Fair Rosaline by Natasha Solomons

                                                    

Hardback: 335 pages                                                                                   

Genre: Historical Romantic Fiction

Publisher: Bonnier Books UK 2023

Source: Tywyn Public Library

Review Quote: Lovers of Shakespeare's most adapted tragedy will not be disappointed by Solomons' subversive counter-narrative. Vivid, turbulent and compelling. ― The Independent

First Sentences: The funeral was held at dawn and little more than an hour after Madonna Emelia Capulet passed out of this world. Rosaline trailed behind their, disconsolate with loss.

My Opinion:  Natasha Solomons is not an author whose novels I know much about, having only prior to 'Fair Rosaline' read one other and that was in 2011, 'Mr Rosenblum's List'. I selected this novel to read as I was fascinated by the following comment in the book blurb. 'A subversive, powerful untelling of Shakespeares's best-known tale, narrated by a fierce, forgotten voice: this is Rosaline's story.' The author goes on to explain in the novels notes that although we know of Rosaline's existence in Romeo and Juliet, she never appears in the play and we only hear about her existence as 'Capulet's fair niece' and that it is in order to seek her there that Romeo attends the masquerade.

I suppose I always thought of Romeo and Juliet as describing ill fated romantic love. However in this shrewd retelling Rosaline is the one person who is prepared to fight back against Romeo and expose his penchant for vulnerable young girls. This novel places Rosaline as the protagonist and also gives us a chance to see the controlling side of Romeo's character. It is a devastating tale that feels so credible and I will never see the play in quite the same way again.

Highly recommended. This clever uptake on a famous Shakespearian tale makes for a very compelling read.

Previous Review:  Mr Rosenblum's List

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

Was the greatest ever love story a lie?

The first time Romeo Montague sees young Rosaline Capulet he falls instantly in love.

Rosaline, headstrong and independent, is unsure of Romeo's attentions but with her father determined that she join a convent, this handsome and charming stranger offers her the chance of a different life.

Soon though, Rosaline begins to doubt all that Romeo has told her. She breaks off the match, only for Romeo's gaze to turn towards her cousin, thirteen-year-old Juliet. Gradually Rosaline realises that it is not only Juliet's reputation at stake, but her life.

With only hours remaining before she will be banished behind the nunnery walls, will Rosaline save Juliet from her Romeo? Or can this story only ever end one way?

A subversive, powerful untelling of Shakespeare's best-known tale, narrated by a fierce, forgotten voice: this is Rosaline's story.

Author Profile From Amazon: 

                                       

Thank so much for visiting my amazon page! Here are a few things about me. I've always worked as a writer more or less. After University I completed an MPhil in Eighteenth century literature at the University of Glasgow and then began a doctorate researching Women’s Romantic Poetry and the Domestic Muse.

Unfortunately, I became un-stuck on a chapter on Verse Letters and so began writing my first novel as way of avoiding correcting the footnotes. My entire career to date has been an extremely elaborate form of avoiding that tricky chapter…

I still love research and writing immersive fiction and hate footnotes. I live in Dorset, in a thatched cottage with my husband -- the award winning children's writer David Solomons – and our children and Labrador, Mr Bingley. Sometimes David and I write screenplays together. Then we argue about them.

Photograph and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:

Goodreads Author Profile    Twitter - Natasha Solomons.  Amazon Author Profile

Instagram - Natasha Solomon's