My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun,

Coral is far more red than her lips’ red,

If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun,

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head . . .

Through the distorted vision of a university lecturer, the truth about William Shakespeare's love life emerges: his affairs with a black woman and a golden man, his conflicted relationship with his wife, his affection for a young boy. Beginning with a childhood obsession with words and a dream of being more than a glover's son, the life and romance of the great Bard is unfolded.

The famed author of A Clockwork Orange takes us through the dramas of play-making in plague-ridden London. Rich in language and soaked in the Elizabethan spirit, this story of the immortal Shakespeare has emerged as a modern classic.