Arliss Ryan

The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare Arliss Ryan

An inventive and vibrant historical novel about the woman who dared to be the equal of the Bard of Avon.

Dramatizing a marriage born of passion and strained by ambition, Arliss Ryan's fascinating historical novel chronicles a love affair for the ages, and the story of a woman who dares to fulfill her own surprising destiny.

Anne Hathaway is weighing her prospects for marriage when a dalliance with young Will Shakespeare, the poetry-writing son of a rural glove- maker, leaves her pregnant and wed. When Will joins a traveling acting troupe and moves to London, Anne leaves their children in his parents' care and boldly follows him.

Taking up a new identity at Will's side, Anne supports his career as a struggling actor by sewing costumes and transcribing manuscripts in the rough-and-tumble world of London's theatres. As Will finds his true calling in writing, Anne's own literary skills begin to flower, leading to a secret collaboration that makes Will the foremost playwright in Elizabethan England.