'Exquisite' Veronica Henry Before A Christmas Carol there was... Miss Marley A seasonal tale of kindness and goodwill

‘Exquisite’ Veronica Henry Before A Christmas Carol there was... Miss Marley A seasonal tale of kindness and goodwill

'Exquisite' Veronica Henry Before A Christmas Carol there was... Miss Marley A seasonal tale of kindness and goodwill

Before Ebenezer Scrooge learned the true meaning of Christmas, another old miser was haunted by the ghosts of his past, present and future. What happened to Jacob Marley, in the seven years since his untimely death, that could convince him to sacrifice everything to save the one man he despises most? ..". [a] rich new holiday confection, MARLEY'S GHOST. Jeff Goode's play is a smart, engaging prequel to A CHRISTMAS CAROL that stirs in some wicked whimsy a la Lewis Carroll and ultimately conveys the same inspirational message of hope and forgiveness as the original ... Theatergoers ... will witness a rather exquisite blend of foolery and feeling." -Los Angeles Times ..". Jeff Goode's bizarre take on A Christmas Carol and a Dickens of an update it is ... The often tongue-in-cheek/often poignant slant on the holiday classic is ... enough to make this an annual event." -Backstage West

"A parallel account to Charles Dickens's classic A Christmas Carol, recounting events from the point of view of Scrooge's partner, Jacob Marley"--Provided by publisher.

The acclaimed author of Finn “digs down to the bones of a classic and creates must-read modern literature” (Charles Frazier, New York Times bestselling author) with this “clever riff” (The Washington Post) on Dickens’s classic A Christmas Carol that explores of the relationship between Ebenezer Scrooge and Jacob Marley. “Marley was dead, to begin with,” Charles Dickens tells us at the beginning of A Christmas Carol. But in Jon Clinch’s “masterly” (The New York Times Book Review) novel, Jacob Marley, business partner to Ebenezer Scrooge, is very much alive: a rapacious and cunning boy who grows up to be a forger, a scoundrel, and the man who will be both the making and the undoing of Scrooge. They meet as youths in the gloomy confines of Professor Drabb’s Academy for Boys, where Marley begins their twisted friendship by initiating the innocent Scrooge into the art of extortion. Years later, in the dank heart of London, their shared ambition manifests itself in a fledgling shipping empire. Between Marley’s genius for deception and Scrooge’s brilliance with numbers, they amass a considerable fortune of dubious legality, all rooted in a pitiless commitment to the soon-to-be-outlawed slave trade. As Marley toys with the affections of Scrooge’s sister, Fan, Scrooge falls under the spell of Fan’s best friend, Belle Fairchild. Now, for the first time, Scrooge and Marley find themselves at odds. With their business interests inextricably bound together and instincts for secrecy and greed bred in their very bones, the two men engage in a shadowy war of deception, forged documents, theft, and cold-blooded murder. Marley and Scrooge are destined to clash in an unforgettable reckoning that will echo into the future and set the stage for Marley’s ghostly return. “Read through to the last page of this brilliant book, and I promise you that you will have a permanently changed view, not just of Dickens’s world, but of the world we live in today” (Elizabeth Letts, New York Times bestselling author).

"Scrooge? I have to redeem old Scrooge? The one man I knew who was worse than I was? Impossible I'll never be able to..." DICKENS ONLY GAVE US part of the story Chained, shackled, and condemned to a hellish eternity, Ebenezer Scrooge's mean, sour, pruney old business partner has only one chance to free himself: to escape his own chains, he must first redeem Scrooge. So begins a journey of laughter and terror, redemption and renewal, during which Scrooge's heart, indeed, is opened; but not before Marley-in this irreverent, funny and deeply moving story-discovers his own. Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol was originally published in 1995 by Adams Media; it was immediately a Chicago Tribune bestseller. The audio version was broadcast nationwide on National Public Radio for six seasons. The play premiered in 1998 at Chicago's Goodman Theatre and won a handful of awards. It has received hundreds of productions worldwide. "Marley's Christmas? Impossible But you did it " -Ray Bradbury ..".Nothing less than an anthem to human nature, to imagination, and to the wonder of a compelling story told by a wondrous storyteller..." -Chicago Tribune TOM MULA has been an awardwinning actor, director, and playwright for more than 30 years. He spent seven seasons (and over 400 performances) as the Goodman Theatre's Scrooge.