The Two Wills: A Novel

by Blair Fell

From the USA Today bestselling author of Disco Witches of Fire Island comes a stunningly beautiful queer love story for fans of Hamnet and The Song of Achilles .

It’s the late 16th century and 18-year-old Willy Hughes is still heartbroken over the loss of his first great love, Barnaby Stubb. He’s also desperate to escape his impoverished existence. To survive, beyond mucking out the toilets for pennies, he cons drunken men into believing he’s a beautiful young woman—then robs them of their purses.

Willy’s hope for a brighter future appears doomed until a newly famous poet (also named William) spots Willy in an alehouse and asks him to join his acting company. Willy is instantly smitten and determines to see if the poet’s heart might be open to a love that dares not speak its name.

Alas, the poet Will has a wife and a mistress and says he’s only interested in Willy as an actor. But why does he look at Willy that way?

Despite being untrained and illiterate, Willy quickly rises to fame on the stage, creating the roles of Juliet, Rosalind, and Cleopatra. Soon, the private love sonnets arrive, and Will’s romantic ambiguity is driving Willy mad. Is he made differently than Willy thought? Or is it that mistress who’s blocking Willy’s quest to possess the poet? Or the poet’s wife? And what happens when a sexy rival poet by the name of Christopher Marlowe comes knocking on Willy’s door?

Inspired by Oscar Wilde’s theory of Shakespeare’s sonnets, The Two Wills explores romance in all its forms, both on the page and between the lines, where no love is ever really lost—especially when you are the “master mistress” of the greatest writer in history.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance, Fiction, Queer, Historical, LGBT, Historical Romance

Audible Audio

First published October 20, 2026

About the author

Blair Fell writes and lives in New York City. Blair’s television work includes Queer as Folk, and the Emmy Award–winning California Connected. He’s written dozens of plays including the award-winning plays Naked Will, The Tragic and Horrible Life of the Singing Nun, and the downtown cult miniseries Burning Habits. His personal essays have appeared in HuffPost, Out, Daily News (New York), and more. He’s a two-time winner of the prestigious Doris Lippman Prize in Creative Writing from the City College of New York, including for his early unfinished draft of The Sign for Home. Concurrently with being a writer, Blair has been an ASL interpreter for the Deaf since 1993, and has also worked as an actor, producer, and director.

Reviews

[annes_mesmerizing_books · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Two Wills gives readers a glimpse into William Shakespeare’s life through the eyes of Will Hughes, an eighteen-year-old hustler who meets Shakespeare and decides he’s meant to be the love of his life. And so begins Will’s life as an apprentice and actor.

The story is based on Shakespeare’s sonnets, which, according to some, tell the story of a complex love triangle between Shakespeare himself, a young man known as the Fair Youth, and a woman known as the Dark Lady.

Will is arrogant and outspoken, but also soft-hearted and more insecure than he lets on. He’s incredibly talented, and Shakespeare even writes a play for him, Romeo and Juliet, in which Will plays Juliet.

Will is a character to root for, with all his arrogance and wit. The story is so easy to read, and a smile hardly left my face, even with all the tougher topics beneath the surface (oh, Little Goat…). I loved the dance around each other, along with Will’s longing and yearning. I felt Will’s disappointment when he found out Barnaby had gotten married, and I sat on the edge of my seat when Christopher Marlowe offered Will a job as an actor.

The only part I enjoyed less was Rose’s chapters (the Dark Lady). They didn’t add much to the story. Luckily, there were only a few.

Overall, I adored The Two Wills!

Thank you, Alcove Press and NetGalley for this great historical ARC.

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[Richard Derus · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

Rating: 4.25* of five

The Publisher Says: A stunningly beautiful LGBTQ+ novel for fans of Hamnet and Song of Achilles.

Willy Hughes, an arrogant young hustler in Elizabethan England, is used to conning drunken men into believing he’s a young woman of ill repute—and then robbing them of their purses. But behind his thievery, he’s heartbroken over his first love, Barnaby Stubb, ending things between them. Not one to lick at his wounds for long, one night, Willy spots a newly famous stage poet in the alehouse. Will is ten years his senior, and he looks at Willy in a way he’s never been looked at before. Rather than robbing him blind, Willy decides that the sharp-eyed poet is meant to be the greatest love of his life.

Will wants Willy as his muse and perhaps as something more, but the older and more experienced poet is playing a dangerous game with people’s hearts. The confusion is driving Willy mad. Willy’s treacherous connection with Will—who is already married and involved in another love affair—becomes even more complicated when Will’s rival poet comes into the picture.

Christopher Marlowe is sexy, stunning, and dangerous. And he’s pursuing Willy with all he’s got. When Barnaby suddenly comes back into his life, Willy must determine once and for all who his heart belongs to. But London’s burgeoning acting companies have a darker side, and, as Willy goes from lowly apprentice to full-fledged star, he must rise to the occasion and stand up against exploitation and abuse.

A love story for the ages, where the loves you thought were lost forever aren’t ever really lost. Especially when the greatest writer in English literature dedicates his books of sonnets to you.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: Will Hughes is a hustler in all modern senses of that word. Sixteenth-century London has just as many horny men who want sex from a pretty face as any other time and place. Heartbroken by the loss of first love, Will Hughes targets a slightly older drunken man for his usual con of pretending a femininity he doesn't possess then robbing the traduced horndog; he chose both poorly and well, as his target is not the least bit embarrassed, but goes on the attack himself.

The Disco Witches of Fire Island did not prepare me for the tonal shift of this, Author Fell's second published novel. I say "published" because one does not achieve this command of his material unless one has a good chunk of experience behind him. There are novels in the Fell files that cannot see the light of day, with mistakes galore, with ideas that petered out for no obvious reason...I've got one of those about the Cristero War that I'm still salty at for refusing to take any shape I wanted.

This romantic gay love story is not a romance. There's a HFN ending...but not the one you might expect. I was a wee bit saddened by that. I liked Shakespeare's scheming mistress Rose well enough, but...why? It's not my book, so I will confine myself to that whiny single-word complaining bleat. I love all things Marlowe because he can be presented as queer and no one bats an eye, still less bellows an accusation of "wokeness." (Yeah, I'm woke, I don't want to sleepwalk through my life. Idiots.) I like Will Hughes because he doesn't wait around for someone to help him, he helps himself and then reaches back to help others. He's a mensch, he's a man who earns and deserves his happiness.

Will Hughes does get a little annoying in his unrequited pining for "The Poet." That arch convention of reference wears on me fast, Will Hughes' scheming against Rose Williams seems self-defeating, but then again he's in love which state of diminished capacity is well-known throughout history to have deleterious effects on one's intelligence. I can't offer a full five when I spent much of a read wanting to pound some sense into the two leads, but...well...it's a well-made story about interesting people, doing interesting things and each other (not very interestingly) while the turmoil of Elizabethan London roils and upsets many a person's plan.

