The Shakespeare Stealer, written by American author Gary Blackwood, is a work of historical fiction set in the Elizabethan-era. It tells the story of Widge, a fourteen-year-old orphan.

Dr. Bright is a country rector and Widge’s first master. He isn’t a nice man: he is cruel to Widge and only took him from the orphanage as he wanted somebody to work for him. He is known as Dr. Bright since he once studied medicine at Cambridge University. Dr. Bright taught Widge how to write in shorthand with a system he called charactery. A dishonest man, he did this as he wanted Widge to steal the sermons of other preachers.

Simon Bass is an actor, a criminal, and a killer. Outwardly he appears to be quite gentle but he is a ruthless and violent man who uses a secondary personality, Falconer, to hide his true self. It is Falconer who buys Widge from Dr. Bright. Simon Bass has his own acting troupe and he wants Widge to use the charactery system that Dr. Bright taught him to attend plays and write down what the actors are saying word-for-word. Like Dr. Bright, stealing sermons from other preachers, Simon Bass uses Widge to steal the work of other playwrights. But, unlike Dr. Bright, Simon Bass is an evil man.