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    The Two Wills

    A Novel

    Author Blair Fell
    Ebook (EPUB)
    Crooked Lane Books | Alcove Press
    On sale Oct 20, 2026 | 352 Pages | 9798892426589
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    From the USA Today bestselling author of Disco Witches of Fire Island comes a stunningly beautiful queer love story for fans of Hamnet and The Song of Achilles.

    It’s the late 16th century and 18-year-old Willy Hughes is still heartbroken over the loss of his first great love, Barnaby Stubb. He’s also desperate to escape his impoverished existence. To survive, beyond mucking out the toilets for pennies, he cons drunken men into believing he’s a beautiful young woman—then robs them of their purses. 

    Willy’s hope for a brighter future appears doomed until a newly famous poet (also named William) spots Willy in an alehouse and asks him to join his acting company. Willy is instantly smitten and determines to see if the poet’s heart might be open to a love that dares not speak its name. 

    Alas, the poet Will has a wife and a mistress and says he’s only interested in Willy as an actor. But why does he look at Willy that way? 

    Despite being untrained and illiterate, Willy quickly rises to fame on the stage, creating the roles of Juliet, Rosalind, and Cleopatra. Soon, the private love sonnets arrive, and Will’s romantic ambiguity is driving Willy mad. Is he made differently than Willy thought? Or is it that mistress who’s blocking Willy’s quest to possess the poet? Or the poet’s wife? And what happens when a sexy rival poet by the name of Christopher Marlowe comes knocking on Willy’s door? 

    Inspired by Oscar Wilde’s theory of Shakespeare’s sonnets, The Two Wills explores romance in all its forms, both on the page and between the lines, where no love is ever really lost—especially when you are the “master mistress” of the greatest writer in history.
    Blair Fell writes and lives in New York City. His television work includes Queer as Folk and PBS's California Connected. He's written dozens of plays, including The Tragic and Horrible Life of the Singing Nun, the award-winning Naked Will, and the downtown cult miniseries Burning Habits. His personal essays have appeared in HuffPost, Out, Daily News (New York), and more. He's a two-time winner of the prestigious Doris Lippman Prize in Creative Writing, including for an early draft of the USA Today and Lamda Award short-listed Disco Witches of Fire Island. His debut novel, The Sign for Home, was long-listed for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize and was selected as both an Indie Next and an Indie's Introduce book by the American Booksellers Association. Blair has also worked as an actor, producer, ASL interpreter, and director. Invite him to your book club! www.blairfell.com
    Blair Fell View titles by Blair Fell

    About

    From the USA Today bestselling author of Disco Witches of Fire Island comes a stunningly beautiful queer love story for fans of Hamnet and The Song of Achilles.

    It’s the late 16th century and 18-year-old Willy Hughes is still heartbroken over the loss of his first great love, Barnaby Stubb. He’s also desperate to escape his impoverished existence. To survive, beyond mucking out the toilets for pennies, he cons drunken men into believing he’s a beautiful young woman—then robs them of their purses. 

    Willy’s hope for a brighter future appears doomed until a newly famous poet (also named William) spots Willy in an alehouse and asks him to join his acting company. Willy is instantly smitten and determines to see if the poet’s heart might be open to a love that dares not speak its name. 

    Alas, the poet Will has a wife and a mistress and says he’s only interested in Willy as an actor. But why does he look at Willy that way? 

    Despite being untrained and illiterate, Willy quickly rises to fame on the stage, creating the roles of Juliet, Rosalind, and Cleopatra. Soon, the private love sonnets arrive, and Will’s romantic ambiguity is driving Willy mad. Is he made differently than Willy thought? Or is it that mistress who’s blocking Willy’s quest to possess the poet? Or the poet’s wife? And what happens when a sexy rival poet by the name of Christopher Marlowe comes knocking on Willy’s door? 

    Inspired by Oscar Wilde’s theory of Shakespeare’s sonnets, The Two Wills explores romance in all its forms, both on the page and between the lines, where no love is ever really lost—especially when you are the “master mistress” of the greatest writer in history.

    Author

    Blair Fell writes and lives in New York City. His television work includes Queer as Folk and PBS's California Connected. He's written dozens of plays, including The Tragic and Horrible Life of the Singing Nun, the award-winning Naked Will, and the downtown cult miniseries Burning Habits. His personal essays have appeared in HuffPost, Out, Daily News (New York), and more. He's a two-time winner of the prestigious Doris Lippman Prize in Creative Writing, including for an early draft of the USA Today and Lamda Award short-listed Disco Witches of Fire Island. His debut novel, The Sign for Home, was long-listed for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize and was selected as both an Indie Next and an Indie's Introduce book by the American Booksellers Association. Blair has also worked as an actor, producer, ASL interpreter, and director. Invite him to your book club! www.blairfell.com
    Blair Fell View titles by Blair Fell

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