So, a quarter-star onto the four it absolutely earns on its merits represents my appreciative pleasure in a take on Willy Shakes I haven't had the pleasure to meet before. Definitely think this one shpuld make its way onto your reading shelf wherever you keep it.

[gracie · Rating 1 out of 5]

As someone who had a special interest in Shakespeare for most of my formative years,it was a no-brainer that I'd request this arc even if one of the comps (song of achilles) was a book I hold utmost revulsion for. That turned out to be a mistake and I'm dnfing this halfway through.

For a book marketed as historical fiction,I'm surprised that it's taken to dropping important parts of historical accuracy for the sake of the "romance" but then again that is exactly what the song of achilles did with the legend of Achilles and Patroclus so maybe I'm not that surprised.The flowery,highly embellished prose as well does nothing for the story nor does it add to the depth of the characters or characterisations.

Getting into Rose's character too makes me even more irked. The sole black woman,and the only female main character and there's nothing else to write her in but as Shakespeare's mistress?? lol okay. This was a mess honestly, just irritated it took me so long to dnf.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've been eyeing this book for a couple months now and I just got approved for the arc!! So excited to read this, thank you Alcove Press.

[jana · Rating 4 out of 5]

HOLY SHIT THIS IS LONG I HAD TO SHORTEN IT TO FIT THE WORD COUNT I’M SO SORRY

Campy theatre. Acting. Lust. Love. Passion. Art. Identity. Yearning. Shakespearean drama. Men being catastrophically bad at communicating their feelings.

I think my favorite thing about this book is that it understands something very important about theatre, art and queer identity: sometimes performance is not the opposite of truth, sometimes performance is the only place where truth is allowed to exist.

Set in the late sixteenth century and inspired by the very real mysteries surrounding Shakespeare’s sonnets, The Two Wills takes one of literature’s most enduring questions and basically goes, okay, but what if we made it /extremely/ gay? Blair Fell takes Oscar Wilde’s famous theory that the mysterious “Fair Youth” of Shakespeare’s sonnets may have been a real young man named Willie Hughes, then runs gloriously, unapologetically wild with it. The result is a historical romance about a young actor who finds himself caught between art and survival, desire and respectability, performance and identity, and, naturally, William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe because apparently one emotionally complicated poet was simply not enough.

And overall, I had a fantastic time.

I should probably establish my Shakespeare credentials before I start pretending I am about to deliver a dissertation at the Globe. I am, admittedly, not a Shakespeare scholar. My relationship with Shakespeare has largely consisted of required readings throughout high school and college, attempting to understand what everyone is saying without constantly checking the page notes, and occasionally remembering that apparently everyone in Shakespeare’s universe is either in love, plotting murder, or both. Yet Shakespeare has always fascinated me, particularly because so much of his personal life remains obscured behind the enormous shadow of his work. We know the plays, the sonnets, and the name. But the man himself is frustratingly elusive.

There are theories upon theories about who Shakespeare actually was, who inspired his sonnets, what his relationships might have looked like, whether the Fair Youth was a real person, who the Dark Lady might have been and what exactly Shakespeare meant when he wrote so intensely about a young man’s beauty, body, and love. The very uncertainty surrounding him is what makes fictional interpretations so irresistible. There is enough historical evidence to give the imagination something to grab onto but enough missing information to make it impossible to ever fully close the case. The Two Wills lives in that delicious gap between fact and fantasy.

The book follows William “Willy” Hughes, an eighteen-year-old who is broke, illiterate, heartbroken and trying to survive by disguising himself as a beautiful young woman to con drunken men out of their money. Willy is already performing before he ever steps onto a stage, because survival depends on understanding what other people want to see and then becoming it. He manipulates his voice, his body, his appearance, his mannerisms. He studies people and gives them the fantasy they are willing to pay for.

Then Shakespeare sees him, and suddenly, what initially begins as a con becomes an apprenticeship, then acting, then art, then fame. Willy discovers that the stage is not merely somewhere he can hide but somewhere he can become more fully himself. He begins the story believing performance is something he does because he has no other choice. Slowly, he discovers that performance can also be a form of freedom. Willy is constantly negotiating who he is allowed to be. He is poor. He is illegitimate. He is considered effeminate. He has desires that society tells him are unnatural. He has spent much of his life learning how to make himself palatable, desirable, useful or invisible depending on the circumstances. Yet the stage gives him a strange kind of permission. When he puts on the costume, the wig, the makeup, and the words, suddenly the qualities that made him vulnerable outside the theatre become precisely what makes him extraordinary inside it.

He can play Juliet, Rosalind, Cleopatra. He can be a woman without being one. He can inhabit desire without having to explain it. He can speak words that would otherwise be dangerous to say in his own voice. He can make audiences fall in love with a version of himself that society would never permit him to openly acknowledge. And that makes the theatre in this book feel almost inherently queer because the stage becomes a place where identity is visibly constructed. You put something on. You take something off. You become someone else. You borrow another person’s voice. You inhabit another person’s desires. You make the audience believe you are somebody you are not, while perhaps revealing more of yourself than you ever could outside the performance. For Willy, the irony is that the more he acts, the more authentic he becomes.

Shakespeare’s affection for Willy is intoxicating precisely because it is so incomplete. He sees Willy. He recognizes his beauty, and his talent. He inspires him. He writes for him. He creates roles that allow Willy to become famous. His words make Willy feel immortal. But Willy eventually realizes that being immortalized in someone’s art does not necessarily mean being loved in the way you actually want to be loved.
Because what do you do when someone tells you that you are their inspiration, muse, greatest creative obsession but cannot give you a life together?
What happens when someone loves the idea of you so intensely that the reality of having you becomes inconvenient?

Imagine being told that you inspired THE Shakespeare. Imagine knowing that the person responsible for some of the most enduring words in the English language looked at you and found something worth writing about. But eventually Willy has to confront that he needs to remain unattainable for the poet for the sake of yearning. The fulfillment would destroy the poem. And I think that is such an interesting way of interrogating the romantic idea of /the muse/. We often romanticize being someone’s inspiration. We want to be the person who makes an artist create. We want to be unforgettable. We want someone to look at us and think, I have to write this down. But The Two Wills asks what happens after the inspiration becomes a person with needs. A muse can be immortal, but a person has to live.

Willy begins the story desperate to be chosen by Shakespeare. He wants to be loved by him, possessed by him, recognized by him. But by the end, he understands that being chosen by someone else cannot be the entirety of his life. He has to choose himself. Willy spends so much of the novel asking variations of the same question: Who am I when nobody is telling me who I am? Am I the beautiful boy? Am I the woman I pretend to be? Am I the actor? Am I the muse? Am I the lover? Am I the thief? Am I the son of my mother? Am I the person Barnaby once loved? Am I the person Shakespeare writes about? Am I the person Marlowe sees? Or am I simply Willy Hughes?

The answer, eventually, is that he is all of them and none of them exclusively.

