Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2461699 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

'Daily Telegraph'
`A little masterpiece... funny, tender and highly memorable.'

'The Times'
"A fanciful, sidelong view of a mysterious, mismatched marriage
that ends on a surprisingly tender note."

'The Observer'
`A bravura performance, ribald, witty, wonderfully verbose and alive.'

Customer Reviews

Shakespeare: ever so witty!
Ah--a clever, clever book, indeed! Robert Nye's "Mrs. Shakespeare" is just that. In this very readable, witty, and enjoyable book, Nye's "central character" (Anne Hathaway) reveals to us the "real" William Shakespeare! Written some seven years after the Bard's death, the book draws heavily upon heretofore "unpublished" comments/thoughts/reactions by his widow. No matter.

Remember, this is fiction. And while we are not comparing Nye's work "to a summer's day," it is magical in its intent. Nye is quite the scholar, although that seems disguised as he flippantly carries us through Anne's memoirs ("the only happily married couple in all my husband's works are called Macbeth"). Of course, as "Shakespearean gospel," there will be the critics and non-believers. Again, no matter. It's fiction. So a little (well, all right, a lot) of leeway should be granted. Regardless of your devotion (or not) to Shakespeare, this take is still a good one to read. That's not to say it isn't intellectually challenging, and perhaps the more you know about Shakespeare, the more you are likely to catch all the allusions tossed--sometimes willy-nilly-at the reader!

Nye fans won't be disappointed though it's not his best
Other reviews I've read here are a bit unkind. I enjoyed the book and there's a wealth of scholarship and humour behind the seemingly flimsy text. Don't forget Nye is a poet and then maybe you'll see why he writes this way, building up a rhythm and then varying it for emphasis and dramatic effect. His penchant for buggery (writing about it at least) is on a par with Norman Mailer's but, for me, it doesn't detract from the power of the images he prompts through his blank verse, the humour that flows throughout the book, and the careful weaving in of those few 'facts' that we know about Shakespeare. It worked enough for me to enjoy the book - maybe you will too.

Nye not at his best
A very disappointing book.

Nye at his best is sparkling, witty, and brilliant (see his "Falstaff" and "Merlin").

But this is dfferent.

It relates Mr Shakespeare's plays to his sex life.

As if written by Anne Hathaway.

Who is not very literate.

Which conveniently pads the book out.

A short book, made long.

Like this.

By making every sentence a new paragraph.

And also printed in italics.

You think I am exaggerating?

Read it and see.

It is erudite.

I suppose.

But dull.