"Thirlwell writes with authority about 16th-century theater tradition and about Queen Elizabeth I’s place as the most powerful woman in that world and of Rosalind as her avatar. Best of all is Thirlwell’s careful analysis of As You Like It as a whole, a handy and readable piece of lit crit that theatergoers and acting professionals alike will clearly find useful. Rosalind is indeed ‘an unusual biography,’ but one that delivers an A-to-Z discussion of a truly ‘immortal’ character."

– Providence Journal

"An enthusiastic homage to a character with more lines than any other female character in Shakespeare."

– Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"In this animated hybrid of scholarship and creative nonfiction, Thirwell offers a sensitive portrait of one of Shakespeare’s most complex female characters, and a sweeping assessment of her cultural legacy. Just as this book ends with an injunction to prize questions over answers, so too will Thirwell’s expansive discussion lead curious minds toward creative, boundary-blasting inquiry."

– Publishers Weekly

"A charming appraisal of the gender-bending protagonist of As You Like It. A model of popular Shakespearean scholarship: engagingly accessible and contagiously enthusiastic."

– Kirkus Reviews

"All Shakespeare fans will be eager to see what actors and directors have to say about Shakespeare’s greatest female character in this novel biography."

– Library Journal