There is a temptation in stories about great love to categorize relationships as either the one or the mistake before the one but Willy comes to understand that love does not need to be permanent to have mattered. I think there is something comforting in the notion that not every person we love has to become our forever person for the relationship to have meaning. Sometimes someone can enter your life, rearrange something inside you, leave and still have changed the architecture of who you become. We tend to treat failed romances as wasted time, but Willy eventually realizes that even his heartbreak taught him something about himself. There is a beautiful generosity to that perspective.

And perhaps it is especially poignant for a queer character living in a world where even acknowledging his desires is dangerous. Willy does not get to experience love under easy circumstances. He has to navigate secrecy, shame, religion, class, reputation, gender, and survival. His love stories are messy because his life is messy. Of course, the book itself is messy too.

And while I gave it four stars, I don’t think it is flawless. The historical setting occasionally felt less convincing to me than the emotional and thematic elements. There were moments when the language and dialogue seemed to oscillate between deliberately archaic and noticeably modern, which sometimes pulled me out of the period. I don’t personally need historical fiction to read like a translated Elizabethan manuscript but when a book is so deeply invested in Shakespearean language and sixteenth-century theatre, the moments that feel anachronistic become more noticeable. There were also parts where the plotting felt a little too conveniently arranged around the historical record and the sonnets. Though I do understand why. The entire premise is essentially an elaborate act of literary speculation. Fell is taking fragments of poems, historical figures, theories, and gaps in Shakespeare’s biography and building an entire life around them. At some points, though, I could feel the machinery underneath the story. Certain developments felt as though they had to happen because they needed to eventually lead us toward the sonnets we already know. That occasionally made the emotional progression feel more constructed than organic.

And I think Shakespeare himself was probably my biggest mixed bag. I enjoyed him as a character but I also kept wishing he were slightly more complicated outside of being The Poet™. There is an intentional mystique to the way Willy perceives him, of course. Willy practically mythologizes him. To Willy, Shakespeare is simultaneously a man, an artist, a lover, a mentor, an almost divine figure and the person who might finally validate every secret desire he has ever had. But that also means that Shakespeare sometimes feels more like an embodiment of Shakespeare than a fully ordinary man. Though perhaps that is the point. Maybe Willy cannot help but turn him into a god because he is eighteen and in love and this is the man whose words seem to make the entire world rearrange itself. Maybe that distance is necessary because the entire story is about the danger of confusing someone’s art with the person who created it.

Still, I sometimes wanted to grab Willy by the shoulders and say, baby. PLEASE. This man is literally telling you that he would rather suffer beautifully than make you happy. STAND TF UP. And then Willy would make another terrible romantic decision and I would sigh. (Affectionately. Kinda.)

Because despite everything, Willy is such an easy character to root for. He is arrogant and vain and impulsive. He can be ridiculous. He is occasionally incredibly horny at precisely the least convenient moment. He has absolutely no business being as dramatic as he is and yet somehow he is exactly as dramatic as a person living inside a Shakespearean novel should be, but underneath all that bravado is someone desperately afraid of being unwanted. That made his confidence feel less like arrogance and more like an armor. He knows he is beautiful because he has learned that beauty can keep him alive. He knows he is talented because acting gives him something he never knew he possessed. He talks loudly because silence has never protected him. He performs confidence because the world has given him plenty of reasons to doubt himself.

The book also has some surprisingly tender observations about art and suffering. One of the ideas that stayed with me is the notion that artists can turn pain into something else. Heartbreak becomes material. Grief becomes language. Shame becomes character. Desire becomes poetry. There is something almost alchemical about that. You take something that hurt you, then you put it through art. And somehow, somebody else centuries later gets to hold it and say, “I know what you mean”. That feels particularly appropriate for a novel about Shakespeare. The entire book is essentially asking whether the private emotions behind art can survive when the person who experienced them is long gone.

And the answer, ultimately, seems to be yes. Maybe not accurately, nor literally. Maybe not in the way historians would prefer. But emotionally? That is where the sonnets become so powerful within the story. Reading them alongside Willy’s experiences creates this strange doubling effect where poetry that has existed for hundreds of years suddenly becomes personal. Lines that we normally encounter as famous literary artifacts become letters, confessions, arguments, apologies, seductions. The poems become evidence. They become love letters, sometimes they even become weapons. They become memories. And eventually, they become the only part of a relationship that can outlive the people who were in it.

That brings me back to one of the questions that initially fascinated me about this book: Who was Shakespeare’s Fair Youth? Maybe he was Willie Hughes. Maybe he wasn’t. Maybe Shakespeare was queer. Maybe his relationship to desire was more complicated than the labels we have available to describe it. Maybe the sonnets were autobiographical. Maybe they were partly literary invention. Maybe the truth is somewhere between all of those things. We will probably never know. And I think The Two Wills understands that uncertainty is part of the fun.

The author is very transparent about how much of the story is invention. The author’s note makes clear that the novel is inspired by Oscar Wilde’s The Portrait of Mr. W. H., as well as scholarship surrounding the sonnets and Elizabethan theatre, while acknowledging that Willy and Rose’s lives are ultimately fictional constructions. That distinction matters to me because this book is at its best when it embraces speculation rather than pretending speculation is fact.

The book basically says: we don’t know what happened, so fuck it let’s imagine.

And for me, that is what historical fiction is for. There is also something deeply queer about reclaiming the uncertainty itself. For centuries, people have been remarkably determined to explain away the queerness in Shakespeare’s sonnets. The idea that a famous literary figure could write so intensely about a beautiful young man and genuinely desire him seems to make some people deeply uncomfortable, so there is always an elaborate interpretive gymnastics routine ready to explain why no, surely this must be metaphorical, platonic, artistic, symbolic, even brotherly (yuck), anything but what it looks like. And The Two Wills refuses to play along. It takes the possibility seriously. It lets queer desire exist without apologizing for it. More importantly, it lets queer desire be complicated. Not sanitized, not tragic for the sake of tragedy, and not reduced to suffering. Willy gets to be horny. He gets to be jealous. He gets to be selfish. He gets to make mistakes. He gets to flirt. He gets to be desired. He gets to be loved badly and loved well. He gets to be heartbroken and ridiculous and ambitious and talented. He gets to have a life.

The book’s dedication to queer performers especially feels meaningful in this context (especially as a queer theatre not-so-kid-anymore myself). The story is about people who use costume, performance, language, and art to create spaces where identities that cannot safely exist in ordinary life can still breathe. The stage becomes both mask AND mirror. That is perhaps why the book feels so emotionally modern despite being set hundreds of years ago.

Because the central question is not really, What did Shakespeare do?
It is: What does it mean to want to be seen for who you actually are?

And for better or for worse, that question has not aged at all. I also appreciated that the story does not insist there is only one legitimate form of love. Willy’s understanding of love becomes broader as he grows. He learns that romantic love can be consuming without being permanent, that friendship can change the trajectory of your life, that artistic love is real but can still be insufficient, that two people can care deeply for one another while wanting fundamentally different things. And perhaps most importantly, that being someone’s inspiration is not necessarily the highest form of being loved. Sometimes you do not want to be someone’s muse, sometimes you just want them to stay. That, to me, is the emotional core of the book.

