which are aimed at young teenagers. I reviewed two of them in my initial blog entry on
This book refers to several of Shakespeare’s works. It
begins with a quote from Twelfth Night:
“Come away, come away, death,/And in sad cypress let me be laid./Fly away, fly
away, breath; I am slain by a fair cruel maid” (p. 1). That is a song from Act
II Scene iv. And then each section of the book begins with a quoted passage
from one of Shakespeare’s plays. Part 2 begins with this line from Much Ado About Nothing: “I had rather hear
my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me” (p. 65). That is a line
that Beatrice says in Act I Scene i. This novel makes other references to Much
Ado About Nothing, even referring to some of that plays characters. For
example, Isabella says: “My husband Don Pedro was to join me here, but the
obstinate fellow sends word he plans to remain in Padua some weeks – his friend
Benedick wishes to make him godfather to his child” (p. 91). Don Pedro later
shows up in the novel, and says, “My friends Sir Claudio of Messina and Sir
Benedick of Padua have joined their forces to mine” (p. 309). Part 3 begins
with a line from Othello: “Knavery’s
plain face is never seen till us’d” (p. 121). This is a line that Iago speaks
at the end of Act II scene i. Part 4 begins with a line from Coriolanus: “O, kiss/Long as my exile,
sweet as my revenge!” (p. 173). Coriolanus
says that line in Act V Scene iii. Part 5 begins with a line from Julius Caesar: “Cry ‘Havoc!’ and let
slip the dogs of war” (p. 251). Antony speaks that line in Act III Scene i. The epilogue begins with a line from Romeo And Juliet: “A glooming peace this
morning with it brings” (p. 315). That is the first line of the final speech of
the play. And of course there are other references to Romeo And Juliet in this novel. At one point, Taub writes, “With an
obscene bit of his thumb at Livia, he turned and ran off into the night” (p.
112), referring to something included in the beginning of the play. There is
also a little play on the whole lark bit from Romeo And Juliet. There is a reference to A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the line, “Perhaps the nurse had a
potion that would cause Rosaline to fall madly in love with the first man she
saw” (p. 82). There is also a Hamlet
reference, as Benvolio and Rosaline meet a joyful gravedigger, a relative of
one of the gravediggers from Hamlet.
About the song he’s singing, he says, “I had it from a cousin of mine who lived
among the Danes.” He then continues: “Ah! He has gone up in the world, for he
has buried princes and queens, whiles my humble self has never buried better
than a count” (p. 142).
There is an author’s note at the end of the book, in
which she mentions that many of the names of the characters in this book come
from the list of party guests in Romeo
And Juliet. She also acknowledges her allusions to both Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing.
- Prince Of Shadows: A Novel Of Romeo And
Juliet by Rachel Caine - This
novel is told in the first person by Benvolio, and begins a little before the
events told in Shakespeare’s play, and ends just a bit after those events. The
novel is divided into five sections, and for some reason these are labeled as
Quartos. That doesn’t really make sense. “Quarto” doesn’t mean “chapter.”
Benvolio’s character is a bit different from that portrayed in the play. In
this novel he is referred to as the Prince of Shadows, the best thief in
Verona, so clearly different from the honorable man Shakespeare created. The
first scene has Benvolio sneaking into the Capulet home with a knife to
humiliate Tybalt. He is disguised so as not to give away his identity or house,
and he steals Tybalt’s emblem and rapier. Rosaline lives in the Capulet palace,
and is Tybalt’s sister. Benvolio sneaks into her room and finds her awake – and
beautiful. Mercutio is in on Benvolio’s thievery. Mercutio is portrayed as gay
in this novel, and is in love with a man named Tomasso. Benvolio and Romeo are
aware of his secret. Benvolio’s grandmother is sort of the fierce head of the
Montagues, and she summons Benvolio because she’s upset that Romeo has fallen
in love with Rosaline. She knows Benvolio is the Prince of Shadows, and charges
him with stealing back Romeo’s love letters. Romeo, age sixteen, also knows
that Benvolio is the Prince of Shadows. Also, Balthasar, Benvolio’s servant,
knows his secret identity. Hey, who doesn’t? Well, when Benvolio sneaks into
Rosaline’s chamber to fetch the letters, she catches him again, and this time
guesses his identity. In this novel, Rosaline is destined for the convent.
