The First Mrs Wordsworth, by Michael Baldwin (Abacus, £6.99 in UK)

Long before his marriage to Mary Hutchinson in 1802, William Wordsworth had enjoyed a passionate dalliance in revolutionary France with one Marie-Anne Vallon. Whether or not it amounted to a marriage is doubtful; Michael Baldwin is convinced, certainly, but he has sketchy enough material to work with, and is reduced to coy conversational reconstructions and mannerisms - the poet, for example, is referred to as "Williams" or "Monsieur Wodswod" throughout - which are tedious enough to begin with, but would, after 300 or so pages, drive the most patient reader to distraction.