The Two Wills is ultimately a story about what happens when the person who inspires the poem realizes that he deserves more than being a poem. And yet, ironically, the poem is what survives. Willy spends so much of his life wanting Shakespeare’s love to become tangible. He wants touch, commitment, recognition, a shared life but eventually he discovers that the relationship he wanted to physically possess has been preserved in another form entirely.

Words.

We do not have to regret every person we outgrow. Some people are chapters, some are footnotes, some are entire volumes, hell some are just a grocery list for the day. Some are badly written side plots that somehow become essential to the character development, and some are Shakespearean sonnets that refuse to die.

So yes, I gave this four stars. There were moments when the book seemed a little too determined to connect every emotional development to the historical scaffolding it was building around Shakespeare’s sonnets, but I also think judging The Two Wills solely on historical accuracy or whether its imagined Shakespeare is the Shakespeare we personally prefer misses some of what makes it fun. This is a book that wants to play. It wants to put Shakespeare’s sonnets in the hands of a queer young actor and ask what they might mean if they were love letters. It wants to turn the Fair Youth from a literary mystery into a person. It wants to ask whether desire can survive centuries, and it wants to be extremely, EXTREMELY dramatic about all of it.

If you are someone who loves Shakespeare, this is probably going to give you approximately 17 new things to obsess over. If you know almost nothing about Shakespeare, I definitely think you can still have a great time with it. You do not need a Shakespeare degree to understand the central emotional machinery here. At its heart, this is a story about wanting someone who cannot give you what you need, discovering an identity, learning how to survive inside a hostile world and eventually understanding that your life cannot be defined by whether another person chooses you.

There is something wonderfully fitting about a novel inspired by Shakespeare ending up being, in its own way, an argument for the permanence of stories. People die, relationships end, bodies disappear, reputation changes, historical records lose names, the truth gets buried beneath centuries of interpretation.

But words remain.

A poem can outlive its writer, a play can outlive its actors, a love story can outlive the lovers.

We may never know whether Willie Hughes existed, or exactly who Shakespeare loved. We may never know what the sonnets were really trying to tell us, but the fact is that somebody wrote them. Somebody loved something enough to put it into words and hundreds of years later, we’re still here arguing about it. Still reading it, imagining, wondering, and still finding ourselves in the spaces between the lines.

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, Shakespeare wrote, so long lives this.

[Harry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for an advanced copy of this work!

Focusing on Willy Hughes, this tells a story of an entangled and complex relationship with the Bard, William Shakespeare. This story looks at the roles we play in our lives, and the numerous comedies and tragedies of love.

This was such a delight to read. Full of deeply complex characters, tons of romance and heartbreak, with a wonderful plot and inspired concept. I love that this stemmed from a work by Oscar Wilde that looked at a potential queer relationship between Shakespeare and Mr. W.H.; this was brilliant, smart, and human.

This was one of those rare gems that not only made me think profoundly, but also had me brimming with emotion. An absolute triumph, in my eyes. I'll be shouting about this one from the rooftops.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost gave up on this book after the first chapters, as I struggled a bit with the writing style.
But I'm glad I continued because in the end Willy Hughes and his adventures won me over, and I quite enjoyed reading about his transformation from a poor young hustler to becoming Shakespeare's muse and the leading actor for female roles in the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and later his entanglement with Kit Marlowe (who I was surprised to know is alleged to have been a spy for the royal crown).

I also liked the idea that most of Shakespeare's sonnets had been inspired by his male muse (I understand this was inspired by Oscar Wilde's novella on the subject).
The chapters from Rose's POV (the Dark Lady from Shakespeare's sonnets) were less enjoyable, but thankfully there were not so many.

Overall this was quite an entertaining read, and although I wasn't sure midway through the book if it would be possible, I'm glad the author ended up giving us a happy ending for Willy and his friends.

[Nrosenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC provided by NetGalley and this is my honest review.

First off, let me just say how funny it was to read this only a few weeks after I read Hamnet for the first time. Very different books, but somehow they cover similar topics: love and grief.

Blair Fell is a talented writer. I loved Disco Witches of Fire Island and I was not disappointed in his newest book!

Once again, Fell is able to construct a very unique tale that is heartfelt and contains multitudes.

[ezra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for this ARC!

DNF at 49%

“The Two Wills” is, in a way, a fictional retelling of Shakespeare’s life and imagined relationship with main character Willy Hughes. Hughes escapes his impoverished existence and whore mother when his beauty (and talent as an actor and singer) is discovered by Shakespeare. He joins the theatre company and is trained to act the female parts, something he quickly becomes more than sufficient in. Along the way, Willy’s infatuation-at-first-sight with Will grows. Will writes him sonnets that smell suspiciously of love, but then claims to only want Willy as his actor. What is holding him back – His wife? His mistress?

I’ll be honest, I do find parts of the plot of this interesting. Unfortunately, the parts I took issue with were too much for me to dedicate my currently extremely limited time to reading this book.

First, I’ll agree a theatre company back then would’ve definitely been more vulgar than what the common image of the Elizabethan period may be, but the vulgarity in this book just feels unnatural and forced to me, like something edgy I would’ve written at 16. In the case of 18 year old Willy you could argue that this is on purpose, but it is also a general theme in all three POVs.

My second criticism is a spoiler, so be warned.

I simply did not care at all for the Rose plotline. Obviously I did not finish the book, so I don’t know if Will ever gives in to Willy’s advances or if he ends up with Rose or if something else happens, but either way, after ½ the book, I could not figure out what exactly the point of this “love” triangle is. While Rose does have her own POV, her entire storyline appeared, so far, to be about being Will’s mistress, which I don’t think is a particularly interesting thing for the only significant female character to be.

I might, at some future point, finish this.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Two Wills is the story of (follow closely now) Oscar Wilde's theory of the meaning behind Shakespeare's sonnets, in a queer historical romance. Willy Hughes works in a brothel and as a thief. One evening he catches the attention of the poet (the other Will) and is soon working for a theatre group playing women's roles with his beautiful looks, and becoming the poet's muse. Willy's in love with Will and it is devastatingly unrequited. When Christopher Marlowe comes to offer Willy a lead in his new play (and a place in his bed), he's tempted. This historical fiction is compelling for the story itself, but will also make you wonder about Shakespeare's history.

I read this author's The Disco Witches of Fire Island on the recommendation of a customer and liked it. But I didn't notice when this ARC was released. However, my kid (who is also my coworker right now) had picked this one up on Edelweiss and we share a Kindle account. So, I decided to read it too. I was compelled by the story here, but something feels missing and I'm not quite sure what that is.

