Mr. Shakespeare's Bastard

by Richard B. Wright

In a quiet manor house in Oxfordshire, an ailing housekeeper by the name of Aerlene Ward feels the time has come to confess the great secret that has shaped her life-she is the illegitimate daughter of William Shakespeare, England's most famous playwright.

With a brilliant eye and ear for this rich period of history, Richard B. Wright brings to life the teeming streets of Elizabethan London and the seasonal rhythms of rural life in Oliver Cromwell's England as he interweaves the intriguing stories of the lovely Elizabeth, who allows herself to be seduced by a struggling young writer from Stratford, and her plain but clever daughter, who must live with the consequences.

As their lives unfold, secrets are revealed, love is found and lost, and futures are forever changed. Readers will be fascinated by glimpses of the young Will as an actor with the Queen's Men and, fifteen years later, as a world-weary but increasingly wealthy playwright -- who may have had an unexpected daughter.

An engaging blend of invention and historical detail, and echoing the unmistakable style of the Bard himself, Mr. Shakespeare's Bastard confirms Wright as one of our finest storytellers. This unforgettable novel will delight the senses and touch the heart.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Canada, Historical, Shakespeare, Canadian Literature, British Literature

342 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Richard B. Wright was a Canadian novelist.

Born in Midland, Ontario, Wright attended Trent University, from which he graduated in 1970. He was the author of 13 published novels and two children's books. Many of his older novels were republished after his novel Clara Callan won three of Canada's major literary awards in 2001: the Giller Prize; the Trillium Book Award; and the Governor General's Award.

Reviews

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overlapping stories mirroring events fifteen years apart of life in Elizabethan England and involving the Bard himself in what could have been a unwritten chapter of his life.

Wright paints a vivid picture of the period: a time when even though England was not at war, life was short and death sudden, caused by a cold, a cancer, a fall from a horse, a house fire, the plague, not forgetting common ailments like kidney stones, cataracts and the “French Pox.” A journey from Oxford to London took four days on foot and two by horse, and you did not travel in the rainy season due to muddy roads. And watch out for the lower classes copulating against walls in public view, masters who impregnated their servants at will, lecherous old men at every street corner; a young woman guarded her purse and her virtue when she walked about the city. Upper class men went to the theatre to “get in the mood” for their wives or lovers, and women dressed as men in order to gain unfettered access to entertainment.

Against this backdrop, we encounter the sensuous Elizabeth who desires men despite her Puritan family. Bound to a life of service, she escapes to London to work for a relative and meets young Shakespeare, himself a struggling playwright and actor who is working away from his family. They fall in love, Elizabeth gets pregnant, and the moment Will finds out, he cries foul, reveals that he is already married, and dumps her. Elizabeth returns to the provinces to have her baby, Aerlene, and succumbs to cancer and a broken heart. Fifteen years later, Aerlene picks up the trail and heads down to London to track down her now famous father. Elizabeth and Aerlene’s stories and their encounters in London follow parallel paths. Aerlene however has the not-so-good fortune of meeting a not-so-honest boyfriend, Scarfe, who works in a bookshop and leads her to Shakespeare. Scarfe by far is the most interesting character in the book, although his appearance is brief: an alcoholic, brooding, lying, thieving, swaggering survivor, with good intentions towards Aerlene. Scarf’s blind and crippled father is testament to the reward a writer in that day received after toiling for years in Scriveners Hall straining his eyes and wrist to churn out endless handwritten script.

The impending encounter between Aerlene and her famous father is the device the author uses to pull the reader along an otherwise gentle story with not too many deep conflicts. And when it happens, the author is obliged to respect the Bard’s immense literary reputation and portray him as a good man, accepting of his youthful misdeeds but not admitting to any wrongdoing. The meeting left me resolved as far as the story went, but underwhelmed in terms of impact.
I found the real villain of the piece to be Elizabethan England: taking a breather between wars, open to pestilence, with foul weather, a rigid class structure, no birth control, and no antibiotics.

Wright has done an excellent job in capturing this period in all its facets and in exercising his imagination to render a real life literary giant as a normal, if not a self-absorbed man, warts and all!

[Chelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, who doesn't love a good Canadian writer? Especially one who has won the Giller?!
Not only this, but I am proud to say that Richard B. Wright is a current resident in my home town of St. Catharines, Ontario! When I saw a friend reading this on Goodreads, I couldn't help myself. I bought it and read it in time to write an entrance essay on it for a program I applied to. And I must say -- it was a great pick to write on!

