To be honest, I was more fascinated by the historical murder behind the alleged first play from the Bard than the story of how the Bard came to write it. Anyway, after plodding along and seemingly taking forever to get to the juicy bits AND nearly skipping through all the "Will" narrative, the book does finally pick up. Glad I persevered till the end, and really appreciated and enjoyed the author's notes at the end (also well worth the read).

Nov 16, 20251 other review

RoshReviews 3,259 reviews

The Maids of Biddenden: The heart-warming and inspirational story of 12th-century Kent's conjoined twins. by G. D. Harper

In a Nutshell: There are some books you read for prose, and some you read for the plot. This is in the latter category. Don’t expect flowery writing. Expect a touching story, though a tad longwinded.

Story Synopsis:

The story is based on the real-life “Maids of Biddenden”, a pair of conjoined twins who are supposed to have lived during the 11th-12th century.
Six year old Eliza and Mary have spent all their life in a local abbey, hidden away from the world because of their physical oddity.

The locals have never seen/heard of conjoined twins and their superstitious behaviour leads to this decision. They have only two well-wishers – the prioress Mother Avicia and one of the nuns, Sister Agnes. Circumstances change and the twins find themselves moved to their birth home, where their father and stepmother stay. This transition isn’t easy but soon the twins win the locals over. The book provides a fictionalised version of how these twins might have lived in that irrational age.
The story is written in the first person point of view of the twins and a third person omniscient of the other characters.

Where the book worked for me: show less

Jul 13, 2025

Sarah-Hope 1,172 reviews

Arden: The astonishing untold story of Shakespeare's first play by G. D. Harper

The story here should be fascinating, and the author does a laudable job of trying to be honest to history, as much as it can be known. However, I think I'd rather read a scholarly article on this topic than a book-length work of fiction.

The novel has two narrators—Will Shakespere [as the author notes this is how the Bard most often spelled his own name] and a female forbear— neither of which ever became well-rounded and specific in the way I'd hoped they would.

I received a free show more electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own. show less

Oct 11, 20241 other review