There are so few established facts about how the son of a glove maker from Warwickshire became one of the greatest writers of all time that some people doubt he could really have written so many astonishing plays. THE SECRET LIFE OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE pulls back the curtain to imagine what it might have really been like to be Shakespeare before a seemingly ordinary man became a legend.

When their domineering father dies, Valentine throws open their Devonshire estate of Pennacombe to their fashionable cousins from London. Soon, the temptations of Regency London beckon, including the beautiful, scandalous and very married Lady Harriet Eversholt, with whom Valentine becomes dangerously involved. Meanwhile, Louisa finds that freedom of choice is as daunting as it is exciting. Will the opportunity to indulge in a little folly lead to fulfillment --- or disaster?