If want to be educated, truly educated pick up this book. I challenge you to do it!

books:


	• Sweet Swan of Avon: Did a Woman Write Shakespeare? Robin Williams Peachpit Press, 2006 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 18 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A name by any other name is... the WRONG name!

While I neither profess to be a scholar on the subject of the Shakespeare authorship question, nor am I particularly well versed on the goings-on of the Elizabethan era, I have been fascinated for decades with the ongoing debate of who wrote Shakespeare.

When I earned my degree in English literature, university professors young and old tenaciously voiced their opinions concerning the credibility someone other than the man William Shakespeare actually wrote the plays and sonnets that we so carelessly attribute to WS today. (I say carelessly because of the widespread disagreement that exists regarding his life and what we've been taught). In short, it was a fascinating classroom debate. Students and instructors alike would argue for and against the possibility that WS was anything more than what we can prove today: an actor and litigious property owner with illiterate daughters who divorced his wife and left her his second-best bed in his will.

Robin P. Williams avoids pontificating that William Shakespeare is not the author of the works (despite the fact that no one can prove WS had a higher education, including an ability to read or write in French, Latin, and Italian--quite necessary because all but three plays are based on original literary works written in these three languages; nor does the name William Shakespeare appear in any of the extensive royal court registries, including the omission of even a single piece of handwritten manuscript!). On the contrary, in Sweet Swan of Avon: Did a Woman Write Shakespeare?, Williams provides one of the most exciting and socially volatile books ever on this subject by NOT debunking William Shakespeare, per se, but rather by EDUCATING readers about a woman who I suspect most have never heard of before, and who deserves recognition of her spectacular literary accomplishments.

It is the unfolding of such historical information Williams provides regarding Mary Herbert Sidney, the Countess of Pembroke, that one must recognize that for all the missing pieces of information, including the outrageously generous speculation that WS somehow learned his wealth of knowledge embedded in the works by "meeting people who shared their stories" (which of course cannot be proven), isn't it worth merely ASKING the question: Couldn't someone else have written these works?

Of course someone else could have written the works. Anyone documented in history as having spent a single day among the aristocracy... or who spoke more than one language... or who had an education that extended beyond public grade school is, in fact, more capable of having contributed the greatest works in the English language than our beloved William Shakespeare. The point is that once we examine the life of Mary Herbert Sidney, not only is her well-documented life vastly more in tune to the subject matter of the plays and sonnets than is William Shakespeare's, but also hers is a life that once copious significant facts are unveiled, one discovers enough historical overlap between Mary and William that behooves a closer investigation.

Sweet Swan of Avon is this investigation; it is not a trial, nor is it meant to be. For all the hundreds of years we've been told stories about the man William Shakespeare--from downright lies to conjecture to poorly stated facts--there is a woman named Mary Sidney who has been grossly overlooked by historians as a profound contributor to the literary annals, and now thanks to Robin P. Williams, her story is finally being told. Whether Mary's story is the story behind the Shakespearean cannon remains to be seen, but her story inarguably deserves to be told and celebrated because of her undeniable accomplishments--known, unknown, and just unfolding.

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Response to reviewer, Crumulus

Reviews on this page are meant to come from people who have read the book. It's obvious from Crumulus's "review" that he has not.

Having actually read the book, I can attest that author Robin Williams NEVER CLAIMS that William Shakespeare was a woman. And her clear review of the documented evidence makes an incredibly strong case for Mary Sidney Herbert as the author of the plays and sonnets. Apparently, based on the reviews below, other readers have come to this same conclusion.

Readers depend on this venue to help understand something about a book. An ignorant diatribe based on one's own fantasy is a disservice to others.

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Interesting and well researched

Robin Williams (the writer, not the movie star) does a fine job of showing why it is very possible that Mary Sydney actually authored many of the best Shakespearean works. I was a skeptic, but the more I read, the more I began to think it quite feasible. We probably will never really know who wrote which works, but this book is very thought-provoking and interesting. Also, it is beautifully constructed, as befits a book on such a beloved topic.

Totally convinced by the 3rd Page

I heard Robin P. Williams discuss her book on a radio show and was very intrigued. I read it and was completely convinced before the end of the first chapter. What nailed it for me? William Shakespeare's mother, father, wife and 2 of his 3 children were illiterate. There is no way that the author of Shakespeare would allow his children to sign their name with an X. The other thing that sold me was the simple fact that writers write best about what they know. The plays and sonnets are basically the life and times of Mary Herbert Sidney-- she's related to 2/3 of the characters in the history plays. But that is only the beginning. If nothing else, this book introduces you to an amazing figure in English history and literature. To think that the greatest writer of the English language is (or could be) a woman-- a mother, a sister, a daughter, a wife-- just blows me away. And as a woman reading the sonnets, for the first time they made complete sense. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

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If want to be educated, truly educated pick up this book. I challenge you to do it!

You will be opened in such a delightful way as a flower dawns from the winter....

"Strong but not conclusive"??? That's what the previous reviewer on Amazon.com just wrote as his title of his review. Well, the person did give this book 5 STARS. It deserves 20 or 100!! This book is the most thrilling novel!

If you want intrigue and drama out of the wazooo, READ THIS BOOK!! Its utterly fascinating, mystifying AND DE-MYSTIFYING!

Ms. Williams puts the most compelling FACTS together with such thorough research of the life of Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke, and presents this proposal: DID A WOMAN WRITE SHAKESPEARE? with such integrity that after giving ALL THE EVIDENCE, she let's YOU DECIDE!! The author in fact, NEVER states that MARY SIDNEY is the actual true author of the SHAKESPEARE WORKs because she has way too much integrity as opposed to all the other books out there boasting of having the answer to this question WITHOUT ANY REAL EVIDENCE!

