My Father Had a Daughter: Judith Shakespeare's Tale

Rating:
Summary: Nice idea, but...
Review: "My Father Had a Daughter" is a good, quick read, but falls down seriously in two places. The first is the device of having her run away to London disguised as a boy and playing Viola; like it or not, this is going to make people think of another Viola in "Shakespeare in Love" though the end result is slightly different. The second, and greater, obstacle to realism is the fact that it's well-documented that Judith Shakespeare, far from reading and writing fluently, was actually quite illiterate; Samuel Schoenbaum mentions it in his life of Shakespeare, and shows a picture of a document where Judith had made her "mark" with someone else signing her name for her. As a romance, it's a good story, but when writing about a real person, a writer shouldn't stray so far from easily-found facts. Surely a good story could also be told about an illiterate Judith, though it wouldn't involve reading her father's plays.

Rating:
Summary: Quick absorbing story!
Review: Although I do not remember Shakespeare In Love, I do remember I didn't like it. I enjoyed this book well enough but the story didn't have a thicker plot as much as I would have liked. I wish things had worked out between her and Nate but all is well that ends well!

Rating:
Summary: Decent but better books out there
Review: At first, I'd have to say that the cover of My Father Had a Daughter put me off. It looks like a cheesy Romance novel with its pale, limpid heroine. However, I was pleasantly surprised.
The plot is rather over-used (girl dresses up as a boy, etc.), but the strength of the book was its focus on the emotional ties the main character Judith, had with her brother, Hamnet. The ending sort of petered-out, although it was unintentionally tragic.
The flagrant historical inaccuracies in the book were somewhat bothering. I believe that Hamnet died of the plague, not drowning, and all evidence points toward an illiterate Judith. In general, Judith was almost too good to be true, a proto-feminist living in an extremely restricting age.
In terms of Shakespeare-related books, I¡¯d have to say that I liked The Shakespeare Stealer (Gary Blackwood) and King of the Shadows (Susan Cooper) much better.

Rating:
Summary: Decent but better books out there
Review: At first, I'd have to say that the cover of My Father Had a Daughter put me off. It looks like a cheesy Romance novel with its pale, limpid heroine. However, I was pleasantly surprised.
The plot is rather over-used (girl dresses up as a boy, etc.), but the strength of the book was its focus on the emotional ties the main character Judith, had with her brother, Hamnet. The ending sort of petered-out, although it was unintentionally tragic.
The flagrant historical inaccuracies in the book were somewhat bothering. I believe that Hamnet died of the plague, not drowning, and all evidence points toward an illiterate Judith. In general, Judith was almost too good to be true, a proto-feminist living in an extremely restricting age.
In terms of Shakespeare-related books, I¡¯d have to say that I liked The Shakespeare Stealer (Gary Blackwood) and King of the Shadows (Susan Cooper) much better.

Rating:
Summary: Nice idea, but...
Review: From the first page Judith Shakespeare sprang to life and drew me in to her story. I feel like I have a new friend -- someone with guts, insight, and imagination, and an appealing touch of political incorrectness. The "Will Shakespeare" character is satisfyingly believable as the brilliant and wise author of the famous plays, unlike the buffoon in Tom Stoppard's farce. A story for women, girls, men, Shakespeare fans and Anglophiles.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Read
Review: Here is a wonderfully written story about a very little known character--Judith Shakespeare. I know about her father, and now I feel I know something about her. Tiffany's fluid, funny, authentic language brings Judith's story to life and adds a new dimension to her famous father. This book delivers everything a good historical novel should...I want more!

Rating:
Summary: Looking for more of Ms. Tiffany's works
Review: I noticed that most of the criticism made by other readers involves the distortion of what we believe to be the facts about the family of William Shakespeare. Please remember this is fiction and that the point of the story wasn't to portray the actual events, but to explore the relationship between a daughter and her father using characters who are familiar but about which we really don't know many facts.

And what a job has been done here with not only exploring the relationship between William and Judith, but between the entire Shakespeare clan. Ms. Tiffany does a wonderful job creating an extremely complex character in Judith. She's haunted by the death of her twin brother; torn between love, hate and resentment of her father; drawn to a life that as a woman in the 1600s is impossible for her to live.

