Felix Phillips is a theater director ousted from his festival job by a treacherous associate. He retreats into a self-imposed exile under the pseudonym Mr. Duke, brooding over his lost career and the death of his young daughter, Miranda. Twelve years later, he accepts a teaching position at the Fletcher County Correctional Center. He organizes a production of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest with the inmates, casting himself as Prospero. Felix utilizes the play's structure to orchestrate a high-tech trap for the politicians who betrayed him, blending digital special effects with internal prison politics to exact his revenge.
This novel serves readers interested in the mechanics of adaptation and meta-theatrical storytelling. Those who study Shakespeare find a technical breakdown of how early modern drama translates into modern carceral settings. The narrative provides an analysis of grief and the psychological cost of holding onto past injuries. You finish the book with a perspective on how artistic performance functions as a tool for rehabilitation and a method for manipulating personal reality.
- Published
- 2016
- Language
- EN
