Shakespeare's Sister Speaks.

The article examines the possibility that a spiritual testament long attributed to John Shakespeare, William Shakespeare's father, may actually have been written by Joan Shakespeare, William's sister. Discovered around 1770 in the rafters of Shakespeare's Birthplace, the document expresses Catholic faith and devotion to St Winifred, but linguistic and historical evidence suggests it dates from the 1630s—after John Shakespeare's death—and aligns more plausibly with Joan, who lived as a widow in Stratford during that period. This reinterpretation highlights Joan Shakespeare's overlooked presence and religious identity in a time when women's voices were often suppressed, resonating with Virginia Woolf's earlier reflections on the invisibility of Shakespeare's sister. The testament's misattribution underscores ongoing debates about gender, authorship, and historical record in early modern England.