As an actor, director, and founder of Shakespeare & Company, Packer has unparalleled hands-on experience with the plays, and her book is as dynamic to read as it is insightful. Tracing Shakespeare’s artistic and personal development through his female characters—including the Dark Lady of the sonnets, who she identifies as an outspoken and talented Italian musician—Packer outlines the history Shakespeare worked with, the gender roles he worked within, and much else, including Tudor ideas about war, love, and whether women had souls. She’s also brilliant at conveying different stagings of the plays, and laments that today’s audiences lack the necessary “emotional stamina” for the tragedies.