Mistress Shakespeare Hardback - 2009

by Karen Harper

A delicious and intriguing historical novel about thewoman who was William Shakespeare's secret wife by New York Times–bestselling author, Karen Harper.In Mistress Shakespeare, Elizabethan beauty Anne Whateleyreveals intimate details of her dangerous, daring life andher great love, William Shakespeare. As historical recordsshow, Anne Whateley of Temple Grafton is betrothed to Will justdays before he is forced to wed the pregnant Anne Hathawayof Shottery. The clandestine Whateley/Shakespeare match is ameeting of hearts and heads that no one not even QueenElizabeth or her spymasters can destroy. From rural Stratford-upon-Avon to teeming London, the passionate pair strugglesto stay solvent and remain safe from Elizabeth I's campaign tohunt down secret Catholics, of whom Shakespeare is rumoredto be a part. Often at odds, always in love, the couple sells Will'sfirst plays and, as he climbs to theatrical power in Elizabeth'sEngland, they fend off fierce competition from rival Londondramatists, ones as treacherous as they are talented. Persecutionand plague, insurrection and inferno, friends and foes,even executions of those they hold dear, bring Anne's heartrendingstory to life. Spanning half a century of Elizabethan andJacobean history and sweeping from the lowest reaches of societyto the royal court, this richly textured novel tells the realstory of Shakespeare in love.