This new biography explores Shakespeare's private life in Stratford-upon-Avon, from his personal aspirations and self-determination, to his relations with his family members and neighbours. We learn that his early wedding freed him from craft training to pursue a literary career, and that his wife's work enabled him to make the first of the property purchases that grounded his life as a gentleman.Throughout, we encounter a Shakespeare who consciously and purposefully designed his life ^--^ a Shakespeare who, having witnessed the business failures of his merchant father, determined not to follow the same path.