Gray impressively brings to life the legendary figure of William Shakespeare in both his greatest works and the tempestuous world in which he lived in this impressive tale.

Blending history and literary interpretation with variations of his own, Gray expertly sketches William’s relatively comfortable early life in Stratford as a glover’s son, the government’s crackdown on Catholics and his father’s subsequent fall as a public figure in Stratford, the financial gravities which forced him to seek employment as a writer and actor in London, his son Hamnet’s death that profoundly affected both his life and art, and his dual specters of government prosecution and censorship while doing theatre. Gray explores some of the hotly debated questions such as Shakespeare spending time in the household of subversive secret Catholics, his steady conviction in his faith among others. With his deft skill at setting and character, Gray not only brings the Tudor era and the early Jacobean Age alive but also the artistic progress as well the historical upheavals Shakespeare had to live through. Seamlessly integrating dozens of Shakespeare’s poems and play excerpts into this enthralling and surprisingly little-known life story, the book brings readers closer to the elusive genius. This is a must-read.

Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite.

The year is 1660 and Lady Elizabeth is once again bound to resurrect some secret treasures of her late grandfather’s writing, most particularly a memoir that could rock the security of Lady Elizabeth’s world and that of her family. You see, her grandfather was none other than the famous William Shakespeare. And the memoir was his last words to the world he had once regaled with dramatic plays and sentimental sonnets. Who was this man that time no longer honored? Would the current political and cultural circles understand and accept what secrets this long-dead playwright might reveal in his final words and testament? When her husband dictates that the manuscript must be destroyed, Lady Elizabeth must come up with a creative way to hide her grandfather’s secrets from the world, at least for her time and perhaps well into the future.

William Gray’s novel, Love’s Labour’s Won: The Secret Life of William Shakespeare, is, to put it simply, brilliant. The author has resurrected the voice of a centuries-old literary giant and opened up new avenues of possibilities. There are so many things we don’t know about Shakespeare. But, using what we do know, William presented some very plausible possibilities. The story begins and ends with Lady Elizabeth’s memories of her grandfather and the precious manuscript that is the playwright’s secret memoir. She knows what the memoir contains, but she reads it again anyway. The middle part is the memoir, written presumably in Shakespeare’s recognizable script. It begins with his birth, his family, and the events that led to his passion for writing and particularly for the theater. Some of the playwright’s profound words are used to develop the plot. The writing is so believable, the reader is bound to think this might actually be an undiscovered gem written by the Bard himself. As I said, this is brilliant. And what’s the secret that is so dangerous? Read it and find out.

Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

Love's Labour's Won: The Secret Life of William Shakespeare is a work of fiction in the historical fiction, interpersonal drama, and fictional autobiographical sub-genres, and was penned by author William Gray. Written with much mirth, supposition, and speculation in mind, the author takes the life of one of the most famous playwrights the world has ever known and fills in the blanks with a rich and immersive narrative of his life and works. Taking characters, situations, and historical facts from the real records, this unique dramatization supposes the day to day living of the famous bard, the colorful characters who shaped and influenced him along the way, and the charm and success of the man himself

.Author William Gray has crafted a really celebratory work that will quickly become an essential piece for any and all hardcore Shakespeare fans to own and treasure. As a huge Shakespeare fan myself, I was delighted to see such a varied representation of the major players in the playwright’s own life, and the novelized characterization of these figures brings them to life with the atmospheric depiction, dynamic dialogue, and plenty of laughs. I also really appreciated the many references to his works and how these may have been linked to his real-life experiences, which added another layer of richness and poetry to the work itself. Gray does a fantastic job at mingling real facts with credible fiction, and the back matter alone evidences the huge amounts of research that have gone into the work. Overall, I would certainly recommend Love's Labour's Won for history and theater fans everywhere.

Reviewed by Vincent Dublado for Readers' Favorite

Love’s Labour’s Won: The Secret Life of William Shakespeare by William Gray is an up-close and personal look at the esteemed English poet and playwright. As the most celebrated man of letters in the English language, Shakespeare has been the subject of scrutiny through the ages. Gray pools biographical resources to describe the life and times of the Bard that many people know little about. With objectivity in mind, Gray sorts through Shakespeare’s failures and triumphs to reveal more about this esteemed artist. Beginning from his childhood where he was his parents’ first child to survive infancy, his marriage to Anne Hathaway and the birth of their three children, up to the literary legacy he left behind, the book separates fact from fiction as far as circumstantial evidence supports all facts pertaining to Shakespeare

.Love’s Labour’s Won celebrates Shakespeare as a literary genius whose contribution to the world of literature will carry on forever. The Shakespeare in this book feels like a man that we are unraveling for the first time. Under Gray’s gift for storytelling, you will cut through the common misconceptions surrounding the Bard as you get to the core of what matters most: his life as a man who lived and loved and met joys and heartaches along the way. Gray wears his knowledge of the subject with aplomb and gives an exploration of the political and cultural aspects of the Elizabethan and early Jacobean ages. While there is still much that we will never know about Shakespeare’s life, this hugely readable material at least helps us to get to the meatier parts of what makes up Shakespeare’s life and times.

A brilliantly constructed and superbly executed historical tale…

Gray skillfully makes use of the scant biographical resources, bringing a sensible eye to Shakespeare’s life story in his debut. As Gray tells it, William Shakespeare was his parent’s first child to survive the infancy and had a relatively comfortable life in the beginning. After his marriage with Anne Hathaway and the birth of his three children, he spent most of his time in London writing and performing in plays. Using the first-person narrative ..., Gray weaves an intriguing tale with Shakespeare at the center. The various perspectives—from Shakespeare as a young lad growing up in Stratford-upon-Avon to a grown up man trying to make something out of his literary talent in the vast art world of London ring completely true. Gray deftly describes Tudor period details, food, manners, clothing, pastimes, socio-economic politics, the prosecution of Catholics under the regime of Elizabeth, and the vibrant early Jacobean Age. This wonderful biographical novel creates a thoroughly vivid and full portrait of Shakespeare. Readers will be mesmerized.