This is my first Richard B. Wright book, but definitely will not be the last. There are things I absolutely loved and some things I was a bit cautious about in the book. First of all, Wright writes from the perspective of two very different women: Shakespeare's mistress, the spunky Elizabeth and her aging daughter, Aerlene. I was nervous heading into a novel with a man writing as a woman as this is both difficult and rarely ever done flawlessly. However, Wright really surprised me with this! Elizabeth was by far my favourite character. She was so lovestruck and adventurous, chasing her constant desire to "touch" men, and ending up falling in love with the young and aspiring playwright. Aerlene's tale is much more subdued but a good contrast to her free-spirited mother.

Although I found the voices pleasant to read, I was slightly disappointed by the lead up to Shakespeare's actual appearance and just how brief it was. Though he dealt with Aerlene's appearance in the only way you feel he could have (not rude but definitely not welcoming), there was just something missing for me. For all the magic and wonder that is expressed in the novel thanks to the perfect depictions of London in the 16th-century and the many references to Shakespeare's plays, the climax of the novel just didn't hit me hard enough. I must admit to enjoying the first half of the book (Elizabeth's tale) more than Aerlene's. However, I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys period pieces. It was a beautifully written novel with prose that danced on the page!

[Debb24601 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars!

I really enjoyed this, fairly light, historical fiction story. The setting (Shakespearean/Elizabethan England) is a favourite of mine but usually I read about the royals of this time period. This was a great look into the more common folk - how they lived and handled the inevitable troubles that would occur. It was very honest in the portrayal of relationships and their repercussions. This never felt like a fanciful novel. It could have been my own grandmother telling me this story. Utterly believable.

The only reason the rating is not the full four stars is this: I've read other books by Mr Wright and expected a bit more "meat". Don't get me wrong, the book is entertaining and a page turner. By the last pages though I knew exactly what was going to happen, and I was fine with it. I was just mildly let down realizing the curveball I'd been expecting wasn't going to happen. It definitely won't put me off reading more of Mr Wright's novels though.

[Buried In Print]

This review was deleted following Amazon's purchase of GoodReads.

The review can still be viewed via LibraryThing, where my profile can be found here.

I'm also in the process of building a database at Booklikes, where I can be found here.

If you read/liked/clicked through to see this review here on GR, many thanks.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this novel up from the "giveaway" shelf at the local library recently, and was very glad I did. I'd always meant to read something by Canadian author Richard B. Wright and had never gotten around to it. I think I'm now a fan of his work, if I can say that after reading just one book.

Even though this book isn't based on a true story (although there may have been many of "Shakespeare's bastards" in existence who never made it into the annals of history), it reads like it could be. The novel is well-researched and I felt like I learned a lot from Wright's descriptions of London and Oxfordshire during Shakespeare's time.

Wright's "wrighting" hit the "wright" chord with this reader--looking forward to getting on the "wright" reading track and happening upon more books by the "wright royal" Mr. Wright!

[Lulu · Rating 3 out of 5]

A somewhat simple (for Wright) story about the possibility that William Shakespeare fathered children outside of his marriage - not a son, as some biographers believe (and who does make a cameo in the novel) but a daughter, who is raised in a small village outside of London, but eventually makes her way into the city, just like her mother did when she met the beginning playwright many years before.
While the various voices telling this story seem rather uncomplicated, this wasn't a typical "I know what's going to happen now" kind of story about someone well-known. This isn't Shakespeare's story, it is Aerlene's, the only real character in the story. Perhaps Wright was only trying to represent how working women were seen in Elizabethan England but I found their representations to be similar to vignettes you might read in a high school English class, just to get some context on the writer and his era before diving into "Hamlet."
Still, it was the small snippets of some of the plays that had me marvelling, as much as the main character Aerlene, about what a talented writer Shakespeare is/was. I am left wanting a bit more from the story in terms of character, but mostly wanting to go back and re-read "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and even the Richards.

[Doreen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shakespeare's personal life is poorly documented,leaving room for much speculation. This novel speculates that The Bard fathered an illegitimate daughter, although he remained unaware of her existence. This daughter, Aerlene Ward, is the 70-year-old narrator who tells the story of her own life and that of her mother. Understandably she becomes obsessed with the father's plays, and passages from them are inserted and connected to Aerlene's situation. Aerlene especially likes "Hamlet" which explores themes with parallels in her life.