The novel does tell the story of the play, and it is on
page 88 that we get to the first scene of the play, with the biting of the
thumbs. There are lines taken directly from the play, though oddly sometimes
the context and even the speaker changes. For example, in this novel Benvolio
says, “He jests at scars who never felt a wound.” In the play, it is Romeo who
speaks that line (except “who” is “that”). And the Queen Mab speech is moved
from before the party to lines written in Mercutio’s secret diary. Mercutio
still says “If love be rough with you, be rough with love,” but it is moved
from before the Queen Mab speech to a tavern scene.
A marriage is arranged for Mercutio and Mercutio is
afraid of losing his lover. And then they’re caught together, and Mercutio’s
father beats him while Romeo and Benvolio stand by helplessly. Men then hang
Tomasso.
The timeline is quite different in this book. The events
of Romeo And Juliet cover just a few
days. This novel really stretches out that time to several months, which
changes the feel. A lot of time has passed since the thumb-biting scene. And then
after the murder of Tomasso a month passes, and Mercutio is wed. He hears that
Rosaline is responsible for the betrayal of Tomasso, but the fault lies with
Veronica, Benvolio’s sister.
Benvolio, Mercutio and Romeo overhear Paris and Capulet’s
conversation, in which Paris says that younger maids than Juliet had made happy
mothers (Act I Scene ii of the play). Again, a lot of time has passed between
the first scene of the play and this one. It then goes into the bit about Romeo
reading the list of those invited to the Capulet party. They go to the party.
Rosaline is there, as Tybalt had brought her back from the convent she had chosen. Romeo and
Mercutio’s dialogue about dreams is moved to within the Capulet party. In this
version, Benvolio sees the exchange between Romeo and Juliet (of course, he has
to, as the book is told from his point of view). This novel changes Capulet’s
tone when he speaks well of Romeo at the party: “His words were honey, but his
expression vinegar; he was thinking of the politics of the matter, and of the
prince’s royal presence in the very room” (p. 181). After the party, “Weeks
passed” (p. 187), which in the play would mean that Romeo and Juliet are long
dead. Not so in this novel. It is after this that Romeo jumps over the wall to
see Juliet for the balcony scene (long after the night when they first met).
Benvolio and Mercutio witness him jumping over the wall, and then Romeo meets
Benvolio at the end of the balcony scene. Rosaline steps out on her own
balcony, and something wordless passes between her and Benvolio.
Mercutio’s lines to Benvolio, “You’re like one of those
fellows who enters a tavern, claps his sword upon the table, and says, ‘God
send me no need of thee’…” is said while Benvolio is pursuing a man to kill
him. So again, the meaning is quite different from Shakespeare’s play. His
quarry leads them into Capulet territory. This leads to “By my head, the
Capulets will have us if we are not careful” (different from Shakespeare’s “By
my head, here comes the Capulets”). The response is the same: “By my heel, I
care not.” Because of Mercutio’s homosexuality in this version, there is a
different meaning to Tybalt’s “What wouldst thou have with me?” Rachel Caine
makes it clear: “‘Why, Mercutio, what would you have with me?’ Tybalt asked,
and made a rude gesture a man would give to entice a whore, so that there was
no mistaking his meaning” (p. 242).
In this telling of the story, much is made of Mercutio’s
curse on both houses, and he has help from a witch. And another strong focus is
the relationship between Benvolio and Rosaline. While Romeo is in bed with
Juliet in Juliet’s room, Benvolio and Rosaline share a kiss in Rosaline’s room.
