Book Note: Lady Macbeth by Susan Fraser King

King, Susan Fraser. Lady Macbeth. New York: Crown Publishers, 2008 .

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Since I seem to be mentioning the Shakespeare-related novels I've read or listened to over the past two years, I thought I'd continue in that vein.

King's novel is called Lady Macbeth primarily because a book called Gruadh or Lady Gruadh or even Lady Gruoch (the usual spelling) wouldn't have nearly the same selling power.

Lady Macbeth is a historical novel, well-researched and (mostly) historically consistent. It tells the story of Gruoch, the woman who married Mac Bethad mac Findláech. A quick overview over here will give you more details.

Of course, I was looking for the Shakespearean connection. Even in a novel that attempts to redeem Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, I would expect some connections to the particularities of Shakespeare's plot and his language. But this is really its own thing, telling the story of Gruadh from her point of view.

My expectations—rather than the quality of the book itself—were probably what made this book a bit disappointing. I did enjoy the alternate reading of Lady Macbeth's character that the development of Gruadh's character provides—particularly in terms of the romantic attachment between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.

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Book Note: William S. and the Great Escape: The book to which William's Midsummer Dreams is the Sequel

Snyder, Zilpha Keatley. William S. and the Great Escape. New York: Atheneum, 2009.

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Reading the sequel before the first book may have given me a skewed view of both of them. But I requested the earlier young adult novel by Snyder dealing with William S. Hardison though an inter-library loan system and gave it a chance. Doing so gave me a greater appreciation for the sequel—though this volume is probably the more successful one of the two.

In William S. and the Great Escape, we get the story of how and why William S. and his three younger siblings ran away from his father and step-mother (and his step-siblings from his father's first marriage) to live with his dead mother's sister. One of the two main Shakespearean points of interest in the book is William's previous acting experience—he played Ariel in a school production of The Tempest but didn't tell any members of his family out of fear that they would make fun of him or beat him up. The other is his presentation of Shakespeare to his two youngest siblings—with the encouragement of his next youngest sister.

The image below (click on the image to enlarge it) is part of that scene. What interested me particularly is that it didn't take the "Everyone Always Loves Shakespeare All the Time, No Matter What Age" approach. Instead, the novel indicates that not everyone could get the youngest children interested in Shakespeare—but William S. could. In other words, it's not solely the material that grips its audience's attention; the presentation matters as well:

The thoughtfulness of the approach is a significant part of the presentation of Shakespeare—and I think that's an important point.

At first, I found the William's Midsummer Dreams (the sequel to this novel) fairly ordinary, but I think I have a better appreciation for it after having read William S. and the Great Escape.

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Book Note: The Sonnet Lover

Goodman, Carol. The Sonnet Lover. New York: Ballantine Books, 2007.

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This is another very quick mention of a book rather than a full-fleged review or commentary.

I listened to the audio book of this novel because of its Shakespearean elements. The plot revolves (rather loosely, admittedly) around some sonnets that might or might not be by Shakespeare and around the identity of the Dark Lady.

The novel is very light—some scenes near its end are pretty much cliché murder mystery / thriller scenes—and that may be its ultimate downfall. Goodman paints absolutely beautiful images—especially in her Italian scenes—but the characters seem very shallow and the engagement with the Shakespearean elements is tangential (and sometimes a bit silly).

In short, I'm afraid the novel was, for me, disappointing. But it was also readable and enjoyable. It's good for the beach—if not for the classroom.

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Book Note: The Weird Sisters

Brown, Eleanor. The Weird Sisters. New York : Amy Einhorn Books, 2011.

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This novel isn't a retelling of a Shakespeare plot—even though it does involve three sisters and their relationship with their father (and their mother, who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer and is more in the background). But it is peppered with Shakespeare quotes and allusions, including the names of the protagonists: Rose (Rosalind), Bean (Bianca), and Cordy (Cordelia). Their father is a Shakespeare professor, after all.

The novel doesn't just use Shakespeare as a gimmick. There's real depth to the way each of the characters uses Shakespeare to interpret his or her life experiences—and that usage is sometimes interestingly called into question.

This is just a brief mention of the book. The blog Lifetime Reading Plan has reviewed the novel more fully. Indeed, that blog's author graciously sent me her copy when she was done with it. In turn, I've sent it on to Shakespeare Geek—and no one knows where it will go from there!

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William's Midsummer Dreams: Another Shakespeare-Related Young Adult Novel

Snyder, Zilpha Keatley. William's Midsummer Dreams. New York: Atheneum, 2011.

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I spotted this novel at the local library recently; naturally, I snatched it up. Here are a few quick thoughts on it.

In a mix of narration and journal entries, it tells the story of William S. Hardison, a boy trying out for the role of Puck in a professional summer production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. He gets the role, to the chagrin of the other boy who was auditioning, and accidents start to happen. For example, someone smears the rope he swings on to make his big entrance with bacon fat, nearly causing him to fall. In addition, Hardison is trying to escape from a difficult family history.

The book is a sequel to William S. and the Great Escape, which I haven't yet read. It's not a bad novel, but it's fairly ordinary. And it does have one oddity that is pretty irksome. Whenever Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, the middle initial of the protagonist, or any lines from the play are mentioned, they are put in a strange "Old English" font. This has the effect of making them stand out—and of alienating the reader. Here's a sample from the protagonist's audition (click on the image to enlarge it):


Instead of integrating Shakespeare into the text, this has the effect of separating it.

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