Shakespeare is really a secondary character in the book; the novel focuses more on its female protagonists. There are, in fact, several interesting women. As in his other novels(especially "Clara Callan"), Wright portrays female characters convincingly.

The book sheds no new light on Shakespeare's life, but does illuminate life both in the country and in London during his lifetime.

Please check out my reader's blog: http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

The word that comes to mind is "fluffy", now I don't mean that in a derogatory sense, but rather it was full and light, but not particularly scholarly. It was a great yarn, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think I may have been expecting it to be a bit more Dickens-like, that is, bleak and dark. But it wasn't at all. Some of the visuals worked particularly well, and having visited London in 2008 and the Globe Theatre, it wasn't hard to sense what the streets of London would have been like in the 1600s. Smells and sounds were well represented, and country life depicted in a way that makes you wish you could travel back in time and see it for yourself.

If you do read this, and like it, I'd suggest also Geraldine Brooks, A Year of Wonders, which is set in the time of the Plague in 1660's.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr Shakespeare’s Bastard is the latest offering from Richard B. Wright, who won the Giller Prize for Clara Callan in 2001. ANZLitLovers read and enjoyed that in 2005, and Mr. Shakespeare’s Bastard shares the same kind of deceptive tone: this tale about Shakespeare’s illegitimate daughter seems slight and inconclusive but it’s seductively revealing about lives in another lifetime, with perhaps also a message for our own. For the sub-text of this book is that whether a fatherless child identifies a man as her own parent with DNA or a lofty forehead, he may not want the relationship or even acknowledge it, and the way to handle that, is with dignity.

To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.wordpress.com/201...

[VWrulesChick · Rating 3 out of 5]

What would happen if William Shakespeare had illegitimite child? What would it have been like in his time? The writing of Richard Wright is lovely and slowly tells of tales of Mam and Aerlene through a great story-telling presentation and how William Shakespeare is involved (or not). I felt transported into time to England in the country, as well as, the bustling London and its different districts. Enjoyable.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had trouble getting started, but eventually enjoyed it. This is the story of an old woman remembering her mother's life and her own search for a meeting with her father, William Shakespeare. Chapters of her current life as a beloved old servant are interspersed with the memories.
The front cover of mine quotes the Toronto Star "yet another total delight," which I think is overstated.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fully enjoyed this book with the well-researched and vivid historical setting in 17th century London and the English countryside. I loved the strong, independent female protagonist Linny. Mr. Shakespeare's Bastard pairs up well with my favourite book that I read last year - Conceit by Mary Novik.

[Georgina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not enough Mr. Shakespeare and a little too much bastard. The title should have tipped me off...

[Mac Fenwick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing and characterization is, as you would expect from Wright, skillful and and nicely understated but I kept wondering throughout "what's the real point here?" As a study of a life lived the book delivers two for the price of one as it explores the stories of the woman who became Shakespeare's lover and her daughter, all through the recollections of the daughter at the end of her life; but at no point does it approach the heights of Clara Callan in this regard. As an imagination of Shakespeare it leaves much to be desired with only two appearances of the man himself, during which he remains enigmatic to the two women. Finally, as a work of historical fiction it recreates a good sense of the period, but makes some odd errors of daily life which make it more like a story from the nineteenth century rather than the sixteenth and seventeenth: a sense that was underscored by a prose that strives for an archaic sound and feel but in a manner that has characters speaking more like Dickens than Elizabethans.

Still and all, it is a very readable and likeable book, with an engaging narrative told by a fully realized and complex character.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strong start
This is a tale of two women Aerlene and her mother Elizabeth. I enjoyed the tale of Elizabeth and her spiteful ways, such lust would be unbecoming a woman in those times and as such she found herself with the illegitimate child of poet and the future playwrite William Shakesphere.
So commences Aerlene's tale; the bastard child and the search for her father.
Told in the setting of having her memoirs written during her final year. Although taking half the pages I found Elizabeths story engaging and quick paced, Aerlene's on the other hand was quite slow and I kept waiting for the end to come.

