Prince of Our Dreams: Young Shakespeare

 by Deslie McClellan

Paperback 504 pages

Who is the real author of the Shakespeare Plays?

A factually intriguing story of how and why England’s most famous statesman and philosopher hid behind a false identity now known as William Shakespeare to protect his plays and his very life.

Prince of Our Dreams tells the startling truth and tragedy of the real William Shakespeare. Based on historical facts and drawing from ciphered codes hidden in the Plays and Sonnets, it uncovers the secret life of Francis Bacon, first-born son of Queen Elizabeth I, lover of the princess Marguerite Valois, father of a future English explorer, and enemy of those in church and state who feared his mystic spirit.

The story opens with the birth of Francis and the intricate cover-up to protect the Virgin reputation of his mother. We see his early genius nourished meticulously by the most learned men of the time, including alchemist and astrologer Dr. John Dee. After Francis leaves Cambridge and begins his law studies, he discovers his true parentage and is exiled to France. We follow his extraordinary love affair with Marguerite, whose own excruciating history as the daughter of Catherine de Medici is unveiled layer by layer. Secret letters reveal how the immortal story of Romeo and Juliet is born from young Francis’ love for his French princess—a love profoundly and tragically conflicted. The novel offers rich historical detail and relies on state papers, memoirs, diaries, letters and biographies to create a story line both factual and absorbing. The author has skillfully woven dialogue using the actual words of the historical characters, the language of the Plays and Sonnets themselves, as well as the beautiful writings of Francis Bacon hidden in the codes he secretly devised.

Prince of Our Dreams solves the mystery of the Authorship Question not with speculation or guesses, but by decoding the carefully hidden treasure map that reveals the authentic man behind the mask.