The Secret Life of William Shakespeare Page 47

  Part of the story is told from the viewpoint of Shakespeare’s contemporary, friend and rival playwright Ben Jonson. Why is this?

  I wanted to make it clear that Shakespeare was not a solitary genius, single-handedly inventing Elizabethan drama. He was one of many: perhaps the most consistently successful, but still working in a crowded marketplace. I also wanted Jonson, a scholarly and painstaking writer, to throw into contrast the amazing facility of Shakespeare’s genius. Jonson couldn’t see how he did it; nor can we.

  What was different in writing about this subject compared to your previous heroines, the Brontë sisters in The Taste of Sorrow?

  I suppose the biggest difference was in sheer scope. Shakespeare, Jonson, Marlowe et al lived full and colourful lives in London and elsewhere, and were busy, professional and productive (and sometimes dangerous and sleazy). Even Anne, as chatelaine of a large household and mother of three children, must have lived a much fuller physical life than that of the Brontës, who were so constrained by circumstance and tended to live vicariously in the imagination.

  In telling the fictionalized story of Shakespeare’s life, did you want to reflect themes that he was writing about in his plays at each stage?

  I specifically wanted to avoid this, perhaps because it immediately suggests corniness (‘I’m in love, I must write Romeo and Juliet’), but also because of my take on Shakespeare. I think he was the least autobiographical writer who ever existed, which may have something to do with why he is also the greatest. He simply didn’t function that way; he was a creator. Certainly there are discernible shifts in the general tone and scope of his writing – there’s no doubt that King Lear is the work of a much more mature artist (and man) than The Comedy of Errors. But Shakespeare was quite likely to write on a certain theme because it was in fashion, because it was what the market wanted – revenge, or overseas exploration.

  The Secret Life of William Shakespeare

  Discussion Points

  • How has this book informed the way you think about William Shakespeare and his work? Has it changed your opinion of him at all?

  • Overall, do you feel the novel presents a depressing or an uplifting vision of love?

  • At the age of eighteen, Will declares he knows nothing of himself. In what ways do you think he has come to know himself by the end of the novel?

  • To what extent do you think Will feels ensnared or empowered by his marriage to Anne?

  • Do you find Anne’s expectations of Will and their marriage unrealistic? How much empathy do you feel towards her?

  • How much of a grounding does family provide to the characters in the novel?

  • ‘Is his father right after all? That a man can’t split himself in two?’ What conclusion do you feel the reader is guided towards? How do you think the idea of duplicity is handled by the author?

  • To what extent do you feel the women in the novel live up to or subvert their positions in Elizabethan England?

  • What sort of a contrast do Ben Jonson and Christopher Marlowe provide in the author’s portrayal of expectation and success?

  • ‘You never had less than all my love’. How far do you agree with Will’s statement to Anne?

  Suggestions for Further Reading

  Non-fiction about Shakespeare’s life and times:

  The Lodger: Shakespeare in Silver Street Charles Nicholl

  Shakespeare and Co. Stanley Wells

  1599 James Shapiro

  Literature from Shakespeare’s time:

  Edward II Christopher Marlowe

  The Unfortunate Traveller Thomas Nashe

  Volpone Ben Jonson

  The Spanish Tragedy Thomas Kyd

  The Works William Shakespeare

  Novels about the period:

  I am Mary Tudor Hilda Lewis

  The Grove of Eagles Winston Graham

  Sonnet XXXIV

  Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day,

  And make me travel forth without my cloak,

  To let base clouds o’ertake me in my way,

  Hiding thy bravery in their rotten smoke?

  ‘Tis not enough that through the cloud thou break,

  To dry the rain on my storm-beaten face,

  For no man well of such a salve can speak,

  That heals the wound, and cures not the disgrace:

  Nor can thy shame give physic to my grief;

  Though thou repent, yet I have still the loss:

  The offender’s sorrow lends but weak relief

  To him that bears the strong offence’s cross.

  Ah! but those tears are pearl which thy love sheds,

  And they are rich and ransom all ill deeds.

  Sonnet LVII

  Being your slave what should I do but tend

  Upon the hours, and times of your desire?

  I have no precious time at all to spend;

  Nor services to do, till you require.

  Nor dare I chide the world without end hour,

  Whilst I, my sovereign, watch the clock for you,

  Nor think the bitterness of absence sour,

  When you have bid your servant once adieu;

  Nor dare I question with my jealous thought

  Where you may be, or your affairs suppose,

  But, like a sad slave, stay and think of nought

  Save, where you are, how happy you make those.

  So true a fool is love, that in your will,

  Though you do anything, he thinks no ill.

