marvels (2009); and The Quality of Mercy (2011), which was shortlisted for The Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction. Barry Unsworth died in 2012.

"Brilliant ... The ending is thrilling and unexpected, though nothing is beyond belief in this beautifully constructed, illuminating novel." Observer "A brilliant book ... The sights and sounds, the physical impact of bedraggled play-acting, are unforgettable. And the strange birth of modern drama, on a cart carrying dirty costumes and a corpse, is memorably exciting." -- John Mortimer Mail on Sunday "Wonderfully vivid ... this bleakly glittering novel ... adds to its already impressive array of attractions the pace, suspense and twisty unexpectedness of a gripping detective tale." -- Peter Kemp Sunday Times "From the first, vital sentence, Unsworth's medieval drama grips the reader's attention ... exquisite." Daily Telegraph