Loving Will Shakespeare

Author: Carolyn Meyer
Published Date: 2006
Letter Grade: A-

So, I picked this book up last week at Barnes and Noble while randomly looking through. Read the back. Read the flap. Then read the prologue.

Quite frankly, I was lost from that point on.

I've got a soft spot for Willy Shakes (that's what my english teacher last year called him), it's true. And Tudor England especially, since it was a book on Elizabeth I that got me hooked on British History, anyway.

The book's basically about Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare's wife. Just about nothing is known about Anne (whose real name I guess was Agnes?) except that she was about 7 1/2-8 years older than Shakes, and that they got married at 18 and 26 (when she was several months pregnant). Likewise, next to nothing is known about Shakespeare's early life, even his birthday's a guess, because the first written mention of him is the record of his christening, and christening's GENERALLY happened three days after the birth. Unless the day was "unlucky." Or there was something else preventing it.

Anyway. So basically, this book really is pure fiction, considering how little there is to be known.

But damn, it's hard to remember sometimes that the people in books you read about real people are really made up.

Like Anne's evil stepmother. I swear she puts the one in Cinderella to shame. Joan Hathaway is a bitch, plain and simple. And though Anne doesn't have any stepsiblings (any living ones, anyway, except for Joan's son who died in the Plague in 1564), she's got an evil half-sister.

I liked this book. It was good. I liked reading about how life was back then. Though it made me feel bad for baby goats everywhere. Reading Regency romances, I read about kid gloves often. But you don't actually read anything about them BEFORE they were gloves.

Still. I enjoyed reading about the budding romance/friendship between Will and Anne. It was sweet, it was believable, made me think that if I were in the same position, I'd fall madly in love with him, too.

I also kind of liked the other leading men in Anne's life. Well. Not Hob, Joan's nephew. He was gross. And reminds me vaguely of Robert Williams. 'Cept even Robert had more class than that, and I can't really see Hob as much of a lady's man. So really, the only similarity is the drinking. But the rest I kind of liked. Not enough for them to take Shakes' place, mind you, but still.

It's also made me think I need to look up what the heck the "sweating sickness" is. I haven't read about it since that book on Elizabeth I.

The only thing I didn't like about the book was that there wasn't much on their marriage. Granted, Shakespeare was away in London for most of it. Which is terribly unfortunate, but since it's one of those things that actually happened, there's not much to dispute on the issue. But still. I would've liked to see more of him actually in Stratford-upon-Avon, more of things happening there.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I read the first 119 pages in B&N due to lack of funds, but bought it eventually. Ironically, while reading this book there, a bunch of high schoolers were practicing "King Leer." I found it amusing.