"One Mr. Shakespeare that lay in the house..." In 1612, Shakespeare gave evidence at the Court of Requests in Westminster - the only occasion his spoken words were recorded. The case related to a dispute over an unpaid marriage dowry that opens an unexpected window into the dramatist's obscured life story.

Eight years earlier, we learn that Shakespeare was lodging in the house of the Mountjoys - the French Protestant immigrant family in Cripplegate area of London. One fine day his landlady called him to persuade the family's former apprentice Stephen to marry their daughter Mary. On Mrs Mountjoy's request, Shakespeare persuaded Stephen to marry the girl and made the match. But Mary's father Christopher refused to pay the agreed dowry for his only child. A disappointed Stephen sued the Court of Requests and eight years after the marriage, Shakespeare - the former lodger, was called to give evidence.

Charles Nicholl conjures up a detailed description of the circumstances in which Shakespeare lived and wrote plays like Othello, King Lear and Measure for Measure. Collecting evidence from a wide variety of sources, the author presents us with a rare insight into this little known episode in Shakespeare's life. Nicholl also delves into the puzzling story of Shakespeare's collaboration with hack-author George Wilkins.

We see Shakespeare in a very human context of Silver Street in this subtle exploration of Shakespeare at forty. To the maid of the house, he was merely "One Mr. Shakespeare," lodging in the room upstairs. This enchanting and modest book brings us as close to the elusive lodger as we can possibly get. By plunging so deep into the sweaty tumults of Silver Street, Nicholl makes us see the greatness of the man living upstairs from a close range.