[Mary Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a very plausible story, Shakespeare had a daughter who told her story shortly before she died, an old maid. Wright did well at weaving in Shakespeare’s plays (when they were on stage, being written, and quotes from them) and Christopher Marlowe. The day I started this book, we saw the live play "Shakespeare in Love". I was amazed at the overlaps—one informing my knowledge of the other.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author did an excellent job with the sights and sounds of this particular time period in British history whether it be in the countryside or in the capital, London. These years included a high rate of illiteracy, over crowding in London and the plague.

The novel is told from the female point of view and it was easy to forget that the writer is male.

[Lindasp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting historical fiction set in the 1600’s of an elderly woman, Aerlene Ward telling the story of her life. Aerlene recalls her mother’s claims to have had an affair with William Shakespeare and that Aerlene is the result of that affair. I enjoyed the societal comments on life in this time.

[Dianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second attempt at reading this novel. Overlapping stories so can be a bit confusing at times...especially towards the end when some of the stories are 'flashbacks. ' However ... well-researched and gives the reader a glimpse into 17th century England.

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Blah. I just can't get into it. I got to page 107 and I'm just not into it. I don't think I enjoy Elizabethan England type stories and I'm not particularly excited about fiction about Shakespeare.

[Larry Schwartz · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting conceit: a book written by the acknowledged illegitimate daughter of WS.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant story of a fictional child of Shakespeare.

It’s interesting in its setting but lacks action/meat.

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my fourth Richard B Wright book this year and although I am a bit late to the party with this author, I am loving his writing.

Mr Shakespeare's Bastard is the story of Elizabeth, who had a brief love affair with William Shakespeare when she is sent to work with her relatives in London - after disgracing herself in her native Oxfordshire, where she lives with her brother and his miserable wife. She does not realise that Shakespeare is married with children, until she falls pregnant.

Sent back to Oxfordshire again to have her child, a daughter she names Aerlene, her life continues as before. Elizabeth dies a few years later when Aerlene is still a child. Aerlene is cared for by her aunt and uncle.

Aerlene meets her father 15 years later when she herself is working in London at the same business where her mother worked.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable tale set in Elizabethan England with believable and well developed characters. I will definitely be seeking out more of this authors books.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! No reviews on this book yet. Am I the first to read it? It is a 2010 publication. Goodreads, do I get a prize for this?

I have read many of Richard Wright's books and have not been disappointed. They are all very different stories. To my American cousins, this is a Canadian author, lives in St. Catherines, about 1 1/2 hours from Toronto. And, he's a great writer!

This one caught my attention by the title alone. What a fun and interesting read. A great blend of historical detail and invention! The elderly Aerlene Ward, a housekeeper in an Oxford Manor feels compelled to tell her story which holds a big secret of which she has kept to herself for so many years. The young mistress of the manor is an eager scrbe as Aerlene recounts her early years growing up with no father, and a mother who taught her to read, which was unusual in that time. Together they read and acted out plays written by a London playwright named William Shakespeare. Her mother dies at an early age and before she dies, she tells Aerlene who her father is. Turns out, her mother tells Aerlene of her love affair with Mr. Shakespeare who had a family, and Aerlene is the product of their unbridled passion.

As a lover of Shakespeare's work, Aerlene sets out to find her father, just to meet him, and so she does. They have a wonderful encounter, and he takes her to lunch. Aerlene tells him how her mother told her about meeting him fifteen years ago, and how much Aerlene herself loves his work and has a number of the plays memorized. Shakespeare asks her about her mother and says he recalls her with great tenderness. As they part ways, Shakespeare wishes Aerlene a good and long life, and says I'm glad we met.

As Aerlene recounts their meeting, she knew that he had been studying her features and says "I think he knew I was his daughter, yet I found him circumspect by nature. Not a man to welcome complication into his life."

[Christa Seeley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Arlene just wants to write down her story. Her mother, driven out of town by her numerous scandals, ends up in London where she meets a young actor named William. They begin seeing each other regularly but before she knows it she's pregnant and since William is already married, she must move back home to live with her brother and his wife. Years later, that child, Arlene Ward, goes back to London determined to find her father, the now famous playwright, William Shakespeare. Told by Arlene in her old age, to the mistress of the home where she works, Arlene wonders if anyone will believe her.
I enjoyed the narrative voice of this story – a women telling her mother's story (as as a result her story) in her own old age. It gave a sort of authority to the telling making it seem very believable. The historical detail was also incredibly intricate. I had to appreciate the amount of work and research Richard B. Wright would have had to put into this novel. My only real problem with this book was that the pacing was a bit slow. It weighs in at only 341 pages but at times it feels a lot longer. Since it is a story of someone telling a story some parts feel a little repetitive or over described. Other than that though the characters are heart warming, the setting is beautifully depicted and the story is unique.
If you're a fan of historical fiction you will probably enjoy this book. It really is beautifully written and Richard B. Wright is a brilliant story teller. If you do decide to pick it up, take your time reading it, you'll appreciate it more and this book deserves the attention.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 STARS

