From charity shop in Chichester.

July 2017: Lyrical, but somehow unsatisfying. There were a number of missed opportunities for some really great historical writing. The Edward Arden/John Somerville conspiracy is mentioned, but really never elaborated. The machinations of Robert Dudley in this matter and the activities of Sir Francis Walsingham as Elizabeth's spymaster would have been a wonderful tale to weave into the book.

In the end I likes it a little more as it seemed to take on a epic quality as we approach Shakespeare's death.

The author is at pains to justify the existence of Anne Whateley and she has some good arguments against scholars who believe that she is simply a clerical error. I attach the portrait said to be her, but "usually identified as a probable image of the poet Girolamo Casio, painted by Giovanni Boltraffio".

Released to a small book-crossing group at Kubrick's which is a great little cafe bookshop.

Picked up this book at the BC meetup in Hong Kong at Kubrick, thanks Caroline, this title sounds intriguing.