Rosaline believes it is not love between Romeo and Juliet, but some sorcery
behind it. The Friar purchased the vial from the witch instead of getting it from
his own garden. So this novel really makes the attraction between Romeo and
Juliet the result of a curse and not love at first sight. Benvolio and Rosaline
begin to fall under the curse’s spell as well.
It is Benvolio who send Balthasar to serve Romeo in
Mantua. And Benvolio is present when Friar Lawrence learns his letter was not
delivered to Romeo, and so is also present at the Capulet tomb, even hearing
Juliet’s lines, which is a bit silly. Sillier still is that the ghosts of
Mercutio and Romeo appear to Benvolio and help him. There is some silliness
regarding a string of rosary beads clinging to Benvolio’s hand, and him
thrusting his hand into the fire to destroy them (this is part of what he must
do to remove the curse).
The poor nurse doesn’t survive this book either (she was
also killed in Still Star-Crossed). And
Benvolio and Rosaline do end up together at the end.
There are references to other plays by Shakespeare. For
example, Benvolio whispers to a sleeping Tybalt, “Good night, sweet prince,
thou poxy son of a dog” (p. 3). The first part of that line is a reference to a
line from Hamlet. There is another Hamlet reference later when Benvolio
says, “Though it is madness, there is method in it” (p. 272). In Hamlet,
Polonius says, regarding Hamlet, “Though this be madness, yet there is method
in ‘t” (Act II Scene ii). And there are
a couple of instances of someone saying, “Measure for measure” (as on p. 176).
And Friar Lawrence says, “Only two days more will see the lovers reunited and
safely away, and all’s well that ends well” (p. 304). There is also a reference
to Othello near the end, when
Mercutio’s ghost tells Benvolio, “Love well, if not wisely” (p. 340). Othello
says, at the end of the play, “Of one that lov’d not wisely but too well.”
Prince Of Shadows:
A Novel Of Romeo And Juliet was published in February, 2014.
- The Juliet Spell by Douglas Rees - The Juliet Spell is a Harlequin Teen novel about a teenager
named Miranda Hoberman who casts a spell to help her get the role of Juliet in
her school’s production of Romeo And
Juliet, and ends up summoning Edmund Shakeshaft from 1597. This book is
told from the perspective of Miranda Hoberman, who begins the story by
auditioning for the role of Juliet. Bobby Ruspoli reads Romeo. The scene they
do is the balcony scene, beginning with Romeo’s first line: “He jests at scars
that never felt a wound.” This book understands what “wherefore” means, and
actually makes a point of telling its readers: “You probably though Juliet was
asking where Romeo is, right? Wrong. She has no idea he’s anywhere around. He’s
just been thrown out of the party her father was giving. He’s gone. She’s
asking why the guy’s name has to be Romeo, and the next lines make that clear”
(p. 9). The high school drama teacher doesn’t even like the play. He makes that
clear when he tells the students, “Romeo
And Juliet, William Shakespeare’s most overrated piece of hackwork” (p.
13). Miranda’s mother had acted for several years, and her one regret was that
she never played Juliet. Miranda casts a spell, saying, “Make me Juliet.” And a
boy named Edmund Shakeshaft appears in the room. He’s frightened and says “ye
are Queen Mab, or one of her servants” (p. 25). He says it’s March 15, 1597.
She exposes him to television by putting on a DVD of Romeo And Juliet. Edmund, when the movie starts, says, “Witch, by
what enchantment have ye conjured up me brother William’s play?” (p. 40).
Edmund reveals that he played Juliet, the first person ever to do so, in 1594.
He later played Paris. It’s a shame that Miranda didn’t know more about
Shakespeare. She could have asked Edmund about Love’s Labour’s Won, and whether someone co-wrote Titus Andronicus or The First Part Of King Henry The Sixth, and whether the poaching
tale is true, and what Shakespeare did between 1586 and 1592, and so on. That
night when Edmund prays, he mentions Shakespeare’s children, calling his son
Hamlet, not Hamnet. Edmund attends the next day’s auditions to read for Romeo.