[Leslie · Rating 2.75 out of 5]

Oof. I really like the concept of this book, & some of the arguments it’s making, but so much was going against it. Namely, how annoying the main protagonist, Will Hughes (the actor Fell is purporting to be the young man most of Shakespeare’s sonnets were written to), was (every time he unnecessarily flew off the handle I wanted to reach into the book & punch him). Also, how pretty flat Rose (the “dark lady” of the remaining sonnets) was. She’s just there to be a love interest/third wheel & storm off 2/3 of the way through the book (although I will admit that it was good to show how the backhanded compliments of “my mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” are some weak sauce in a love poem). Shakespeare (“The Poet” oof) was also annoying (although I suspect he was probably pretty annoying in real life, so 🤷🏻‍♀️). The arch faux-Elizabethan tone & diction was also tough to take. I more or less hate-read the last half, which is too bad bc this would otherwise be extremely my shit, but so many things just annoyed me. Except Marlowe, who was badass & charming & hot, as he should be.

[Joyfully Jay · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

A Joyfully Jay review.

4.5 stars

This book is inspired both by Oscar Wilde’s theory that many of Shakespeare’s most famous love sonnets were inspired by a man, and by the sonnets themselves. It’s as much a love story to Shakespeare as it is a book about the life and loves of Willy Hughes. The historical details are well researched, and the creation and performance of several plays are seamlessly introduced. From Kit Marlow to Shakespeare’s wife, Anne, the cast of characters are respectfully presented.

However, this book tries very hard to evoke the Elizabethan period, not just with the details like buildings and clothing, but also with how the characters speak, and with how Willy narrates the book. At times, the effort becomes visible and the writing drifts to a shade of purple that feels jarring.

If you’re a fan of Shakespeare, you’ll have fun with this book. If you’re a fan of slice-of-life Elizabethan history books, you’ll really enjoy this book. I think it’s at its best when it’s focusing on Willy the actor rather than Willy the lovestruck boy; when he’s learning lines, learning about Little Goat’s past, pondering his future, and living his life as an actor. Those sections have a vibrancy and charm that make this book so much fun to read.

Read Elizabeth’s review in its entirety here.

[Sarah-Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

In many ways, The Two Wills is really for those who know a bit about Tudor-era drama and the professional lives of William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe. You don't *need* to have that knowledge to enjoy this book, but your enjoyment will be increased if you have a bit of historical context in which to place tale.

Blair Fell's starting place was Shakespeare's sonnets. For literally centuries scholars of drama and literature have debated who the beloveds are that he's writing to. The academic assumption at this point is that the two beloveds are a "dark lady" and a "fair boy." Different arguments have been made about who these beloveds were in the real world—or if they even existed at all—but it seems like a pretty sure thing at this point that we will never have a definitive answer to their identities.

In The Two Wills, Fell gives them specific identities then explores their different relationships with Shakespeare, Marlowe, and one another. The fair boy of this tale, also named Will, is an interesting character, a boy playing female roles in Shakespeare's plays. Will is confident about his good looks and acting skills, but never really becomes confident in believing that the people he loves love him. This makes sense in the early parts of the novel, but I wish he'd grown out of it a bit more quickly; I'm tired of the self-doubting, young, queer person. Plenty of these folks do exist, but are they destined to remain in the uncertain place for decades? Isn't gradual, but meaningful growth a possibility?

The "dark lady" is Rose, a woman of at least part African descent, married to a builder of stages and scenery, but who freely pursues her own romantic dalliances as she likes. Clearly Rose likes sex and likes smart men who are good at word play. She also resents those who refuse to see her as anything more than her skin color. Readers learn less about Rose than they do about Will, which is a bit of a pity. I wish Fell helped us spend as much time in her mind as he asks us to spend in the mind of your Will. She could be the inspiration for a brilliant novel in her own right, if only we got to know her a bit better.

I'm impressed by Fell's range as a writer. His first published novel, The Disco Witches of Fire Island, is set in the early 1980s (as far as I recall) with a substantial cast of gay men navigating the "competition" Fire Island represents, while also building friendships and facing the impact of the AIDS epidemic. That book was a wonderful read—and here Fell is, writing something completely different in terms of geographical and chronological setting that also satisfies.

Don't be afraid to pick up The Two Wills if you don't have any background knowledge regarding Tudor theatre. Fell will pull you into its midst. Yes, I quibble about the characters, but really that's quibbling. I can imagine alternate version of these characters, but they are as Fell writes them, and they work quite well in those forms.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss+; the opinions are my own.

[Jillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read! THE TWO WILLS is riveting, moving and enchanting, with fascinating and captivating characters that are so easy to love. It brought Shakespeare and the Elizabethan world, theater and romance to life in the most delightful and engaging way. I couldn't put this book down and didn't want it to end!!

[Rosi · Rating 3 out of 5]

For fans of: Historical fiction, LGBTQ+ romance, forbidden love, Shakespeare, and theater.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for providing me with an ARC.

I really wanted to love this one because the premise sounded so interesting. A fictional story exploring Shakespeare’s personal life and a possible romance with one of his actors.

I enjoyed learning about Willy Hughes and his journey from poverty to becoming an actor in Shakespeare’s company. I also liked the historical setting and the way the author incorporated theater and Shakespeare’s sonnets into the story.

However, I struggled with the pacing. There were parts that dragged quite a bit, and I felt like the book could’ve been shorter without losing much of the story. I also wasn’t the biggest fan of some of the dialogue. I understand that the theater world during that time wasn’t exactly innocent, but some of the vulgarity felt a little forced to me.

The romance was interesting, but I wanted more from the relationship between Willy and Shakespeare. At times, I felt like the story focused on too many different things, and I started losing interest in the main plot.

My review on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/DfQUVXCmc...

[Mia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Alcove Press and Netgalley for the ARC

This book is a fascinating dive into the lesser known parts of Shakespeare, that being his personal romantic affairs, specifically those of same-sex variety. Inspired by Oscar Wilde's short story, which was inspired by real sonnets written by Shakespeare himself, this memoir-like novel does a fantastic job of transporting you into this melancholic, romantic world.

Will, the protagonist, was such a fun character to follow. He was full of himself, witty and outspoken (even when he shouldn't be). Such a loud voice fit perfectly with the writing style, which was lyrical and very old-fashioned, fitting the setting most suitably. The other POV character, Rose, was no different. While her motives frequently aligned with Will's, her voice and character was entirely different but no less intriguing. Both stories were fascinating to follow, and I once again have to mention the writing, which really was perfect for the story and just so good.

Shakespeare, or The Poet, made for a fascinating love interest for both of the POV characters. Confusing, alluring, and almost always just out of reach, his character was always shrouded in mystery and was only truly revealed in his plays and sonnets. The different sides he showed both of his loves made for an interesting puzzle to put together to try to create a full image of his character.

Other than the romance, the world of acting in England in the 17th century was explored as well. It showcased how it fit into society and politics, as well as the highs and excitement of being on stage and performing or being behind the scenes, as well as exposing the cruelty many child actors are exposed to.

The ending was satisfactory and appropriate for all of the characters' journeys, with as much melancholy and yearning as one could hope for. Really, yearning was the most consistent theme of the whole novel, as if it was one of Shakespeare's very sonnets.

