The King of Infinite Space by Lyndsay Faye
Ben Dane is devastated and suspicious when his father, the founder of World Stage Theatre, dies under strange circumstances. He and his best friend Horatio Patel are determined to figure out what happened to his dad in this moody, modern retelling of Hamlet.
When You Get the Chance by Emma Lord
This exuberant YA book is the story of Millie Price, who is determined to be a Broadway star. When she gets accepted to a prestigious pre-college program across the country and her dad won’t let her attend, Millie decides to use her dad’s Live Journal to set up a reverse Mama Mia and track down her mom.
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
Vivian Morris is 19 years old and has just been kicked out of Vassar. She decides to utilize her sewing skills in the most glamorous place in the world: New York City in the 1940s. Vivian’s aunt just happens to run a theatre, and Vivian makes costumes by day and enjoys the best of New York’s night life…at least until a big mistake becomes public.
The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn
When a whale washes up on the shore by Chilcombe Manor, 12-year-old Cristabel Seagrave knows just what to do: use the skeleton as a theatre. Over the years, The Whalebone Theatre presents The Iliad and plays by Shakespeare as World War II changes the lives and futures of both the manor family and the surrounding village.
Booth by Karen Joy Fowler
John Wilkes Booth is (in)famous as the actor who assassinated President Lincoln. But John hailed from a theatrical family, and his father Junius and brother Edwin were both great performers. Karen Joy Fowler follows Edwin and two of the Booth sisters, Rosalie and Asia, as they experience personal successes and public tragedies in their isolated family home and on the most famous stages of the country.
Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood
In this reinterpretation of The Tempest, Prospero is Felix, the eccentric artistic director of a theatre festival…until he is unceremoniously escorted out by security. Felix spends years in a lonely cabin in the woods, grieving his dead daughter and his lost career. He finally convinces himself to start again and teaches literature and theatre to inmates at a nearby prison. When the program is in danger of being cut, he has one last chance to direct the inmates in a Shakespearean performance, save the literacy program, and get revenge on the people who took everything from him.
Final Acts: Theatrical Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards
Some nights at the theatre have unexpected finales, and not every performer will make it to bows. This story collection contains tales from crime author greats from Dorothy L. Sayers to Anthony Wynne.
Here for the Drama by Kate Bromley
Winnie is paying her dues on the journey to become a famous playwright by assisting renowned director Juliette Brassard with a play in London. Things get complicated fast, as Winnie falls for Juliette’s handsome actor nephew, Juliette refuses to read Winnie’s scripts, and everything that can go wrong with this production does go wrong.
Someday, Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham
Franny Banks has just six months left in her self-imposed deadline to make it as an actor. Her only success so far is an ad for ugly Christmas sweaters, but she hopes that the student showcase for her acting class will finally be her big break. Lauren Graham (yes, that Lauren Graham) has written a heartfelt, delightful story about having a big dream in the big city.
The Chelsea Girls by Fiona Davis
Hazel Ripley and Maxine Mead became the closest of friends while touring with the USO. Now they’re back in New York City, living at the Chelsea Hotel, and hoping to make their mark on Broadway. Hazel is ready to write the next hit and Maxine is looking to star in it, until they are both named on Senator McCarthy’s list of potential Communist sympathizers.
The Lesser Bohemians by Elmear McBride
Eily has just arrived in London to attend drama school and she is eager to learn, both about theatre and about sex. She is taken under the wing of Stephen, a much older actor. While the two plan to keep things casual, their long weekends in bed and time spent on the stage will change them both irrevocably.
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
In beloved and best-selling author Ann Patchett’s newest novel, the pandemic has brought Laura’s three adult daughters back to the family farm. As they pick cherries together, they convince their mother to tell them about the summer she spent dating and acting alongside the now-famous star Peter Duke. Tom Lake examines relationships with parents, siblings and first loves while perfectly evoking the experience of performing in community theatre and summer stock.
Actress by Ann Enright
Norah is the same age her mother was when she died, so this seems the perfect moment to revisit her relationship with the tumultuous and beloved star of stage and screen. When she was a child, Norah rarely understood her mother’s emotions or choices. Now as an adult and a mother herself, she has new insight into the struggles of being true to yourself while trying to be everything to your child and an adoring public.
Roomies by Christina Lauren
This contemporary romance follows Holland, who works at her uncle’s theater. When she falls hard for Calvin, a subway busker, she offers to get him an audition with an influential music director and marry him so he can get his green card. What starts as a marriage of convenience quickly turns into something more amid the lights and music of Broadway.
Playhouse by Richard Bausch
At the Shakespeare Theater of Memphis, it’s difficult to tell if there is more drama onstage during rehearsals for King Lear or offstage as a visiting director butts heads with the manager, a longtime actress wonders if she can make ends meet, and a local news anchor tries to ride out a scandal with stage time instead of on-air time.
