Sunday, September 25, 2022

Shakespeare Reference in The Strange Case Of Hellish Nell

Shakespeare references continue to pop up in nearly every book I read. Nina Shandler's The Strange Case Of Hellish Nell tells the true story of a woman who was tried for witchcraft in England during World War II. And it contains a reference to Shakespeare. Shandler writes, "A man of letters, Alfred Dodd was famous - or notorious, depending on one's viewpoint - for proposing the controversial theory that William Shakespeare had signed his name to works actually written by Francis Bacon" (p. 167). (Actually, it was a woman named Delia Bacon, a woman who ended up in an insane asylum, who first proposed this ridiculous theory.) This is the note at the back of the book related to that line: "Alfred Dodd, The Secret Shakespeare (London: Rider, 1941)" (p. 260). That book is mentioned in the bibliography as well.

The Strange Case Of Hellish Nell was published in 2006. The copy I read was an advance reading copy.

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