The Private Life of William Shakespeare

The great and lasting result of [Orlin's] labors is how punishingly she demolishes shoddy claims and biased inferences that have distorted our understanding of Shakespeare's life... it reads like a detective story in which a skilled investigator returns to a cold case... detailed and dazzling... [an] impressive and valuable book, a biography that will lead many to revise their classroom lectures. * James Shapiro, New York Times *
Lena Cowen Orlin's The Private Life of William Shakespeare sets a new standard for literary biography. Comparing the key documents of Shakespeare's biography to a wide array of similar documents from Shakespeare's contemporaries, Cowen Orlin manages to separate what is fact and what is probable about the life of England's most influential writer from what is mere speculation. Employing the most rigorous archival methodologies, her book challenges the shibboleths that have accumulated around the religion of Shakespeare's parents, his early marriage to the older Anne Hathaway, his life as a property owner, his will, and his death and monument... Early modern scholars will likely be reading and re-reading this book decades from now, perhaps arguing over this or that detail, but Cowen Orlin's approach will remain uncontested - a new benchmark for the field. * Brian Lockey, on behalf of the Committee for the Roland Bainton Prize in Literature *
After more than three hundred years of research on Shakespeare we are unlikely to find more documents relating to the monument, and the question of authorship may never be fully resolved. What could be done, however, is to conduct a full physical and technical examination, which would certainly help with questions of authenticity and alterations. This would involve dismantling the memorial and removing at least some of the later paintwork which now obscures its history. It would be an expensive process, requiring the services of fully qualified conservators, but it would surely not be beyond the resources of Shakespeare devotees around the world. Professor Orlin's highly valuable book would serve as inspiration for the project. * Adam White, Church Monuments *
Lena Cowen Orlin examines a series of seminal moments in the writer's private life... [a] painstakingly detailed recontextualisation of evidence * David McInnis, Australian Book Review *
...Orlin has made the simple point that there will always be novel discoveries to be found within the broader depths of Warwickshire archives. Hers is a methodology that should arm researchers when approaching any historical figure, and any archival record. * Francesca Rhodes, Midland History journal *