Robert Nye (1939–2016)

One of three novels on Shakespeare written by Mr. Nye (the others being the highly-regarded [b:Falstaff|512061|Falstaff|Robert Nye|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1175399700s/512061.jpg|2432325] and the delightful [b:The Late Mr. Shakespeare|30089|The Late Mr. Shakespeare|Robert Nye|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1168051309s/30089.jpg|2771092]), this is perhaps the least of the three, although I still enjoyed it. Written as a diary entry from the point of view of Shakespeare's wife Anne, after his death, the work is highly irreverent and profane, and often interested in presenting the thoroughly human side of this often deified writer. Sometimes, this goal obscures anything else the novel seems to want to do, and perhaps the fact that the entire book is a diary of one person's perspective makes it a tad repetitive. Some readers - probably mostly Americans - will struggle with some of the gleeful profanity, and perhaps even just the dismantling of the modern era's apotheosis of the Bard.

At the same time, I really enjoyed this work, particularly with its attempt to somewhat redeem Anne. There remains an unusual critical distaste for the woman, with the popular view for decades being that the Bard was tricked into marriage, or disliked his home life. There's plenty to argue otherwise, and Nye allows us to believe most all of the other rumours about Will (from the fair youth of the Sonnets to some fundamental marital disconnects) without completely sacrificing the Shakespeares' love.

Indeed, I particularly revelled in one of the conclusions the novel comes to about a particular question looming over Shakespeare's works, and overall found this book to be an inventive and authentic treat. Will delight Bardolaters much more than everyday readers.… (meer)

Robert Nye's Shakespeare trilogy is bawdy, dense, demanding, irreverent, historically overflowing, and a keen mix of fact, speculation, and myth. I enjoyed [b:Mrs. Shakespeare: The Complete Works|30088|Mrs. Shakespeare The Complete Works|Robert Nye|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1309288289s/30088.jpg|1093835] a reasonable amount, and really enjoyed [b:The Late Mr. Shakespeare|30089|The Late Mr. Shakespeare|Robert Nye|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1168051309s/30089.jpg|2771092], but Falstaff is the critically acclaimed one (and much longer than the other two!) so I'm fascinated to see what these pages hold.

However I can say without reading it: those with short attention spans will probably struggle, as will a lot of Americans, who seem to gloss over with disgust at anything even remotely earthy. I hope to represent the rest of us on this next literary odyssey.… (meer)

An absolute delight, I adore Robert Nye. This is one of a trilogy of Shakespeare novels he published, the others being [b:Falstaff|512061|Falstaff|Robert Nye|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1175399700s/512061.jpg|2432325] and [b:Mrs. Shakespeare: The Complete Works|30088|Mrs. Shakespeare The Complete Works|Robert Nye|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1309288289s/30088.jpg|1093835].

It's interesting to look, many years later, at the elements of Nye's story that have become part of the standard Shakespeare narrative by 2016 (Lucy Negro? good pull, Mr Nye!) but must have been far more speculative when this was written. Many chapters of this book will be enjoyable to the average reader but only take on resonance if you are a Shakespeare fanatic, with seemingly hundreds of quotes from the plays often well hidden in the text, plenty of factual information as well as plenty of hilariously made-up business, and a fair number of astounding suggestions as to the relationship between Shakespeare's life and his work. I have to say, in all my years, I have never read a series of theories so completely believable. Nye is right on the money, I would argue, but he's built himself an (obscene, so very obscene!) elaborate narrative justification for any of the times that he is completely wrong. We'll never know most of the answers to the questions Nye asks, so I'm happy to take his answers. An hilarious, filthy, lived-in, mournful novel.… (meer)