Recent Reads {The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare}

The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare by Arliss Ryan - Up front I should say that if all the comments I make about the Recent Reads seem to be favorable, it's because all the books are my choice, and generally if I don't care for it at all during the first chapter or two, I won't finish it. In other words, I wind up only commenting here on the books that I enjoyed! This book was on display at the library quite some time ago and the description intrigued me. Unfortunately, I didn't always find that it lived up to my expectations, and I considered dropping it a few times so it's a little different from other books I've discussed here. However, I did finish it, and although it won't earn a top rating from me, it wasn't a complete disappointment or waste of time.

Considering his importance in Literature, surprisingly little is known about William Shakespeare, and far less is known about his family - particularly his wife Anne. In this novel, Ryan writes from Anne's point of view, as a memoir of sorts of her life with William. So the premise is very intriguing, especially as the memoir reveals that Anne wrote or co-wrote approximately half of the plays attributed to her husband. Over the years, many theories have been advanced by people who are unwilling to accept that all the sonnets and plays came from Shakespeare's own hand as to who the true author may have been and why they would not have taken credit for them. Personally, I hadn't heard of any theories suggesting that Anne had any part in the writing, but I guess that's been proposed. I doubt it's very likely, but it's plausible. My very unlearned opinion is that Shakespeare was, in fact, the author. At any rate, the Anne Shakespeare of this work of fiction doesn't paint her husband in a very flattering light, and since she claims authorship of most of the best (and my personal favorite) Shakespearean plays, that may have affected my attitude toward the book. In the end, I rather felt that if I was reading the personal memoirs of the person that wrote Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, that the memoirs should make for beautiful, expressive, and attention-grabbing reading, even if interspersed with the mundane of life. But in my opinion, this book was spotty - moments of interest but certainly didn't keep me turning pages, and I was never emotionally invested in it at all.