Scholarship and storytelling: WMU professor's acclaimed historical-fiction imagines the life of Shakespeare's daughter

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—"Things won are done, joy’s soul lies in the doing,” says Cressida in Act I, scene 2 of William Shakespeare’s “Troilus and Cressida.” In the scene, Cressida discusses the pursuit of happiness with her Uncle Pandarus, revealing one of the play’s core themes: personal fulfillment comes from the journey, not the destination. It also serves as an embodiment of Dr. Grace Tiffany’s enthusiasm for the writing process.

“I find all kinds of writing, either scholarly or creative, intellectually absorbing and fun. I love the challenge of casting ideas into words,” says Tiffany, professor of Shakespeare and early English literature.

She has written extensively about Shakespeare over her 36-year career, oscillating between scholarly writing and fiction. Her scholarly books are informed by critical analysis of the famed playwright, while some of her other books exist in the realm of historical fiction, imagining the life of Shakespeare and the members of his family.

Her seventh novel, “The Owl Was a Baker’s Daughter: The Continuing Adventures of Judith Shakespeare,” released in February by HarperCollins, tells a fictionalized story of Shakespeare’s daughter, Judith, now in her 60s and working as a midwife- apothecary. After being suspected of witchcraft, Judith is forced to flee her home and go on the run. Accompanying her are a Puritan woman and a strange child, both living in a transitional state as the English Civil War between the Royalists and Roundheads rages on.

The story follows the author’s 2003 book “My Father Had a Daughter: Judith Shakespeare’s Tale,” where Judith sought revenge against her famous father in the wake of a family tragedy and traveled to London to sabotage one of his plays. Tiffany knew that when it came to her protagonist, there were more stories to be told. “The Owl Was a Baker’s Daughter,” the long-awaited sequel, was more than 20 years in the making.

“When the first book ended, Judith was about 30 and had a lot of her life left, because she actually did live to be in her late 70s. So, if I wanted to pick up her story, there was a wide span of years that I could do it with,” Tiffany says. “I was not only interested in the character but in the time period that she lived through, which included the reign of King James, the reign of King Charles I, and the Interregnum and Civil War."

Advancing the novel’s plot forward decades required considerably more research, but Tiffany proved more than up to the task.

“The time period in which it’s set is not exactly the time period in which I have expertise,” she says. “It’s farther into the 17th century, 30 years after Shakespeare died, and there were significant changes in English culture that I knew about roughly but not as much as I needed to.”

The countless hours of fact-finding and Tiffany’s attention to detail paid off as the book received acclaim from the The New York Times upon release, who described it as “historical fiction imbued with a rich sense of place.” Literary critics and readers alike have responded positively to the book, specifically highlighting Judith’s development as a character. “A lot of people say they like the fact that the heroine is an older woman,” she says.

With two books in the series complete, it begs the question: Will there be a third? And if so, what will Judith Shakespeare be up to next?

Fortunately for readers, Tiffany already has a new character to focus on: the strange girl introduced in “The Owl Was A Baker’s Daughter,” who accompanies Judith on her adventures. She hopes to begin drafting the book this summer.

“My plan is that the third novel will take place in the very last years of Judith’s life. She lived a couple of years into the Restoration, which began in 1660. And at that point, the odd little girl will be grown up, and she’s going to be the protagonist. My idea is that she’ll end up on the Restoration stage, the theatrical arena in which women could finally play themselves, after centuries of female roles being taken by men.”

With Tiffany’s passion for writing and penchant for plot, it’s safe to say that the adventures of Judith Shakespeare are far from over. ■