num_pages: 188
description: It is late in the fourteenth century, a time of calamity such as few others have been, marked by war, plague and fear of hell-fire. Nicholas Barber, a footloose young cleric, has left his diocese without the Bishop's leave. He has sung in taverns, he has gambled away his holy relics, he has committed adultery. Now, to compound his sins, he has joined a troupe of travelling players, a thing expressly forbidden to members of the clergy. Trouble enough, but nothing compared to what happens when the company decides to enact the murder of the young boy called Thomas Wells.Morality Play is Barry Unsworth's first novel since winning the Booker Prize. It is a dark and powerful fable about the masks we wear, the roles we play and the corrupted nature of justice.
language: English
title: Morality play
titlecomplete: Morality play
characters: Martin Ball, Sir Roger of Yarm, Stephen (Morality Play), Thomas Wells, William de Guise, Nicholas Barber, Brendan (Morality Play), Lord Richard de Guise, The King's Justice, Tobias (Morality Play), Straw (Morality Play), Margaret (Morality Play), John Lambert, Jack Flint, Springer (Morality Play), Simon Damian, Jane Lambert
genres: British Literature, Historical, Mystery, Novels, Historical Fiction, Literature, Literary Fiction, Fiction, Medieval, Crime
ratings_count: 3836
places: England
awards: awardedAt: 788947200000
name: Booker Prize, awardedAt: 852105600000
name: Martin Beck Award
publisher: Hamish Hamilton Ltd