Joe is a scholar, first in his family, eager to prove himself in the cutthroat world of academia. Posy is a spoiled little rich girl who has learned the fine art of manipulation from her daddy. Sarah Smith does an excellent job here in taking the reader through the grueling, time consuming, and often tedious process of researching the literary past. Although the plot does sometimes bog down in detail, some of which is a bit obscure for the average reader of Shakespeare or anyone else, it was fascinating to trace the development of a theory from beginning to, well, middle, not end. Posy's combination of Valley Girl and Friends-speak becomes annoying, but she is consistent, you have to give her that. Joe's sudden philosophical awakening at the end is interesting to watch, as he adapts to his disappointment and readjusts his sails. Will Cat and Joe become a couple? I'd love to be able to find out. Did Shakespeare write Shakespeare? We may never know for sure, but I'd love to be able to find that out even more.
