Amazon reader review-This is a uniquely charming novel about Shakespeare's "sister" Judith (the character suggested by Virginia Woolf). Adolescent Judith, a girl with a strong will and incredible writing talent, is to be married to a horrid old man against her will; borrowing the oversize shoes and smelly clothing of a simpleminded Stratford boy, she takes off in disguise to throw herself on the mercy and small lodging of her brother Will, he just struggling to start his own career. On the road she falls in with a traveling player, Arthur, with an astonishing ability to get himself in and out of scrapes; he also quickly understands that Judith is less of a boy than she professes. Once in London she achieves quick popularity as a boy actor, attracts unwanted romantic attention, and goes through many adventures, all the time only wanting to be taken seriously as a writer. The portrait of her brother William is a delight: a good loving brother, yet self-centered and wanting only to be rid of this difficult girl who will listen to no man's advice that she ought to go home and marry. By the end of the book the reader is cheering for spunky Judith who will not be kept down. The author's knowledge of the period and Elizabethan theater is very good.

Share/Like this Review?