In Shakespeare's Shadow : A Novel from Transylvania

This truly sensational novel, written by a man from Baia Mare, Walter Ubelhart, captivates readers from the very first sentences. Through the chosen theme and the two-plane action, we are immersed into the corridors of time, 400 years ago, whwrw a character from Baia Mare is revealed to us from the shadows of history; a man who, for so long, had preferred to remain discreet. This real person, Johannes Banfi Hunyades, was a Graduate of Schola Rivulina, where he learned foreign languages, including English; he went on to make a name for himself among select circles in London and developed a close relationship with the great William Shakespeare, for whom he not only suggested the themes of many of the plays that made Shakespeare famous, but even give him texts, all while choosing, seemingly insisting to remain unknown.
 

"In Shakespeare's Shadow" is written as two connected and simultaneously developing stories: on the one hand we are transposed to the old days in which Baia Mare, despite its permeation with medieval manifestations (witches, miraculous drugs, secret societies, occultism, etc.) seems to be connected to the European scientific and cultural circuit; and on the other hand, 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.

Through his relentless search for the mysterious Johannes Banfi Hunyades, Walter Ubelhart captures our imagination and fascinates us with his addictive style; and thus places him into the world of best-sellers." - Assistant Professor PhD Ioan Mircea Farcas