Book Review -- Final in this series

The Truth Will Out: Unmasking the Real Shakespeare by Brenda James & William D. Rubenstein

I won’t pretend to be a Shakespeare expert. I’ve only seen a few of the plays and these would be in movie form, and I remember having to read some in English class while in High School. It is not easy for me to read or comprehend sometimes but since he is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the history of everything, I have to take it seriously. Although, I love his sonnets, especially #29 as it is so beautiful and sad, and who hasn’t felt this way at one time or another:

When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
   I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf Heaven with my bootless cries,
   And look upon myself, and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
   Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
   With what I most enjoy contented least:
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
   Haply I think on thee,--and then my state
(Like to the lark at break of day arising
   From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
   That then I scorn to change my state with kings'.

I have a few books about the man from Avon, watched and enjoyed some movies that purport to portray him, and have seen some documentaries (especially good is Michael Woods In Search of Shakespeare [although all of Michael Woods documentaries are fabulous]) about his life because this period of English history is so fascinating to me and he is an intricate part of it. But as most people, I always assumed the accepted canon, that William Shakespeare from Stratford-Upon-Avon, the actor who made good, was the writer of these timeless tales. I had no reason to think otherwise. Funnily, it took a computer game to make me pursue an interest in those who don’t accept the party line and really take a look at their arguments. I enjoy playing hidden object games and I was playing one called Midnight Mysteries: Devil on the Mississippi. The whole plot of it is to help the ghost of Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) defeat a demon and uncover the truth about Shakespeare. So I started to do a little research and it seems that many of the elements and inconsistencies that the game featured were in actual fact correct. Apparently, there has been a growing movement of the authorship question since the middle of the 19^th century (actually the first question about his authorship was published in 1791) and has gained an incredibly diverse and impressive following including such luminaries as Charlie Chaplin, Charles Dickens, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Sigmund Freud, Sir John Gielgud, Henry James, Mark Twain, Orson Welles, and Walt Whitman. These are some of the brightest minds of this or any time and if they take this subject seriously, who am I to argue? Coincidentally, a big budget movie on just this subject came out recently called Anonymous, its plot follows one of the most prominent alternate authors and why he was not allowed to claim the works that flowed from his pen.

So the questions start;

1)     If Shakespeare was not the author why is his name on the works and was lauded by contemporaries when the folios were published?

2)     If someone else wrote them, why did he feel the need to keep his identity secret and use a front man?

3)     How could something like this be kept a secret?

4)     What is it about Shakespeare and his life that makes it seem improbable that he could have been able to write the works that are ascribed to him?

5)     If not Will of Avon who has a better claim to authorship?

All of these questions and more are tackled in the fascinating book I’m reviewing. Honestly, when I decided to learn more I went on Amazon and typed in search and went through a slew of titles, and there is A LOT. This is the first one I have read and I will be reading more by different authors, but I must say their arguments and the facts they present make a compelling case.  They make the claim that Sir Henry Neville was the actual author and through contemporary documents and a thorough biography of his life can make everything that was written correspond to what was happening in his life at the time. Neville had the education, the travel, the court connections, and the wealth that those who read the works say that the author had to have. It is postulated that the works incorporated such a breadth of knowledge and learning it would be highly unlikely that the author could have been anyone but a high-ranking nobleman.

Henry Neville is not the most popular candidate for authorship, that title belongs to the Earl of Oxford, Edward de Vere followed closely by Christopher Marlowe and Francis Bacon. The back of the book states, “Offering eye-opening and definitive evidence, this groundbreaking work points to Sir Henry Neville, a prominent Elizabethan diplomat and member of Parliament, whose position in society forced him to allow an actor to take credit for his literary genius.” They use genealogy to show that Shakespeare and Neville were distant relatives; they had many of the same friends in the theater, and tracks how the works change and darken as Neville’s life has brushes with tragedy and crushed expectations.  He had all of the qualifications that the alternate author proponents state the true writer would have to have.

The argument against William Shakespeare being the actual author of the works that bear his name that I find most compelling, is the one that features his background, education, and life experience to make the case that there was no way that he had the knowledge necessary to write the way he did. His father was illiterate, his children were illiterate, and he died without a single book in his possession. In fact, he died a successful businessman in Stratford whose friends, family, and neighbors seem to have no interest in the masterpieces he supposedly penned nor did his family try to claim them upon his death. I learned in reading this book that Shakespeare’s genius gave us many common words and phrases we still use today like  “addiction”, “luggage”, and “into thin air”, plus many more (up to 1,500).

I will not say that this book convinced me irrevocably, but it certainly opened my eyes and if I could afford it I would go on a book buying spree because I want to learn more on this subject and about other candidates. It was also a genuinely enjoyable read and if nothing else you will learn about this amazing man who seems to have been, regretfully, forgotten by history. I tend to always want to question what I am told to believe. I am not afraid to don the tinfoil hat on occasion or listen to others who speak outside the mainstream. I want to form my own ideas not be spoon fed them. I also think that there is so much that we do not know and just because we can’t fathom how it was done or how the secrets were kept does not necessarily mean it didn’t happen. Never be afraid to follow your own path, and in this area of study this is a good introduction on a truly fascinating subject that will probably peak your interest enough to learn more. And that is what the best books do.

Softcover is 252 pages with pictures followed by some excellent appendixes and notes that had me flipping back and forth to the relevant chapters.