Hassinger, Peter W. Shakespeare's daughter.

HarperCollins, Laura Geringer Books. 311p. c2004. 0-06-02846706. $15.99. JS

Remember Shakespeare in Love? The screenwriter of that film gave us a young Shakespeare with boundless energy, chasing fame, falling in love. Well, Hassinger (with a background as a screenwriter) gives us a sort of "Shakespeare as Father" in this novel for YAs that focuses on Shakespeare's adolescent daughter Susanna. She grew up in quiet Stratford-on-Avon, and now yearns to find her own way as a singer in London. Her parents have an uneasy marriage, and as Susanna runs away from home she discovers a woman who is her father's mistress. Shakespeare is in an awkward position, trying to get Susanna to return home. but also supporting her artistic urgings. Susanna meets another singer, Thomas, and they start to fall in love, but a horrible crisis emerges when it is discovered that Thomas, a Catholic, is breaking the law because of his beliefs, and is in danger of arrest and execution. Shakespeare, again, has to step into Susanna's life to keep her safe. because her association with Thomas endangers her as well.

The strength of the novel is in the believable recreation of life in Elizabethan England, with the religious tensions between Catholics and Protestants and with the limits on a young woman's ability to pursue her creative talents--even with Queen Elizabeth the head of the country. The other aspects of the story--an adolescent girl finding her own strengths, her first love, coping with estranged parents--will appeal to all YA readers. Claire Rosser, KLIATT