From back of book:

With elegance, sympathy, and nuance, Her Infinite Variety celebrates the women in William Shakespeare's world. These lyrical stories move from Elizabethan London, where Shakespeare is drawn to the plight of the young wife of a wealthy friend, to a wintry Denmark, where Ophelia struggles to understand her love for Hamlet, and to Shakespeare's Stratford home, where his daughter Judith deliberately enters into a shameful marriage. At the center of this remarkable book is Shakespeare's enduring love for Anne Hathaway, his beautiful, passionate, illiterate wife. Together, the masterfully interwoven stories of Her Infinite Variety bring to life a Shakespeare who was formed by the women he loved -- and who loved him.

Off to karendawn throught BookRelay.

Book arrived today. Thank you!

I didn't at first realize that this book was historical fiction. I thought it was more along the lines of biography/literary criticism. I have no idea why I thought that. The description indicated that fact, and it is in the literature/FICTION category. *sigh* But anyway, I discovered right away that it was historical fiction, with a lot of liberty taken. So I don't know if it was because my expectations for the book were not met that I didn't like it or if I didn't like it for another reason. One thing I know that I disliked was the mix of Shakespeare's life and those of his characters. It might have been a more streamlined book if she had gone simply one way or the other instead of both.

Released on Saturday, February 14, 2004 at Mailed to a fellow Bookcrosser in n/a, n/a Controlled Releases.

I received this last night... thanks so much. I began reading it this morning on my way to work as I needed a slim book (rather than a fat one) to fit into the bag I was carrying! So far I am enjoying it, I will make another journal entry soon.

I really enjoyed this book. Each of the stories could stand alone but together tell an engrossing tale about the life of Shakespeare as it might have been. I particularly loved the story about his daughter Judith. I was less enamoured of the tales about his main female characters other than the one about Ophelia - I thought that was good. The story told by Juliet's mother also had an interesting twist.

I am going to offer this in a book relay again so that it can continue to be read by more bookcrossers.

Thanks for sharing this with me!

Released on Wednesday, March 03, 2004 at Sundrop in Orlando, Florida Controlled Releases.

On its way from grey gloomy London to the sunny shores of Orlando, Florida, and sundrop!

Just recieved in the mail today, thanks so much.

I'm not a huge fan of short stories. That being said, I thought this collection was better than others because they do follow a theme of the love's of Shakespeare. Interesting and a quick read.

Offered on CR's bookrelay...

Received today; thanks so much! I'm looking forward to it.

Overall, an interesting read. I'm going to have to agree with karendawn, however, about the blending of the stories of Shakespeare's women and his characters being a bit off-putting. I think I actually would have really enjoyed it had the author scrapped the tales of the "real" women in favor of more in-depth stories from the perspectives of the Shakespearean characters. There's a lot of great material to work with there, obviously, and I felt that some of the stories showed real promise for further development.

Available!