Love's Labour's Won

Told in the first person, this novel presents itself as the life story of William Shakespeare, from his childhood in the modest market town of Stratford-upon-Avon to his marriage, his years as a London actor and playwright, and his return home to retire with his family. Passages from Shakespeare's own poems and plays are woven into the narration, giving the book its distinct voice.

Along the way the story follows the setbacks Shakespeare faces on his road to theatrical and commercial success, and how those hardships shape who he becomes. The book also paints a sharp picture of the prejudices and social attitudes of the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean periods.

The cast blends invented and historical figures. Shakespeare's wife Anne stands beside his parents, siblings, children, sons-in-law and granddaughter, as well as his first employer Alexander Hoghton, his persecutor Thomas Lucy and his lawyer Francis Collins. Theatre figures such as James Burbage, Richard Burbage, Edward Alleyn, Dick Tarlton and Will Kemp appear with rivals and companions Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson, the Jesuit priest Edmund Campion, the astrologer Simon Forman, the Huguenot couple Christopher and Marie Mountjoy, and Queen Elizabeth, King James and Queen Anne.

The book ends with an extensive afterword titled "All Things Shakespeare." Its sections cover separating fact from fiction, recommended reading, Shakespeare films, documentaries, places to visit, and seeing the plays performed live.