[Matheuzices · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blair Fell’s Two Will offers a fascinating, imaginative deep dive into the private life of William Shakespeare, centered on the bold premise of his potential same-sex relationship. It is an incredibly compelling read for anyone who enjoys speculating on the "what-ifs" behind history’s greatest literary figures. A Captivating Premise: The core of the story is inherently intriguing. Exploring the idea that the passion behind Shakespeare’s sonnets might have been directed toward a man invites readers to view his famous work through a completely different lens. It’s a bold narrative choice that makes you rethink the emotional complexity of the Bard. Immersive Linguistic Style: Fell does a fantastic job incorporating elements of Early Modern English. This stylistic choice adds a wonderful layer of authenticity, grounding the reader firmly in the era and making the dialogue feel organic to the setting rather than anachronistic. Pacing and Length: While the journey is engaging, the book feels a bit overextended. The narrative could have benefited from a tighter edit; had it been slightly more concise, it would have maintained a stronger momentum and arguably reached "great" status. Ultimately, Two Will is a creative and evocative piece of historical fiction that successfully bridges the gap between Shakespeare’s legendary public persona and a potentially hidden private life. While it lingers a bit too long in certain chapters, it remains a thoughtful exploration of love and identity.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks so much to NetGalley & Blair Fell for the ARC of The Two Wills in exchange for an honest review!

It's been a whirlwind year of Shakespeare related reading and theatre for me. I read Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell earlier this year, and had the pleasure of catching both The Tempest and A Midsummer's Night Dream, as well as Something Rotten in Stratford ON. It was so interesting to read this with a lot of the Poet's work and other fictionalizations of his life so fresh in my mind. I think it added to my overall enjoyment given that I enjoy Shakespeare as a rule, but I think the meat of this story will still appeal to readers entirely unfamiliar with his work.

The Two Wills is witty and fun, toying with the Will they Won't they of it all, especially in the first 50-60% or so. Then of course --spoilers? (It's been like, 400 years, so no)-- Hamnet dies, and the tone shifts. But the shift aligns well with Willy's overall arc. He falls in love, has his heart broken again and again, grieves his lost loves, and eventually grows up and finds his way.

I will say I was surprised that the second POV we get here was actually Rose's and not the Poet's, but perhaps that was a good choice given her and Willy are the two 100% original characters and it really reinforces the mystery and "we'll never truly know" aspect of Will/the Poet's inner thoughts. My only real gripe would be how inconsistently time jumps (sometimes days, other times months, years, decades). Otherwise, this was a total delight!

[Sherry Chiger · Rating 5 out of 5]

No need to know much about Shakespeare, let alone about Oscar Wilde's theory regarding the person who inspired most of Shakespeare's sonnets, to be mesmerized by "The Two Wills." Wilde wrote that a man was Shakespeare's muse, and this novel is narrated primarily by that muse, here presented as a thief/prostitute turned actor in Shakespeare's troupe. The secondary narrator is the so-called Dark Lady to whom Shakespeare dedicated a handful of other sonnets.

But even if, like me, you tend to repeatedly check the time while watching a Shakespeare play (at least I'm honest), you will be drawn into the waxing, waning, and interlocking romances of actor Willy, the Poet (as he's dubbed throughout the novel), and Rose the Dark Lady. Christopher Marlowe plays a major role as well, with appearances by several other notables of the time. The book never feels like a period piece, or exclusively like one, however, despite the prose nodding to the language of the era. And the evolution of the characters, Willy in particular, is beautiful. Ditto the graceful depictions of love in all its myriad forms. This should definitely make your "must read" list.

Thank you, NetGalley and Alcove Press, for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Hannah Deverall · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Two Wills by Blair Fell is an exciting, humorous, and emotional look into the life and legend of The Bard. The novel follows Willy Hughes, a young actor who is enamoured by the poet, joining his troop and serving as his leading lady and muse. However, Willy must determine whether the poet feels the same about him, which is somewhat complicated by the arrival of the alluring and enigmatic Rose, as well as the only man who challenges The Bard’s skill: Kit Marlowe.

I loved how Fell gave such emotions and depth to the characters; Willy was annoying but understandable, Rose (my favourite) was compelling and outraged, while Marlowe was sweet but tortured. The Bard was, ostensibly, The Bard. My only problem was that I would have loved more interaction between Willy and Rose!!!

Overall, I found the prose delicious and exciting, but some aspects of the ending did not land with me. Therefore, 4.75/ 5 stars. Thank you to Alcove Press for providing The Two Wills for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[Matthew Condello · Rating 5 out of 5]

An utter delight from beginning to end!! A dizzying story of love, lust, belonging, self discovery, sonnets and Shakespeare! I couldn’t stop smiling. Will Hughes is a character that wins you over from the first chapter and by the end you feel as if he’s your best friend. Blair Fell’s
Writing is compulsively readable and his research and passion for this practically leaps off of every page. The world feels alive and real. This is historical fiction that will rip you out of your reading slump and have you begging for more! Thanks to Netgalley and Alcove press for this ARC!

[Daniela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to be thinking about this book for a long time. A beautiful love story, and so well-written, evoking the language of the era. I loved how the author portrays the chaos of Shakespeare's imagined personal life through Hughes' and Rose's perspectives, and how from that chaos the greatest works in the English language emerge.

Also I want to go reread the sonnets now. Alas.

[Chris Monceaux · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

***Thank you to Alcove Press for providing an advanced copy of the book via NetGalley. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***

Wow. I expected to like The Two Wills, but I had an outstanding time reading this book. The emotions snuck up on me and hit hard by the end. These characters came to mean so much to me, and I appreciated how absolutely messy they were. The story did feel constrained by the actual history at times, but the author did a good job of weaving a narrative thread through those events that felt natural. I particularly loved how parts of Shakespeare’s sonnets were included in each chapter as a throughline to exhibit how the fictional story was inspired by the poet’s actual words.

Willy’s story in The Two Wills was tragic, beautiful, and SO dramatic. He came from very humble beginnings and rose to the height of stardom for his time. Shakespeare plucked him from obscurity and gave him the opportunity of a lifetime. So, of course Willy fell madly in love with him. Willy was obsessed with Shakespeare, and it killed him that the poet kept him at arm’s length with his true feelings only evident in the obscure language of his poems and the passion with which he created roles for Willy. Their relationship was messy and made difficult by the anti-queer sentiments of the time and the lack of clear communication between the two men. In addition to the romantic elements of his story, Willy’s journey was one of self-discovery. The stage provided him a place to get to know parts of himself he’d had to bury as well as a family of other actors he could be himself around. His life was incredibly compelling even when he was being a bit of a brat. lol.

I was initially surprised by the inclusion of Rose as a POV character in The Two Wills. She felt a bit superfluous at first, and I honestly didn’t like her all that much for most of the book. I did appreciate her story of taking back her power via her sexuality. However, her character felt reduced to nothing more than her lust and seemed quite one note. Her rivalry with Willy over Shakespeare’s affection also felt really forced and at one point even became a bit silly. I liked where her character ended up, though. I just wish more of her character development had happened on the page.

