The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare

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.