Will

A great fictionalized life of Shakespeare, which was interesting reading even if it did not always follow the accepted theories surrounding his life and writings. The explanation of his plays as a reflection of the events in his life was an amazing plot device. I also liked comparing Shakespeare's point of view with his daughter's from Tiffany's My Father Had a Daughter. The author said she had pare down her book for publication, I would have loved to read the original 1200 pages, the book ended much too soon for me!

I loved Tiffany's first Shakespearean novel, My Father Had a Daughter, so I had high hopes for Will. I was not disappointed. Tiffany vividly explores the complex personal and historical forces that shaped Shakespeare's life and work, including his contact with fellow playwrights, his relationship with his wife Anne, etc. I was struck by Tiffany's uncanny ability to sketch the bard as an ordinary yet inspired--and inspiring--man. Though it's possible that Will may irk the Marlowe enthusiasts who give Marlowe credit for Shakespeare's plays, I found its account of the competition and friendship between Renaissance playwrights subtle and convincing. I also appreciated how Tiffany's second novel provides us with Shakespeare's perspective on events reported by his daughter in My Father Had a Daughter. Wonderful!

Unlike with fictional Shakespeares created by other, more famous writers, I could actually believe this fictional Will wrote the great man's plays. He is complex, warm, insightful, funny, ambitious, innocent and sophisticated at once. One can imagine him having penned Shakespeare's greatest lines, yet he doesn't walk around spouting iambic pentameter. The story of his relationships with contemporary playwrights, including Kit Marlowe and Ben Jonson, and their alternately friendly and bitterly competitive rivalries is spellbinding, as are the political subplots. However it is the story of Will's relationship with Anne Hathaway, and the way his plays themselves are shown to reflect his growing maturity and his eventual return to his marriage and his "real" life, that is most compelling and profound. Dr. Tiffany gives us a convincing and extremely entertaining portrait of Shakespeare and the personal and cultural context in which he wrote. Read the first few pages on "Look Inside" and you'll be hooked!

This is a great read! It is informative, funny, and moving, and hard to put down. Alas, it is too short -- brevity is not the soul of historical novels. We are shown much of Shakespeare's London and meet Marlowe and other real characters. We are shown a glimpse of Shakespeare writing in passages that remind me of the scenes from Amadeus in which Mozart composes his Requim. Finally, the reference to the Earl of Oxford, claimed by some to be the real author of Shakespeare's work, is very funny.

This is a great read! It is a page turner that presents a vivid picture of Elizabethan London. I especially enjoyed the subtle comparison between the way Will sees an event and his daughter's view of the same event as described in Tiffany's earlier novel about Shakespeare's daughter, Judith. Also, the reference to the Earl of Oxford is very funny. (The Earl's descendant's claim that he wrote Shakespeare's plays.) We do not exactly enter Shakespeare's mind, but we can see something of how he observed human nature and how the words flowed to paper and stage. (It reminded me of the scene in Amadeaus in which we see Mozart writing his Requiem.) Brevity may be the soul of wit, but this book is too short. More pages next time please!!!!