Barbara Henderson has been writing fantastic historical fiction for children, bringing Scotland’s past alive in an entertaining way. In her latest book, however, she travels outside of Scotland to Elizabethan England to have with the Bard. BooksfromScotland asked her about her passion for the good ‘ol days . . .

Enter Eddie Shakespeare
By Barbara Henderson
Published by Luath Press

Hello Barbara, it’s great to see you releasing another fantastic book for children, Enter Eddie Shakespeare. Can you tell us about it? And what inspired you to write this story?

It’s an historical adventure story about Shakespeare’s little brother Edmund who followed Will to London’s theatres. It was a throwaway sentence in Bill Bryson’s Shakespeare biography which alerted me to the fact that the Bard had a brother 16 years his junior. Who knew? A quick check of the dates and BINGO, that boy would have been 12 (ideal for a Middle Grade protagonist) when Shakespeare was first referred to as an ‘upstart crow’ by a jealous rival, Robert Grreene. Imagine my joy when I found out that Edmund Shakespeare was listed on his death as ‘a player in the burgh’ – an actor. I imagined him running away as a youngster to follow his big brother to the city. 

Your books for children usually explore exciting events in history. What draws you to write about the past? 

The past is both foreign and familiar. Children had no safety nets then – deadly danger was never far away. For adventure stories, that proximity to jeopardy is pure gold. I’ve always loved history – the fact that there are so many stories to be discovered beneath our very feet. 

Your books are set in so many centuries! Do you have a favourite historical period? 

I do love the Middle Ages with its chivalry, heroic endeavours, myths legends, not to mention all that spectacle and colour! But if the story is right, I can get excited about almost any period in history.  

You often travel round the country visiting schools. What have you found about children’s relationship to history? 

I find that story is the way in! If you tell children that they are going to learn something about history, it creates a distance. In a story, they learn to identify and sympathise with a character from the past. They realise it could be them. As a drama teacher, I often use roleplay, costumes and props during my school visits. It achieves the same thing – the distance between the now and the then just vanishes.  

Are you a fan of Shakespeare? Did you always know you’d write about him at some point? 

I think deep down I did know. I just needed to wait for the right idea. During my teacher training, I bought a print of a Shakespeare portrait at a charity shop on Edinburgh’s Clerk Street. I framed it and it has kept me company in every classroom I have taught in since 1997. I fell in love with Shakespeare at school – the combination of hugely exciting drama, knockabout humour and vivid, quotable, memorable snippets of wisdom… who wouldn’t love that? 

Why do you think Shakespeare continues to remain so relevant to us now? 

Being human hasn’t changed. We still have the same concerns: we seek love, meaning, recognition. Our flaws are what they were in the past: jealousy, vain ambition, pomposity, lethargy, foolishness, naivety. We still need laughter to balance the challenges of life. Shakespeare gives us all of that.  

Which other historical fiction writers inspire you? 

I love the work of Ally Sherrick, Susan Brownrigg, Jane Hardstaff, Lindsay Littleson, Victoria Williamson, Robin Scott-Elliot, Catherine Randall, Dan Smith… 

What has been your favourite Scottish book this year so far? 

I loved Rosemary Goring’s Exile: The Captive Years of Mary, Queen of Scots – and I am so looking forward to reading Shona Maclean’s The Cromarty Library Circle. 

Enter Eddie Shakespeare by Barbara Henderson is published by Luath Press, priced £7.99.