Fate - Marcus Hogan

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Résumé :

Before Romeo met Juliet, their families met in Verona. It wasn't love at first sight.

Welcome to the CAPULET series - a sprawling six-part prequel - an epic tale of ambition, passion, sacrifice and the brutal cost of revenge. Long before the tale of tragic love that defined a generation, the Capulet name was forged in the powder keg of 1434 France. Their ancestral saga is not merely a romance, but a high-stakes chronicle of loyalty, heroism, seductions and betrayals that will launch a blood-soaked feud that consumes more than one generation. Two children in Lyon, Armand de Capulet and Ilaria Marchand, are promised at birth. But in a world of shifting power, their union becomes the flashpoint for a conflict that will force them to abandon innocence for the cold, calculated necessities of survival.

Their story is told through the eyes of Marcel Poquelin, a sharp-tongued roguish musician who finds himself the unlikely chronicler of their remarkable rise. Through Marcel's irreverent lens - whose favoured exclamations are Cupid's Balls! and Bite my bare ass! - you'll witness the sometimes elegant, sometimes bawdy, yet often dangerous climb of two innocents, learning to navigate a ruthless elite world of excess. But as the Capulets rise, that world darkens. From the war torn citadels of France to the hidden, hedonistic depths of Italy, Armand and Ilaria are drawn into a volatile web of faction rivalry, dooming curses and religious fanaticism. And the moment they enter the walls of fair Verona, the might of two mercenary houses (Montecchi and Paris) await them. Both bristle with arrogance, appetites for power and pleasure, and a contempt for any but those of their factions. Both will stop at nothing to have their way in everything. Both see the na?ve, newlywed Capulets as easy prey.

Yet, Armand and Ilaria's greatest enemy may be fate itself. Gifted with terrifying, accurate premonitions, Ilaria finds herself guided along their path by a succession of mystics, offering windows and warnings to what lies ahead. Every vision is heeded, every disaster confronted - until the warning of a final, catastrophic vision becomes lost in a swirl of erupting events. As the series evolves, from the vibrant ambitions of their youth, into the haunting sacrifices of their adulthood together, Ilaria and Armand (with their irreverent shadow Marcel) must confront a brutal truth which emerges: the harder they fight to change their future, the tighter the grip of destiny becomes.

CAPULET is the genesis of a time honored tale told for the modern reader: elegant and poetic at times but also filled with grit and humor, through encounters that are often raw, provocative and relentlessly human.

1 fated pair. 3 mighty factions. 1 burning question: How did Romeo and Juliet's families come to be at each other's throats?

But who among them will pay the ultimate sacrifice to make it so? As the seductions mount and body counts rise, every dark question is answered.

BOOK 1 - FATE.

As they grow to the age of courtship, against all odds a promised pair of elite children, Armand de Capulet and Ilaria Marchand, seem to be falling in love. But when the final blast of the Hundred-Years war separates the chosen before they can wed, both must survive the perils of war and rivals contesting for their hearts. Armand is swept toward the most frightening battle the French Kingdom has ever faced. Outnumbered two to one at the decisive battle of Formigny, no one expects France to win, let alone for any French warrior to survive. Full of dark premonitions and mystic predictions, nothing seems certain for Ilaria and Armand but the unpredictability of one ...

Biographie:
I conceived this project in Boston during the summer of '92 when I was producing my first Shakespeare (Romeo & Juliet). It was staged at the Huntington Theatre Studio and sold out before we opened. That was when the notion of a prequel was born that would reveal how the famous families came to be at each other's throats and how the associations between so many characters were first formed. From the very start (long before 'Game of Thrones' existed) it was also conceived as a tale of how the three (not just two) formidable players from the original tale (Capulet, Montecchi & Paris) would become embroiled in a battle for dominance. I also knew at some point, as the source material suggests, that an alliance between two must also be on the cards.Started at the end of the pandemic, the full story frame for CAPULET (all 6 books) was written over 4 years (writing 7 hours a day / 7 days a week - give or take just 5 or 6 days) and almost exclusively at Brisbane Square Library in Australia. The finishing process of polishing and proofing all (completed part-time after my nest egg for funding had finally been exhausted) took me another year.And so ... it was done.For the trivial record, my first experience performing was in the primary school choir which led me to playing the guitar and a life long association with music. My first experience with Shakespeare however was as a punishment in my last year of high school. I was given 'detention' for fighting (a bully was harassing a friend and though I'm no hero I intervened). The English Mistress had caught us locked together in (less than mortal) combat and during my detention 'made me' memorize the 'quality of mercy' monologue from The Merchant of Venice. It had to be 'word perfect' to avoid another stay. I recited it. She told me it wasn't word perfect, but said I was 'good' and would 'let me off' if I agreed to audition for the play. I was shy, but didn't want another detention, so I did audition and miraculously offered the lead.That led me to a BA in Drama at the University of Queensland. UQ led to a BFA in Acting at Cornish College in the USA which led to specialized study at the National Shakespeare Conservatory in NY (closed after 9/11) and finally an MFA in Directing at Boston University. Along the way I practised equestrian skills, martial arts and ballet (classical & jazz), became a professional fight choreographer and specialised in directing classics. Within a year of returning to Australia I founded the Society of Australian Fight Directors and the Australian Performing Arts Conservatory. Fast forward 25 years and I embarked upon this project.I hope their tale moves you. I found CAPULET very moving to write.Forever YoursMarcus Hogan...

Sommaire:

Set in France & Italy during the spiralling age of the early Renaissance, the CAPULET series is the passionate predecessor to the greatest love story of all time, a genesis tale of how Romeo & Juliet's families came to be at each other's throats.

In 1434 two innocent children, Armand & Ilaria, are promised at birth. Despite the rising influence of writers who now advocate couples should marry for love, no one expects this pair to grow to love each other. All expect them to marry and lead their faction - the warrior House of Capulet. And so, drawn together by fate and familial design while France remains on a knife edge with their English enemies, they must learn to survive the glamorous but ruthless world of ambition, passion and power, they're destined to navigate together.

CAPULET is their sprawling tale, often humorous, elegant and heartfelt, sometimes gritty, brutal and relentless, while Ilaria's predilection to experience premonitions and to cross the path of foresighted mystics, creates expectations that lead them on to a cascade of heart-stopping moments.

Book 1 - FATE begins in Lyon with the events that lead to the couple's betrothal. The saga completes in Book 6 - FOLLY on a day when the sweeping events of their deadly feud with Romeo's faction cause the Capulet reins of power to be handed to Armand's brother (Juliet's father). At that moment, Armand and Ilaria's daughter Rosaline is eight years old. Eight years later, two months before her cousin Juliet turns fourteen, Rosaline will meet Romeo first and their tragic sequel will be set in motion. But CAPULET is also the story of how a third mighty faction, the House of Paris, led by a fiery young Duchess, joins in their rivalry. She swears their loyalty to one side but adds fresh powder to the rivalry which threatens to ignite in both directions at once. Appetites for ambition abound in CAPULET yet so does a thirst for revenge. The burning question among all three factions is, who will survive them?

Their epic tale is told by Armand and Ilaria's longest serving employee, a sharp-tongued, roguish musician. Marcel Poquelin finds himself in their company by chance, as both begin their final training for adulthood. At first the wily entertainer has little time or respect for either one, considering Armand no more than an elite muscular oaf and Ilaria a pampered coquette. Nor is he responsible to either one directly, intent on his own plan to return from whence he came to Paris, far from their indolent company, and make a mark for himself. But you know what the ancients say?

Men and women make ambitious plans just so fate can play havoc with them.