Liz Marchant

So eloquently written. The ‘imagined’ story of the early life and love of William Shakespeare.

Hmmmmm, wow, the author certainly lays bare the intimate facts of his marriage. I’m not sure at all that I’d be happy about that! Ultimately though, this is a book about the pain, rage, disbelief and hopelessness felt when a marriage is being battered against the rocks. And how HSK dealt with that and also contributed to it. As I read the book, I started to wonder how Lauren had fallen for the author at all! I found him to be wholly self absorbed although some of his comments about Chad, the neighbour with whom Lauren has an affair with, were quite amusing. I persevered with this book however I never really felt empathy with the writer. His tone and style is very ‘all American’ and ‘churchy’ at times and those two elements feel alien to me. A deeply personal account of marriage that it feels somewhat voyeuristic to be reading.

I loved this book! It was funny, heartwarming and certainly educated me about ‘Only Fans’ that I’d heard of but that’s about it. I loved the development of the characters and the plot and it made me laugh out loud at times.

Although this book professes not to about a ‘bad’ husband and a ‘good’ wife, that is how it came across to me and I’d have liked to read the husband’s version of events. I do not doubt the utter devastation that the author felt as a result of her marriage breaking down but it felt to me like something you would write for yourself only.