Shakespeare in Modern Fiction
Explore the best modern fiction books inspired by Shakespeare's timeless works. Discover contemporary retellings, adaptations, and novels that reimagine the Bard's legacy in today's literary world.
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My Father Had a Daughter
by Grace Tiffany
In this wonderfully inventive novel, Grace Tiffany weaves fact with fiction to bring Judith Shakespeare to vibrant life. Through Judith's eyes, we glimpse the world of her famous playwright father: his work, his family, and his inspiration.
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The Shakespeare Stealer
by Gary Blackwood
A delightful adveture full of humor and heart set in Elizabethan England! Widge is an orphan with a rare talent for shorthand. His fearsome master has just one demand: steal Shakespeare's play "Hamlet"--or else. Widge has no choice but to follow orders, so he works his way into the heart of the Globe Theatre, where Shakespeare's players perform. As full of twists and turns as a London alleyway, this entertaining novel is rich in period details, colorful characters, villainy, and drama. * "A fast-moving historical novel that introduces an important era with casual familiarity." --School Library Journal, starred review "Readers will find much to like in Widge, and plenty to enjoy in this gleeful romp through olde England" --Kirkus Reviews "Excels in the lively depictions of Elizabethan stagecraft and street life." --Publishers Weekly An ALA Notable Book
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Ill Met by Moonlight
by Sarah A. Hoyt
This enchanting debut novel speculates on the identity of William Shakespeare's Dark Lady, and presents a world of fairies and fantasy that is the setting for a tale about the love that set the young Shakespeare's heart ablaze--and aroused greatness within him.
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All Night Awake
by Sarah A. Hoyt
Young Will Shakespeare is having a harder time making it in London than he thought he would, constantly competing with his greatest rival, Christopher Marlowe, for both literary recognition and the heart of Lady Silver.
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Any Man So Daring
by Sarah A. Hoyt
Acclaimed playwright William Shakespeare ventures back into the forest realm of the Elven king Quicksilver to rescue his son, only to discover that Quicksilver is not the culprit and that he must confront an inhuman and powerful demon to save not only his son but also the realm of magic, in the final volume of the Shakespeare fantasy trilogy.
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Nothing Like the Sun
by Anthony Burgess
Before Shakespeare in Love, there was Anthony Burgess's Nothing Like the Sun: a magnificent, bawdy telling of Shakespeare's love life.
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The Merchant of Vengeance
by Simon Hawke
Will, the fledgling playwright and poet, and Tuck, the would-be actor and rest-of-the-time ostler, have been enjoying their lives on and behind the stage...if only it wasn't for the occasional interruptions: plague, the closing of the theater for reasons of law or finance, and the occasional murder. As luck would have it, the dramatic twosome must once again play detective in a case that involves the fates of those near and dear to their hearts as well as certain hoped-to- have-been--forgotten family members . Christopher Marlowe's The Jew of Malta is all the rage on the London stage, and the young bard wishes to rise to the competition. With companion Tuck at his side, Will makes a sojourn for research purposes into the Elizabethan underworld, where contracts are blood bonds and the quality of mercy is stretched to its very limits. He becomes embroiled in a tangle of unlucky young lovers, anti-Semitism, and rogue justice.
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The Players
by Stephanie Cowell
Presents a historical novel drawn from extensive research that traces the young Will's involvement in a tempestuous love triangle involving a lord and a mistress