Ms. Tiffany also spends time exploring the relationship between Judith and her mother. It's quite clear that she worships her father and doesn't really think much of her mother in the beginning, but as the book develops and time passes we see that the relationship between Judith and her mother improves as she matures and begins to realize some of the dynamics that exist between her mother and father.

But the main charm is watching the relationship between William and Judith. We see her rather normal hero worship of her father as a child, followed by the inevitable disillusionment toward her father when she discovers that he is using the family tragedies as a source of material for his plays. When she sets out for London to embarrass him she ends up with a greater understanding of her father's existence and what drives him which leads to forgiveness.

I'll be getting a copy of Will (Ms. Tiffany's story about William) soon.
My star ratings:

One star - couldn't finish the book

Two stars - read the book, but did a lot of skipping or scanning. Wouldn't add the book to my permanent collection or search out other books by the author

Three stars - enjoyable read. Wouldn't add the book to my permanent collection. Would judge other books by the author individually.

Four stars - Liked the book. Would keep the book or would look for others by the same author.

Five stars - One of my all time favorites. Will get a copy in hardback to keep and will actively search out others by the same author.


Rating:
Summary: A Good Read
Review: I was near the end of the book but was unable to finish that evening, so I GOT UP EARLY to finish reading it before leaving for work! It's got to be darn good to get me up early. This is a beautifully written tale with the wonderful quality of being spare and full at the same time. It has a "I can't wait to find out what happens" pace like an adventure story, but the adventure is Judith's life as she discovers her passion as an actor, woman, friend, and, finally, a daughter. Her personality is distinctly revealed. Judith is whole, complex, believable, as well as highly likeable, and her life and this book do not follow the beaten path.

Rating:
Summary: Artful, Romantic, and a Poetic Probe
Review: If you liked the movie "Shakespeare in Love," chances are you will be delighted by more than one element of this book. For the hopeless romantics there is a hopeless romance, for the theater-obsessed there is copious good writing concerning the draw of the stage, and for Shakespeare buffs plenty of the Bard's work is woven into the plot as Ms. Tiffany's story grapples, if often superficially, with the bulk of his poetic motivation. As is so often true where he is cited, Shakespeare tends to dominate the book, and his enigma at times seems to eclipse even Tiffany's interest in her protagonist (his youngest daughter). But where this could be a potential weakness, Tiffany finds a strength, and the book becomes at once the story of an unconventional life and a sort of metaphorical undressing of ever fan's relation to their idol. While Judith Shakespeare's story is quirky enough to hold the imagination, it is the more general themes that have a lasting attraction, especially since those drawn to this book are, more likely than not, familiar with the twin desires of appreciating the poet and becoming the poet. Tiffany allows us to watch as Judith mingles the boundaries of her identity with her father's, and what results is an understated but thought-provoking portrait of a daughter - not so much a daughter in the literal sense, although this is the stated purpose, but rather a metaphorical daughter, in the way that all young women who hunt for meaning and excitement in Shakespeare's verse are his daughters, and all young men who do so are his sons. As Judith simultaneously emulates and rebels from her father, Tiffany brings us full circle, however; Shakespeare begins and ends the story not as a famous poet, but as a person's father, and in that juxtaposition there is an invitation to understand that although not every parent is a famous poet, for every child they have the unique ability to loom as one. Ms. Tiffany's goal may be to evince that it was finally his fatherhood, and not his art, that bound Shakespeare's daughter to him, but again, these ideas are understated. It is a style that leaves the question open-ended, at best provoking discussion and at worst seeming word-rich but meaning-poor. I cannot help but feel, as I sit here wondering "What, exactly, was the intention of this book?" that Shakespeare would have approved.

Rating:
Summary: A Lovely Blend of History and Fiction
Review: Readers learn more from Grace Tiffany than the effects of famous parentage on Judith Shakespeare. One may expect My Father Had A Daughter to remind us that all artists touch the lives of others, especially family members. However, Tiffany also delves into the female quest for sexual and vocational independence in addition to themes of personal tragedy. Judith becomes more than a character who simply desires to emulate greatness. Tiffany was able to interweave history and fiction in a way that true lovers of the stage and literature are sure to savor.