Shakespeare's Sonnets

"An intense literary love story: elegant, urgent, and wonderfully romantic." —Sarah Waters, author "The Night Watch"

"A paean to youth, love, longing, and literature, Shakespeare's Sonnets is evocative and bittersweet."—Curtis Sittenfeld, New York Timesbestselling author of "Prep"

"A poignant, provocative tale about the longings, conflicts and risks of first love in an era that condemns it... Park's writing exudes the authority of a scholar and the sensitivity of an artist, propelled by the searing force of truth, and signals the arrival of a bold new talent on the literary scene." - Barry Sandler, screenwriter, "Making Love"

"Are Adam and Jean in 1948 living out Shakespeare's story? Or Wilde's? Or ours? A masterful story-teller, Sam Park put history, as well as us, in a state of suspense."—Bruce R. Smith, author of "Homosexual Desire in Shakespeare's England"

First developed as a one-act play at Stanford University, this literate, intimate novel introduces a fresh new voice in gay fiction.

The time is 1948. Adam Greenhurst is a student at Harvard with dreams of becoming a literary scholar. He's from a rich and influential family and has become engaged to the perfect girl. His life plan is set, until he's busted by campus police for having sex with another man in a public place.

Threatened with expulsion, Adam refocuses his energies on a new class about Shakespeare's sonnets. There he meets Jean Hoffman, a man with whom Adam shares much: love of language and love of men. As their relationship grows, Adam realizes he will have to make a choice: the life his family planned for him, or the life his heart wants.