Dame Harriet Walter DBE

Now, having had the experience of playing so many of Shakespeare's roles, she re-imagines what some of his women might have been secretly thinking and lets them speak their minds.

With new speeches for thirty Shakespearean women, written in verse, sonnets and prose, her book goes between the lines of the plays as Gertrude lets Hamlet have the unvarnished truth; Lady MacBeth reveals how she would have been a savvy, King; Kate, the Shrew does an about turn; Ophelia surprises us; Olivia surprises herself and the witches have a good old rap.

Says Harriet Walter: `I worship Shakespeare and feel very irreverent, shamelessly piggy backing on his giant shoulders. 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’.