Most books on this topics are filled with "must have's" and "certainly's" and "probably's" and come to some conclusion about who really wrote Shakespeare with the kind of arguments that wouldn't stand up in a court of law... in fact, other books on the topic's evidence would be LAUGHED AT IN A COURT OF LAW!! NOT Robin P. Williams' book: SWEET SWAN OF AVON! THIS book is filled with the kind of EVIDENCE that PROVES CASES!! BUT, as a good lawyer does, Williams presents the FACTS, THE EVIDENCE & then poses the QUESTION.

Again and again, the question is there for YOU TO ANSWER! I have ONLY CERTAINTY in my mind that if this case was presented in a court of law, the winning verdict decided by the jury, not the lawyer whose job it is to PRESENT the case, would MOST CERTAINLY be that MARY SIDNEY, COUNTESS OF PEMBROKE IS MOST DEFINATELY the REAL AUTHOR of the plays and sonnets currently attributed to the one known as Shakespeare.

Have an opinion? Doubt it? Curious? Want to know more? READ the BOOK! Its DELICIOUS and will excite you as much as the plays have excited millions for centuries!

Don't be fooled by your own resistance to the idea. Take any page in Shakespeare right now, just open up a book with the writing of the one currently called Shakespeare, and you'll be inspired to defile your own arrogance and reach into a deeper place calling forth a true humility that resides in us all! Out of this inspiration, this openness to love, to life, pick up SWEET SWAN OF AVON and be truly educated about the life that reflects these times and learn so exquisitely and intricately of the times past, about a life of human being that is so extraordinary that you will be brought to your knees.

Mary Sidney's story told so impeccably in SWEET SWAN OF AVON will inspire anyone by her grace and power and her very resilience and brilliance! She was a being that existed on this earth who fought wars so harsh that most would have broken.

SWEET SWAN OF AVON opens you to a world that was pivotal in our history. Some of the most tumultuous times the effects of which have given us the world we live in. Freedoms were fought and won during this era that give us the freedoms we have now.

Learn about a life, a human, a woman who in her time -- for whom it was illegal for her to publish any original thought only because she was of the fairer sex -- is so worthy of being known as herself!

Whether you want to know her as the real pen behind Shakespeare or for who she was known in her day: a great and acknowledged teacher, writer, acclaimed translator, supporter of the arts and mentor to many of the great known authors of her day through her famed Wilton Circle which she established which still meets to this day -- and so much more!

She was hero. She is a her. She. She is one to be known in her own right for what is absolutely known of her.

Coming to know so much of her through Robin P. Williams, you will want to find her writings penned in her name attributed to her in her day and reach further still to other's writings of her and by those who surrounded her, like Lady Mary Wroth, her stellar brother Sir Phillip Sidney and the magnificent Ben Johnson and so many others. The Sidney family reads like the who's who of English literature filled with family dramas that fill the plays and sonnets of what we call Shakespeare.

Embarking on this journey of who is Mary Sidney will open doors within doors of fascinating history and arts that will carry you through your whole life bringing such richness elaborating and enunciating all that you already know with so much greater detail and depth bringing your own humanity into a fullness that you'll thank God for AND Mary Sidney, The Sweet Swan of Avon.

Do it for what ever reason you can muster even if you have great resistance and opposition to the idea. Do it any way. You owe it yourself. You will be opened in such a delightful way as a flower dawns from the winter. Why not awaken something new in you? Perhaps it is just what you've been waiting for...

Your Grace, Sarah West

Sanctuary
~~ author of Beloved, I Have Searched for You & CDs available on amazon.com SANCTUARY, THE SACRED PYRAMID & VOICES OF ETERNITY

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

It is long overdue that someone took a closer look at the brilliant Mary Sidney. I have a suspicion that Mary Sidney?s life, and especially her dedication to the English language after her brother?s death, may throw important light on the mysterious authorship of the Shakespeare plays and poems.
?Mark Rylance
Actor; Artistic Director of Shakespeare?s Globe Theatre, 1996?2006; Chairman of the Shakespearean Authorship Trust

For more than two hundred years, a growing number of researchers have questioned whether the man named William Shakespeare actually wrote the works attributed to him. There is no paper trail for William Shakespeare?no record that he was ever paid for writing, nothing in his handwriting but a few signatures on legal documents, no evidence of his presence in the royal court except as an actor in his later years, no confirmation of his involvement in the literary circles of the time. With so little information about this man?and even less evidence connecting him to the plays and sonnets?what can and what can?t we assume about the author of the greatest works of the English language?

For the first time, Robin P. Williams presents an in-depth inquiry into the possibility that Mary Sidney Herbert, the Countess of Pembroke, wrote the works attributed to the man named William Shakespeare. As well educated as Queen Elizabeth I, this woman was at the forefront of the literary movement in England, yet not allowed to write for the public stage. But that?s just the beginning . . .

The first question I am asked by curious freshmen in my Shakespeare course is always, ?Who wrote these plays anyway?? Now, because of Robin Williams? rigorous scholarship and artful sleuthing, Mary Sidney Herbert will forever have to be mentioned as a possible author of the Shakespeare canon. Sweet Swan of Avon doesn?t pretend to put the matter to rest, but simply shows how completely reasonable the authorship controversy is, and how the idea of a female playwright surprisingly answers more Shakespearean conundrums than it creates...
?Cynthia Lee Katona
Professor of Shakespeare and Women?s Studies, Ohlone College; Author of Book Savvy

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