  JUDE MORGAN

  The Taste of Sorrow

  ‘As soon as I saw a Jude Morgan book I tossed aside the twenty other books I should have got to, and sat down to read it … completely involving, absorbing. Full of insight and very accomplished … it will have a lot of fans’ Hilary Mantel

  ‘Seemingly effortlessly, Jude Morgan breathes such life and vigour into their stories that you are totally drawn into their world … totally compelling … I cannot commend it enough’ Daily Mail

  ‘A unique approach to a unique family … an instant favourite. And one of those reads where you both look forward to and dread reaching the last page’ Brontëhlag

  ‘Marvellous and memorable and elegantly written and sets up in the reader a desire to read every word the Brontës wrote … a real triumph and I hope so much that it gets to everyone who would adore it’ Adèle Geras

  ‘Quite simply the best book about the Brontës I have ever read’ Juliet Barker, author of The Brontës

  ‘Generations of powerful writers from Elizabeth Gaskell to Daphne du Maurier … have rewritten the Brontës’ narrative of early loss, child prodigy, romantic passion, great writing and early death … [Morgan holds] nerve and reason where many fail. Brilliant … moving … superb … Deserves a wide readership’ Guardian

  ‘[To] anyone who may question the need for another Brontë book … I will keep on saying I think this could be the one we’ve been waiting for … pure literary genius … wonderful … How difficult it must be to make something so familiar to many feel so refreshingly vibrant and renewed and, I suspect, also equally alluring to those who come to the Brontës with no knowledge of the detail … a masterpiece’ Dovegreyreader

  978 0 7553 3900 6

  JUDE MORGAN

  An Accomplished Woman

  Clever, self-reliant Lydia Templeton once scandalised society by rejecting Lewis Durrant, the county’s most eligible bachelor. Ten years later, although she remains cheerfully unmarried, others still seek her advice on their love lives; including her godmother’s ward, who has managed to promise herself to two men at once. But, as affairs become increasingly tangled, Lydia finds that her own heart is not perhaps the closed book she once thought.

  Witty, absorbing and intensely, intelligently pleasurable, An Accomplished Woman is a brilliantly entertaining novel of eighteenth-century love and misunderstandings.

  Praise for Jude Morgan:

  ‘Many struggle and fail to don the mantle of Georgette Heyer. If
anyone comes close, it is Jude Morgan’ Elizabeth Buchan, Sunday Times

  ‘Rich, authentic, beautifully written … I have not been better entertained all year’ Tracy Chevalier

  ‘Unputdownable. Stunningly well researched, its multi-stranded epic qualities can’t fail to hook and seduce’ Guardian

  ‘Flamboyant, confident and endlessly inventive … both entertaining and elegant’ Hilary Mantel

  ‘Morgan has pulled off an epic feat of both imagination and research … brings these clever, unconventional women vividly to life’ Marie Claire

  978 0 7553 0769 2

  JUDE MORGAN

  Symphony

  In 1827 Harriet Smithson, a beautiful and talented young Irish actress, makes an unusual decision – she joins an English company in the bold experiment of taking Shakespeare to Paris.

  With the ferment of revolution in the air, the new generation is longing for a new kind of passionate, spontaneous art. And to Harriet’s astonishment, it is embodied in her La Belle Irlandaise. In the midst of this frenzy she finds herself pursued by an intense young composer, Hector Berlioz. So begins a painful and profound love affair. She is his muse; his obsession; and Berlioz’s Symphonic Fantastique, inspired by Harriet, will change music forever.

  SYMPHONY is an audacious, brilliant and haunting novel, set against a background of nineteenth-century theatre, Romantic art, music and revolutionary Europe. But at its heart lies the story of two lives transfigured and destroyed by genius, inspiration, and madness.

  Critical acclaim for Jude Morgan:

  ‘I have not been better entertained all year’ Tracy Chevalier

  ‘Unputdownable. Stunningly well researched, its multi-stranded epic qualities can’t fail to hook and seduce’ Guardian

  ‘Compellingly written and stylish with it’ Joanna Trollope

  978 0 7553 2773 7

  JUDE MORGAN

  A Little Folly

  Sir Clement Carnell was the most domineering of fathers, and his death has left his grown children, Louisa and Valentine, with a sense of release and anticipation. While Valentine throws open their Devonshire estate to their fashionable London cousins, Louisa is free to reject the man her father chose as her prospective husband: Pearce Lynley, a man of his own stamp.

  Soon the temptations of Regency London beckon. For Valentine, this includes Lady Harriet Eversholt, beautiful, scandalous, and very married; while Louisa, encountering suitors old and new, finds freedom of choice as daunting as it is exciting. Will the opportunity to indulge, at last, in a little folly lead to fulfilment – or disaster?

  Praise for Jude Morgan:

  ‘Many struggle and fail to don the mantle of Georgette Heyer. If anyone comes close, it is Jude Morgan’ Elizabeth Buchan, The Sunday Times

  ‘The characters are wonderfully drawn – some seem to have stepped out of the pages of Jane Austen, others from those of Georgette Heyer. This is the best Regency I have come across for a long time’ Historical Novels Review

  978 0 7553 0767 8

  Also by Jude Morgan

  A Little Folly

  Charlotte and Emily

  An Accomplished Woman

  Symphony

  Indiscretion

  Passion

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  THE SECRET LIFE OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. Copyright © 2012 by Jude Morgan. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

  www.stmartins.com

  First published in Great Britain by Headline Review, an imprint of Headline Publishing Group

  First U.S. Edition: April 2014

  eISBN 9781250025043

  First eBook edition: February 2014