About the book In Shakespeare’s Shadow
A A writer from Baia Mare steps into the limelight and shows us a visionary path to the hidden horizons of the city, which will awaken a thundering world
The key character is a man from Baia Mare who lived about four centuries ago and who was wielded by destiny both in the courtyard of the Emperor in Prague and in Shakespeare’s and Francis Bacon’s England... Researcher of great mysteries, chemist and alchemist, mineralogist and anthropologist, Johannes Banfi Huniades, is discovered in his entirety in European corridors and in acute temporal complexities, which transgress the most fearsome areas. Gold seekers, coin-makers, explorers of the depths, science pioneers, progress promoters, and other types of "brave souls" of the time come in contact with a man from the Carpathians, exchanging history courses and paths.
But, especially, contemporary loops of destiny...
The character of that time seems to seek his present-day author! And he seems to be tired of being lost in the mists of time! So, a German from Baia Mare, four hundred years ago, finds another German from Baia Mare today. How do you think today's Germans will react when they find out that some of Shakespeare's plays bear the mark of the "anonymous" creation of a German man from Baia Mare? When the German press announces this, it may be that the circulation of this historic novel - "In Shakespeare’s Shadow" - is too small for a world full of curious people!
Dr. Teodor Ardelean
„The character of that time seems to seek his present-day author! And he seems to be tired of being lost in the mists of time! ”
A A truly sensational novel, written by a man born in Baia Mare, Walter Übelhart, captivates readers from the very first sentences. Through the chosen theme and the two-plane action, we are immersed in the corridors of time until 400 years ago, when a character from Baia Mare is revealed to us from the shadow of history, who for so long has preferred to remain discreet, Johannes Banfi Hunyades. Graduate of Schola Rivulina, where he learned foreign languages, including English, our character makes a name for himself in select circles in London, and got to be close to the great William Shakespeare, to whom he not only suggested the themes for which he then became famous, but he even gave him texts, choosing to remain unknown. The novel is written in a modern way, in which the reader can easily identify two levels: on the one hand, we are transposed in the old days, in which Baia Mare seems to be connected to the European scientific and cultural circuit, despite several medieval manifestations (witches, miraculous drugs, secret societies, occultism etc.), and on the other we witness the insistent attempts of the narrator-author to identify evidence of a fabulous past in today's Baia Mare and in the surrounding area. This way, Walter Übelhart, following Johannes Banfi Hunyades, captures our imagination and fascinates us with his addictive style, which places him into the world of best-sellers.
Assistant Professor PhD Mircea Ioan Farcas