All’s Well That Reads Well: Shakespeare’s Birthday Reading List

Shakespeare like you’ve never imagined him before: Maggie O’Farrell takes the true, tragic story of Shakespeare’s life and turns it into a stunning meditation on grief, motherhood and hope.

The author of A Study in Drowning and former Monthly Pick Juniper & Thorn has returned with a fictional profile of a complex woman. Ava Reid reintroduces us to Lady Macbeth, in all of her gothic glory.

Backstage with the very witty Dame Judi Dench. Check. Raucous stories. Check. Masterclass in Shakespearean theater. Check. A total delight to read.

Filled with her signature dark humor, Mona Awad’s All’s Well is a biting, surrealist satire of love, loss, female pain — and Shakespeare.

We love complicated characters, and All Our Yesterdays spotlights one of our favorites. Go back to the start of Macbeth — 10 years back, to be exact — and meet the woman we’ve known as Lady Macbeth before the events of Shakespeare’s iconic play.  

Henry Henry is the queer Shakespeare retelling we’ve been waiting for: Shakespeare’s Henriad is reimagined with a young, gay man in line to be the next Duke of Lancaster. With a healthy dose of Catholic guilt and complicated family dynamics, Henry Henry gives Shakespeare a new, modern life.

Known for her facility with domestic dramas, Anne Tyler brings that expertise to one of literature’s most classic family stories — The Taming of the Shrew. This is intelligent, fast and fun, just as Shakespeare was meant to be.

What if King Lear was set in the Midwest? This story of connections, divides and family mythologies is a natural next step for anyone who likes to imagine ‘ole Will in an Iowa cornfield.

When a successful director puts on his own version of The Tempest, he grapples with betrayal and ego, revenge and grief. A sure bet for anyone looking to understand their favorite Shakespeare play in a new light.

M.L. Rio’s debut novel follows a group of melodramatic theater kids who quote Shakespeare and find themselves embroiled in a murder mystery. With obsession, dangerous rivalries, and complicated romance, it’s safe to say Shakespeare would’ve spent a birthday or two poring over this novel.

With a fair share of power-hungry tyrannical characters, it’s no surprise The Bard had a hand in politics. It’s safe to say he would have enjoyed seeing his musings and cultural critiques laid out in Tyrant — and yes, we think he would listen to the Beyoncé song of the same name, too.

What better way to celebrate his birth than with a detailed account of the real women of Shakespeare’s time? With their pens ablaze and their voices silenced, these women impacted today’s literature greatly — even if you don’t know their names now, you will after this one.