Reviewed by Emylee for TeensReadToo.com
Meet Will Shakespeare, a lazy, boozing, promiscuous teenager from Stratford-upon-Avon. When he isn't busy avoiding work in his father's glove shop, or sneaking off with the local barmaid, he's finding a way to obtain admittance into the frivolous plays that his town's clergy condemns. The fanciful dialogue greatly inspires Will, and when his friend, Richard, asks him to help compose some verses for his beloved, Will gladly obliges.
Aided by his ambitious sister, Will begins to write enchanted poems that slowly melt the heart of Anne Whately, Richard's love interest. However, as William delivers the poems to Anne, he finds that he, too, is in love with the righteous Anne. He vows to change his life, abstain from drinking and carousing, and work honestly in his father's shop.
But a trip to the intriguing Anne Hathaway threatens to jeopardize his new way of life. Can Will manage to stay true to his ways, or will cunning Anne Hathaway lure him away from the lovely Anne Whately? And will Will ever adjust to the glove-making business, or is something grander beginning to surface on the horizon?
THE TWO LOVES OF WILL SHAKESPEARE is an entertaining novel that embellishes on the two marriage records historians have found that belonged to William Shakespeare. While the story line is fiction, the atmosphere of 16th-century England is brought alive through the allusions of the time period's culture and the religious turmoil that took place. I recommend this book to readers who enjoy learning about the Elizabethan period; however, a reader should not look at it as a biography of William Shakespeare.
Meet Will Shakespeare, a lazy, boozing, promiscuous teenager from Stratford-upon-Avon. When he isn't busy avoiding work in his father's glove shop, or sneaking off with the local barmaid, he's finding a way to obtain admittance into the frivolous plays that his town's clergy condemns. The fanciful dialogue greatly inspires Will, and when his friend, Richard, asks him to help compose some verses for his beloved, Will gladly obliges.
Aided by his ambitious sister, Will begins to write enchanted poems that slowly melt the heart of Anne Whately, Richard's love interest. However, as William delivers the poems to Anne, he finds that he, too, is in love with the righteous Anne. He vows to change his life, abstain from drinking and carousing, and work honestly in his father's shop.
But a trip to the intriguing Anne Hathaway threatens to jeopardize his new way of life. Can Will manage to stay true to his ways, or will cunning Anne Hathaway lure him away from the lovely Anne Whately? And will Will ever adjust to the glove-making business, or is something grander beginning to surface on the horizon?
THE TWO LOVES OF WILL SHAKESPEARE is an entertaining novel that embellishes on the two marriage records historians have found that belonged to William Shakespeare. While the story line is fiction, the atmosphere of 16th-century England is brought alive through the allusions of the time period's culture and the religious turmoil that took place. I recommend this book to readers who enjoy learning about the Elizabethan period; however, a reader should not look at it as a biography of William Shakespeare.