Let’s talk about Shakespeare. His POV was not shared in The Two Wills, which was unexpected given the name of the book. I think it was a smart decision by the author, though. It allowed his character to remain enigmatic, and I enjoyed trying to piece together who he was based on how Willy and Rose viewed him. His brilliance and his flaws were so captivating. There were moments when I hated him for how he treated Willy and Rose. On the other hand, I found the many different ways that he loved the people in his life to be so fascinating. I also liked how the end of the book recontextualized everything he did and made me think differently about his character. While I don’t know a ton about the historical Shakespeare, I really enjoyed getting to know this one through the eyes of two people who felt so deeply for him.

I’d also like to note that two side characters stood out to me in this story. Little Goat stole my heart, and his story had me in tears at some points. The found family he had with Willy was adorable, and I loved all of the scenes where they were together preparing their characters and learning their lines. I also loved the inclusion of Kit Marlowe. I knew nothing about this fascinating historical figure before reading this book, and it inspired me to go down a rabbit hole of research to learn more about him. That’s one of my favorite things about historical fiction. It often introduces me to some cool new people/things to become obsessed with. lol.

All in all, The Two Wills was a beautiful story about love in all of its forms and Willy’s journey of self-discovery. If you are looking for great historical fiction with a queer lens, look no further. Therefore, I rate the book 4.25 out of 5 stars.

[Sun | The Hobbiton Book Club · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

"How often do we get a chance in life to play our true selves without fear to express our art, which fulfills all we have ever dreamed of?"
His words dampened my eyes. To be seen and desired for who I really was, to not hide behind metaphor or the unspoken.

I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed it. PSA: one does NOT need to like/understand Shakespeare's works to appreciate/enjoy this book!

------------AUDIOBOOK REVIEW---------------
Narrators Rooke Kingston and Will Watt (that makes 3x Wills...) did a great job! Their dynamic narration conveyed the spirit of the characters. Watt brought out Willy Hughes' brightly resilient tone, along with his naiveté, longing, love, pride, determination, and charming humor. Rooke Kingston's narration simmered with Rose's pride and fierce agency against the context of racism and sexism (and other -isms).

------------BOOK REVIEW-----------
It's a charming dual-POV read — I found myself listening with a smile nearly the whole book even through some grimmer moments. The story is filled with humor, heartache, suppression, longing, embarrassment, shame, denial, and friendship. The characters are complex and navigate the social stigmas of the time, which keeps the story interestingly layered.

This dual-POV story is told through the eyes of Willy Hughes (who is in love with Shakespeare) and Rose (Shakespeare's mistress).

Willy Hughes' resilience, wit, determination, and courage are a highlight of this story. I just wanted to give him a hug. I appreciate that he is shown as having standards. His story reminds me of the quote, "We accept the love we think we deserve" (from The Perks of Being a Wallflower). I like that he stands for himself, communicating his frustration with Shakespeare only giving back words but not love. QUOTE: "I reached a certainty. The Poet was not made like me. There was relief in that, in finally knowing to your core the one you have always wanted was not the person made for your love."

Unpopular opinion: I actually appreciated the Rose chapters, as they gave a different less-heard POV. I liked that they showed her thoughts and feelings through her own words instead of just being seen through Shakespeare's words. I liked that she is shown as being her own person with agency. Her perspective reminded me of parts of I, Medusa with the "female rage" and refusal to take less than deserved. Her character is even more complex because she is also married. QUOTE: "I will not be forced to accept too small a fraction of anyone's love"

Little Goat is another wonderful part of the story. His character is so special: loyal, tenacious, kind, and funny. It is easy to root for him to find happiness and a better life.

I got a bit annoyed with Shakespeare: he is arrogant, insecure, desperate, and frustrating. He uses Willy as his muse, sending mixed signals (due to internal conflict?) and leading Will on, which I personally was furious at on Hughes' behalf.

This book is compared to The Song of Achilles and I can see why. They have similar nostalgia, musical language, and rhythm. The Rose chapters reminded me of the older Medusa chapters in I, Medusa. This one felt less futile/tragic/inescapably devastating though. Most of the book is written in conversational English of the time (I assume), not in Shakespearean rhyming English you'd find in sonnets or plays (no idea about historical accuracy of daily vernacular of the time).

Structure: Each chapter is framed by a sonnet excerpt, which takes on deeper meaning as the chapter unfolds. I liked that each chapter title comes with a very helpful description. Example: "Chapter 5 — Blush, blush: wherein Willy Hughes speaks the poet's lines for the first time"

I think this book could be a fun read for almost anyone! Again, liking Shakespeare's writing is NOT a prerequisite for enjoying the book. It's a wonderful coming of age and friendship story first, Shakespeare story second.

[Dace ჯ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this reimagining of Shakespeare’s life. After loving Maggie O'Farrell's Hamnet earlier this year, I was naturally drawn to Blair Fell's The Two Wills.

While Hamnet focuses on Shakespeare's family and life in Stratford, leaving his time in London largely to the imagination, The Two Wills does the exact opposite. It is told primarily from the perspective of Will Hughes, a young actor apprentice, muse, and romantic interest, alongside chapters from Rose, a sharp-witted Black woman and Shakespeare's lover.

The story is largely inspired by Oscar Wilde’s short story "The Portrait of Mr. W. H.", which explores the theory that Shakespeare’s sonnets were dedicated to a young man named William Hughes. Though The Two Wills and Hamnet feel very different, they complement each other wonderfully. In both novels, we explore a compelling version of events while keeping Shakespeare himself somewhat at a distance as a side character whose true feelings remain as elusive to us as they are to the narrators. The Two Wills feels a bit lighter overall, yet it still tackles weighty themes like the diverse nature of love, with Hamnet's death serving as a pivotal turning point here as well.

Stylistically, the language strikes a great balance, evoking a 16th-century Shakespearean feel while remaining highly readable. (And if "God's teeth" wasn't actually a popular oath back then, the author certainly convinced me it was!)

As someone who is neither a historian nor a Shakespeare scholar, I found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable and accessible historical fiction about the Great Poet, his loves, and the fascinating, gritty life of Elizabethan playing companies. It was also a fantastic gateway to the sonnets; reading the epigraphs finally inspired me to open the volume sitting on my shelf.

Thank you to the author and LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program for the free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

[hannah ⊹ ࣪ ˖ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yearning, Shakespearean drama, queer history, and men who desperately need to communicate their feelings? Sign me UPPPP! I wasn't really sure what to expect from this, but The Two Wills is a witty, heartfelt, and delightfully messy reimagining of Shakespeare’s life and sonnets that turns a centuries-old literary mystery into a story about love, identity, ambition, and the dangers of falling for someone who might love the idea of you more than the person you actually are.