"In a quiet manor house in Oxfordshire, an ailing housekeeper by the name of Aerlene Ward feels the time has come to confess the great secret that has shaped her life-she is the illegitimate daughter of William Shakespeare, England's most famous playwright.

With a brilliant eye and ear for this rich period of history, Richard B. Wright brings to life the teeming streets of Elizabethan London and the seasonal rhythms of rural life in Oliver Cromwell's England as he interweaves the intriguing stories of the lovely Elizabeth, who allows herself to be seduced by a struggling young writer from Stratford, and her plain but clever daughter, who must live with the consequences.

As their lives unfold, secrets are revealed, love is found and lost, and futures are forever changed. Readers will be fascinated by glimpses of the young Will as an actor with the Queen's Men and, fifteen years later, as a world-weary but increasingly wealthy playwright -- who may have had an unexpected daughter." (From Amazon)

I love Wright's writing and love Shakespeare, period, so of course this is the perfect novel. I chose this for my book club and was sad how dull this book was. The descriptions were way too detailed and not really needed for the story.

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an elderly housekeeper, Aerlene, is nearing her death, she asks Charlotte, a woman who she has raised from a child, to write down the story of her life. Her story begins in the age of Cromwell. Aerlene's mother Elizabeth has been sent to London to work in her Uncle's house. On her afternoons off she meets a prostitute who introduces her to a young actor, Will Shakespeare. Will and Liz spent many hours together because both of them were homesick for the countryside. Liz became pregnant during their friendship which ended with her being sent back to the country village to another family members' home. Aerlene was the child who was born.

I found the characters quite believable and the premise that Will Shakespeare could have fathered a child out of wedlock equally believable.

As Aerlene dictate's her mother and her story to Charlotte, the reader learns of the mother and daughter's love of reading Shakespeare's plays together and Aerlene's desire to own as many manuscripts of Shakespeare's plays as she could.

The historical period is vividly portrayed and the reader has a sense of what it might have been like to live in London during this time period.

[Caleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had this book been written by an author that I didn't already know and like, I doubt I would have read it. The "imaginary love child of a historic figure" story line doesn't really sound all that promising or original on its own. But having loved Clara Callan, I was prepared to give Mr. Shakespeare's Bastard a try.

Fortunately, it really is an excellent book. I enjoyed the way half of it was the mother's story, as told to her daughter, and the other half the daughter's story, as told to her young friend. And I liked that they were rich and interesting characters in themselves, not just by virtue of their relationship with Shakespeare.

Overall it seems a bit fluffy for Wright, and I'm not sure what compelled him to choose this subject, but it was a good read for those who like historical fiction.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the fact that this fictional memoir encompassed three different perspectives: Aerlene as an old and dying housekeeper; Aerlene as a young woman; and Aerlene's mother's story. I think that's what made me enjoy the story so much, as I really don't like memoirs much.

I think that the historical perspective was blended very well with the story, so it didn't feel like a 'history lesson made fun', just a really good read. I was fascinated by Aerlene's mother and Aerlene as a young girl. Aerlene also offers some interesting perspectives on truth and reality when her accounts of the stories are questioned - not everything is 100% true, some of it is embellished or the gaps are filled in as well as possible, and this is true for just about every story told.

[Kathe]

We don't know much about Shakespeare (though I'm firmly in the camp of those who don't really care who wrote those glorious plays but is profoundly grateful that someone did). This leaves writers quite a lot of scope if they want to write about his life. Despite the title, we only meet Will a few times in the course of this book. It's really about a mother and daughter whose lives were affected by their connection to him - but in a fairly peripheral way. The mother and daughter, Elizabeth and Aerlene Ward, have a pretty hard time of it in the hurly-burly of Elizabethan England, as the book travels back and forth between two time periods. (I found this rather confusing initially.) A gentle, interesting read.