I AM INDEBTED TO the many people who helped shepherd Kissing Shakespeare to publication. First, to my agent, Steven Chudney, whose encouragement and guidance were essential, and to my editor at Delacorte Press, Françoise Bui, whose insightful analysis of the story enabled me to find its heart. Thanks also to copy editors Nancy Elgin and Colleen Fellingham for their meticulous reading of the book, and to Stephanie Moss for the striking cover design. I would also like to thank Irene Gorak for reviewing and commenting on the author’s note.
Sir Bernard de Hoghton, whose family home, Hoghton Tower, provided the setting for Kissing Shakespeare, kindly answered numerous questions, not only about the house and grounds, but also about the intriguing story of the Shakespeare connection. Others on his staff generously shared their knowledge as well.
Stephen Greenblatt’s book Will in the World started me on this journey. For further explication of Shakespeare’s possible connection to the Jesuits, I depended on an essay by Richard Wilson called “Ghostly Fathers: Shakeshafte and the Jesuits,” which appeared in his book Secret Shakespeare. For an understanding of Edmund Campion, I relied on Evelyn Waugh’s well-known biography.
Without the help of my critique group, the Wild Folk, this would have been a different book. Their influence is evident on every page. I can never thank them enough. Along the way, my family, including my sisters, Janis Stubbs and Susan Dettling, provided encouragement and rallied me during the difficult times. Many friends cheered me on, and their interest and support has never flagged.
My daughter, Katie Mingle, read and critiqued the manuscript and served as my contemporary language authority. The pride that she and my stepdaughter, Dana Zedak, have in me brings me great joy.
And most of all, I want to thank my husband, Jim Mingle, my first reader, most thoughtful critic, biggest supporter, always-willing listener. Your love has guided me every step of the way.
Pamela Mingle, a former teacher and librarian, lives in Lakewood, Colorado. She and her husband enjoy traveling to Great Britain, where they love taking long walks. It was on one of those walks that she discovered Hoghton Tower, the setting for her first novel, Kissing Shakespeare. Visit her at PamMingle.com.
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
About the Author