Willy Hughes was such a fascinating character to follow. He is arrogant, clever, impulsive, and occasionally spectacularly bad at making romantic decisions, and he often hides a vulnerable heart behind his bravado. Watching him go from hustling to survive on the streets of Elizabethan London to finding his place on the stage was one of my favorite parts of the book. There’s something beautiful about the way acting becomes more than a means of survival for Willy. Performance gives him the freedom to explore parts of himself that the world around him would rather he keep hidden, and honestly, watching him become a star while navigating his very complicated feelings for Shakespeare, Barnaby, and the dangerously charming Christopher Marlowe was super entertaining.

My feelings about Shakespeare himself were considerably more complicated. The man has enough charisma to keep everyone orbiting around him, but goodness, does he make a mess of other people’s hearts! The push and pull between him and Willy kept me invested, even when I wanted to shake Willy by the shoulders and tell him he deserves more than beautiful words and ambiguous glances. The novel does a wonderful job exploring the difference between being someone’s muse and being someone’s beloved because being immortalized in poetry might sound romantic, but sometimes you just want the person writing the poetry to actually show up for you. I also appreciated the exploration of queer identity and the way art can offer a kind of freedom when the world refuses to make room for who you are.

My biggest reservation was the pacing, particularly the time jumps in the latter half, which occasionally made certain emotional developments feel rushed. I was also less invested in Rose’s storyline than Willy’s, although her perspective added another dimension to Shakespeare’s complicated relationships. The historical setting and literary references were enjoyable without requiring an encyclopedic knowledge of Shakespeare, though some of the period language occasionally felt a little overdone. Still, the humor, characters, and atmosphere more than made up for these minor issues.

Ultimately, The Two Wills is a charming, bittersweet story about first loves, impossible loves, and learning that not every meaningful relationship is meant to last forever. I loved the way it plays with the mystery of Shakespeare’s sonnets, imagining the people and feelings that might have existed between the lines. History may never tell us who inspired those poems, but Blair Fell makes a compelling case for letting our imaginations run wild. If you enjoy queer historical fiction, literary speculation, theatrical chaos, and a healthy dose of romantic angst, this one is well worth picking up!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Alcove Press for this ARC!

[Anne Osmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The mark of a good book for me is whether I continue thinking about it when I’ve finished it. This is true of The Two Wills: I finished it two days ago, and the characters have stuck with me, Will in particular (or Willy, William Hughes). Using Williams Shakespeare’s sonnets as a loose framework for the novel, The Two Wills takes the reader on a fictionalized account of the mysterious muse who inspired (most of) Shakespeare’s sonnets. The young Will, Will Shakespeare’s muse in this account, is petulant, immature and naive, yet lovable and funny as hell. He’s also consistent and believable as a character, which is one reason I found myself missing him after putting the novel down. The character Rose, another muse for the fictionalized Will Shakespeare’s sonnets, is a woman strong in opinions and desires. When Will Hughes and Rose both want Will Shakespeare, and he both of them, sparks fly! I won’t go into details of this fun and deeply felt novel, only to say it’s a great read. I also learned some things about Shakespeare and Elizabethan culture along the way, although the novel is not at all (thankfully) didactic in tone.

[Annette Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Two Wills by Blair Fell really surprised me in a good way with how quickly I became immersed in the story of Willy Hughes and his complicated relationship with William Shakespeare. The author has said that the book is inspired by Oscar Wilde's theory of Shakespeare's sonnets, that the W.H. in the dedication referred to a young actor named William Hughes, and he has taken that theory and expanded upon it to create a complicated and heartbreaking love story. We first meet Willy Hughes as an eighteen year old working in a tavern and having his first experiences of love and heartbreak when a chance encounter with a newly famous poet and playwright results in an invite to join his company of actors as an apprentice. Shakespeare thinks Willy will be perfect to play his female characters on stage, but is that his only interest in the younger man? In turn Will is quite besotted but confused as to whether his interest is returned, a confusion that is only increased when Shakespeare starts an affair with a woman but still pens love poems and sonnets dedicated to Willy.
This is a complicated love story, but one that I really enjoyed, and as I read I could see that the author loved the poetry that inspired the story, many of the sonnets are used in the book, either in the chapter introductions or incorporated into the storytelling. If I have to read a book with a love triangle, make it one like this, with well developed characters and a believable reason why the characters feel conflicted about their feelings - there's probably nothing more believable than the threat of prison or hanging for the crime of sodomy to be fair. While the bulk of the story is told from Willy's perspective, we do get chapters from Shakespeare's mistress Rose. I do think the pacing felt a little off, there were several time jumps in the latter half of the book that felt a little jarring, especially in comparison to the slower pace at the beginning of the book but by that point I was so invested in the characters that I was willing to forgive, the growth that Willy showed over the course of the book had me rooting for his happiness, even though I knew that his relationship with Shakespeare was doomed.
I read an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

[Evita]

This is going to be a DNF.

The writing style just isn’t working for me. I think it’s supposed to be a bit funny and camp and I can appreciate that, but it’s just a bit too much for me. When the humour aspect of a book that’s meant to be amusing isn’t clicking, you just gotta move on, I think.

I’m sure there will be others who’ll enjoy this book. If the humour works for you, I’m sure it will be a blast!

(Also I saw the author share an AI altered photo of another artist’s artwork and that was the nail in the coffin for me…)

[Daniel Meltz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, bawdy, marvelously imaginative
Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2026
Format: Paperback
I so love this book! It's rare to read historical fiction about literary luminaries that's moving, accessible and page turny. Blair Fell makes everyone (including Shakespeare and Marlowe and Queen Elizabeth I herself) feel totally human. His grand imagination and smooth suspenseful plotting make The Two Wills a huge treat. And on top of everything else I learned so much fascinating detail about daily life in London and environs over 400 years ago.

[East of Reality · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

There are two parts to this book: The research, and the romance. Honestly ... the research is the best part, and I think the book itself is at its best when it's focusing on Hughes and his life as an actor. The costumes, the training, learning to read and memorize lines, even his mooning over Shakespeare feel real and absorbing. I actually like that Shakespeare kept him at arm's length, pleased at the attention -- smug about it, even -- but not necessarily willing to do more than bask in the adoration.

And then Rose shows up, Rose whose sole purpose in the book is to get the two Wills together. For a POV character, she has precious little to say or do beyond fucking Shakespeare and then going away. I think the book would have been better without seeing her story through her eyes, because as it is it adds nothing to either the story or the book. We gain no new information, perspective, or plot from her.

When Will and Will get together, the tone of the book shifts as Hughes' attention becomes fixed upon his lover. Instead of seeing more of the world, we see less; instead of the plot moving forward, it languishes in bed -- and I get that that's probably the point, Willy's obsession and Will's -- and the book spends a great deal of time on how often the two of them are in bed before they're parted.

I liked a lot of this book but ... I feel like the parts I liked were the parts the author wasn't focused on. The world around Willy came to life, the side characters and their pasts, learning about the Children's Players was awful, but there's so much care and attention given that it was absorbing. It makes the focus on the indifferent romance even more noticeable, for me. Honestly, I would love more books set in the Elizbethan era from this author.