She Speaks!

<p>'<b>It is STUNNING and I simply sat and read it right through, and shall start again at once. I had no idea that she is such a sensationally fine poet. Astonishing</b>' JOANNA LUMLEY<br><br>'<b>Harriet Walter unpicks and re-centres the inner life and journey of these women as only one of our most talented and celebrated classical actors could. A must read!</b>' MAXINE PEAKE<br><br>'<b>Bold and original </b>. . . <b>Anyone who cares about Shakespeare will want to own and share this book</b>'<br>JAMES SHAPIRO, author of <i>1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare</i><br><br>Dame Harriet Walter, renowned for her wonderful portrayals in<i> Succession</i> and <i>Killing Eve</i> among others, is one of Britain's most esteemed Shakespearean actors. Now, having played most of the Bard's female characters, audaciously she lets them speak their minds.<br><br>With thirty new parts for Shakespeare's women, written in 'Shakespearean' verse and prose, Harriet Walter goes between the lines of the plays to let us hear what she imagines - sometimes playfully and sometimes searchingly - these women were really thinking.<br><br> Gertrude tells Hamlet the unvarnished truth; Lady MacBeth has her regrets; Kate, the Shrew, challenges us; Juliet's nurse challenges the nobility; Cleopatra's handmaiden reveals her mistress's secrets; Ariel is frightened of freedom; Ophelia surprises us; Olivia surprises herself; and the Witches have a good old rap.<br><br>Harriet Walter herself says, 'I worship Shakespeare. His psychological insight is second to none but the mirror that he held up to nature reflected a predominantly male image of the world. I pondered the long shadow of his genius and tried to think of ways to let a little sunlight in on some of his women's stories. I like to think he wouldn't mind'.<br><br>'<b>An incisive, funny, mischievously subversive homage to Shakespeare's heroines, written by one of mine</b>' MEERA SYAL<br><br>'<b>With characteristic wit, compassion and fierce intelligence, she gives tantalising voice to the Bard's female greats</b>' TAMSIN GREIG<br><br>'<b>Effortlessly witty, charming, surprising, delightful. Clearly, Harriet Walter should have been in the</b><br><b>writers' room with us for <i>Succession</i></b><i>' </i>FRANCESCA GARDINER</p>