Chasing Shakespeares [Hardcover]

Sarah Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2003

From an author the "San Francisco Chronicle" hails as "daring and splendid" comes an exhilarating novel of passion and ideas that cuts to the heart of one of literature's most fascinating and enduring mysteries: Who really wrote Shakespeare's plays?

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Atria Books, New York (January 1, 2003)
• ASIN: B001SE1KFQ
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Discover the Shakespeare game, November 15, 2003

By 

Arnost Cerny (Ann Arbor, MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chasing Shakespeares : A Novel (Hardcover)

I think this is a great book. I read many plays by Shakespeare, but knew almost nothing about the authorship controversy, and would be unlikely to ever gather enough interest to read a non-fiction article or book on this subject. It takes great skill for an author to introduce such a topic in a work of fiction. While I only partially followed her discussions about good and bad verse, the arguments were rich and entertaining. Also, I greatly admired the author's ability to spin such a spectacle of wild tales, and yet keep the story together in the end. Her knowledge of nuances of the academic environment is also precise. I give this book a definite ``thumbs up''.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing, and also a great introduction to the authorship question..., February 24, 2006

By 

Heather A. Teysko "heatherteyskodotcom" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Chasing Shakespeares: A Novel (Paperback)

I remember vaguely hearing about the authorship mystery in high school, but had never really read about it. This book was in my amazon.com recommendations, and I bought it because it seemed interesting.

I have a degree in history and know a lot about British history, having also lived there for a while. But I've never been a huge Shakespeare fan, so a lot of the references were really obscure and didn't really mean much to me. I liked this book, though, because I could sort of skim over a lot of that obscure stuff and still not feel like I missed much.

I absolutely loved the writing - I lived in London, and her descriptions took me right back. The character development was stunning. The plot twist totally shocked me. And it got me really interested in the authorship mystery and has inspired me to read further about it.

My only gripe would be that there were times when it did move a bit slow for me, but that was mostly because it was when Joe was doing some bit of research which was being described in great detail, so I would just skip ahead a few paragraphs.

Definitely a great book!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Treachery..., February 22, 2006

By 

Carolyn "Author of Every Little Step She Take... (Sherrill's Ford, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chasing Shakespeares: A Novel (Paperback)

I read this book during a trip to Hawaii. I read it on the plane, in my hotel room (in fact, the pages are now warped because I dropped it in my bath), on the beach, and then, after I got home, I read it all again.

I bought the book hoping it would be a bit like "Possession" by A.S. Byatt, a literary mystery with a romance, yet more interesting because the author of the disputed material would be real, would be Shakespeare.

What I found was that the characters were real, too.

I could identify with Joe, trying to imagine himself as a biographer of Shakespeare, trying to imagine who he might be, could be, while not realizing that his life - as it was - was also a story worth writing. And when he loses his religion - ah, I could identify with that as well.

The mystery of the authorship question was quite enough to keep me reading. The scraps of paper, the little crumbs of clues, certainly intrigued me, as did the unfolding drama between the characters - Joe, Mary Cat, Posy, the Goscimers. I liked the contrast between Joe's Dad and Posy's father, between Mary Cat's dilemma and Joe's and Posy's, all trying to determine who they were, and overcome the barriers on the way. All defining themselves, even as Joe tried to define who Shakespeare really was.

But ah, the treachery. As insidious as Cecil's. It took me by surprise and was the direct cause of the aforementioned book-dunking.

Having reached the end of the story, I immediately wanted to reread it, to catch for myself more of the clues. To me, that's the sign of a good, involving book - that I don't want it to be over.

I highly recommend the book. Read it twice. And oh, one note of correction - the 1947 Buick was actually highly reliable.