Noted for his subtle handling of ordinary struggle and intricate emotional dilemmas, Richard B Wright has set his latest novel, Mr Shakespeare's Bastard, in the teeming streets of Elizabethan London.

In failing health, Aerlene Ward, an elderly housekeeper in an Oxfordshire manor, confesses the incredible secret that has shaped her life. She is the illegitimate daughter of William Shakespeare, England’s most famous playwright. But will anyone believe her?

Enchanted by the power and rhythm of words that she considers her birthright, coupled with her own imaginative mind, Aerlene draws back the curtain on her own life and that of her mother, the sensual Elizabeth, who allowed herself to be seduced by a poor but ambitious writer from Stratford. As her tale unfolds, secrets are revealed, mysteries are uncovered, and lives are changed in the most unexpected of ways.

Aerlene recounts a story of love, daring, shame, consequences, beauty, truth and play.

Richard B Wright is the author of 11 previous novels, including his classic Clara Callan, which in 2001 won the Giller Prize, the Canadian Governor General’s Literary Award, the Trillium Book Award and the CBA Libris Awards for Best Book of the Year and Author of the Year in Canada.

*Based on media release issued by Harper Collins.

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Mr Shakespeare's Bastard, by Richard B Wright | 352pp paperback $29.99 | Published November 2010 by HarperCollins.