Bassano

It isn’t her first foray into historical fiction but this time it’s a parallel tale about contemporary young playwright Melina Green, who is struggling to get her work recognised in New York, and her ancestor, Emilia Bassano, who may – or may not - have been the female writer behind the work of Shakespeare.

While Picoult’s book is, of course, a work of fiction, Bassano was a real-life Elizabethan woman.

Picoult does a great job of convincing the Hay audience to at least consider the idea that Bassano did write some of Shakespeare’s work, citing various theories she came across during her research.

Standout mountain sections include Stage 8's 152km assault to Prato di Tivo, before three more mid-race tests and a final lung-busting assault up to Bassano del Grappa in the Dolomites on the penultimate stage, which includes two very steep category-one ascents.

Further north in the town of Nova Bassano, resident Dirce Reginatto said she was "devastated".