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Jump to navigationJump to searchThe Secret Life of William Shakespeare by Jude Morgan (view source)
Revision as of 15:06, 31 May 2012
, 15:06, 31 May 2012no edit summary
|summary=Not a light read by any means, but a rich, authentic-feeling historical fiction of the lives of Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Anne Hathaway et al. Intelligent and refreshingly different from most fiction on this subject.
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Books about Shakespeare vary hugely both in terms of approach and quality. Some focus on historical fact, while others play rather more loosely with the romance of his life. Fortunately for readers, Jude Morgan's books are rather more reliably excellent. What's more, he has a track record of fiction that concerns great writers, having previously tackled the Brontës (''[[The Taste of Sorrow''by Jude Morgan|The Taste of Sorrow]]) and the romantic poets (''Passion''). So my expectations were already quite high coming into his ''The Secret Life of William Shakespeare'' - expectations that he has again surpassed.
There are two aspects to the book that make it so good: the style and the content. Of these, the style is the one that may put some people off. It's certainly not a light read. If you want a breezy Elizabethan tale, then this may not be for you. It's unashamedly literary and not always an easy read, but as with watching a Shakespeare play, after a short while what seems at first impenetrable soon fades and the rich language and style becomes a strength. It's worth noting that he uses the present tense for much of the book too.
As long as you are prepared for a somewhat challenging and rich style, this is historical fiction of a very high order.
[[The Taste of Sorrow by Jude Morgan|The taste Taste of Sorrow]] is similarly earthy and intelligent. For more highly intelligent historical literary fiction [[Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel]] is a good choice.
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