Bad Romeo. Bad, bad Romeo

Romeo heads up a paedophile ring in old Verona. Accomplished in grooming and gaslighting, he has a suitably odious accomplice in Friar Lawrence. Romeo seduces the fifteen year old Rosaline Capulet, before moving on to her cousin, the thirteen year old Juliet. But Rosaline has sass, and from a naive girl spurned in the first half of the novel, she strikes back as an avenging angel in the second.

There are some good things here, the clever and witty uses of and quotations from Shakespeare generally work well. Despite the major implausibility of much of the plot, the narrative carries the reader along nicely.

It’s not the first novel that has been based on a character so minor she is virtually invisible. It has been done well in the past, notably, I think, by Ursula Le Guin in her novel Lavinia. Not so great here, Romeo a caricature, Juliet a cypher, most of the other characters one dimensional, Rosaline full of attitude.

As an English teacher of 10 years, I thought I knew everything there was to know about Romeo and Juliet. But in this book - I was proved wrong! Fabulously written, so compelling - a must read!!

A fantastic retelling of Romeo and Juliet from the point of view of Rosaline - the Capulet cousin who came before Juliet. Natasha Solomons highlights in her author's note that this play is far from the romance it is often miscategorised as and Fair Rosaline really explores that. Actions and motives are examined carefully and Rosaline has a far clearer eye than her young cousin.

It is a testament to the quality of Solomons' writing that the story never felt stale or predictable, despite being based on a story that wasn't new when Shakespeare told it. I loved it.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

What if Romeo wasn't really a Romeo?

This is a story of seduction and gaslighting, of power and manipulation. But it is also about women taking back control in a very interesting (and intense) historical setting. Love, family and revenge... I loved it.

This is Romeo and Juliet like you've never seen it before!