Miranda’s friend Drew reads for Mercutio. Miranda ends up getting cast as
Juliet; Edmund is cast as Romeo; Drew is cast as Mercutio; and Bobby is cast as
Tybalt. The drama teacher continues to speak poorly of the play: “If Romeo and Juliet proves anything, it
proves that Shakespeare’s reputation is based, at least in part, on crap” (p.
86). Edmund whispers to Miranda that Shakespeare wrote Romeo And Juliet in “Winter of ninety-three” (p. 87). Later they
learn that a member of the Ashland Shakespeare Festival staff will be attending
a performance of the play because of a new apprenticeship program. The director
has a heart attack, which cancels the play. But Edmund rallies the cast
together, and they find another venue for their production. And then William
Shakespeare shows up. Following his appearance is the disappearance of his
folio, because now the timeline has changed. At one point Shakespeare says, “’Twas
just like hiding from the game wardens in Stratford” (p. 253), perhaps a
reference to the poaching tale. At the end of the novel, William Shakespeare
and Edmund return to their time. Shakespeare says to everyone, “Look for
yourselves in my folio” (p. 257). But as far as we know, Shakespeare had no
interest in collecting his plays in a published folio. That was done by other
people seven years after his death.
This novel has references to several other Shakespeare
plays. Edmund says, “O, brave new world that hath such people in it” (p. 36), a
line from The Tempest, a play which
in 1597 had yet to be written. And in fact when Miranda shows Edmund a book of
Shakespeare’s complete works, he remarks that William has not written The Tempest. Miranda says, “Not yet…We
think that was his last one” (p. 43). And of course, Miranda’s name is also a
reference to The Tempest. There is
another reference to The Tempest later in the novel. Miranda’s father hangs a
banner in their yard that reads, “SUCH STUFF AS DREAMS ARE MADE ON,” quoting Prospero’s
famous speech from Act IV. Oddly, the author includes a bizarre error in this
scene. He writes: “ ‘Alas,’ Shakespeare said when he saw the sign. ‘Your noble
father has quoted the wrong play. My line is, ‘We are such stuff as dreams are
made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.’ ‘Tis from Midsummer Night’s Dream’” (p. 249). He
has Shakespeare say one of his own lines from The Tempest (which at this point Shakespeare hasn’t even written)
is from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Such an odd mistake. At the end of the book, Miranda acknowledges, “And maybe I’m
Miranda in The Tempest and maybe Dad
is the duke-magician who makes everything happen” (p. 259).
Edmund quotes Kent from King Lear, when he yells at a driver, “Ye’re the whoreson heir of a
mongrel bitch, an eater of broken meats” (p. 49). In Act II Scene ii, Kent
gives a beautiful long string of insults, early on saying “an eater of broken meats,”
and then later in the speech saying, “the son and heir of a mongrel bitch.” Later
Miranda shouts at a driver, “Whoreson heir of a mongrel bitch” (p. 137). At the
end of the book, after William and Edmund have returned to their time, the
author writes: “Lately, I’ve been reading in the folio, looking for characters
in the plays that might be us. In King
Lear there’s a villain named Edmund. I wonder if Shakespeare wrote it for
his brother” (p. 259).
There is a reference to Falstaff (of both of the Henry IV plays and The Merry Wives Of Windsor) in the name of a pub: “Falstaff’s A
Traditional English Pub” (p. 51).
Edmund quotes Hamlet’s most famous speech: “’Tis a
consummation devoutly to be wished” (p. 84). Later Miranda sees pictures of one
of the adults in the play, including “portraits of him all in black as Hamlet”
(p. 155). There are more references to Hamlet after William Shakespeare
appears. Edmund says to him, “Come, brother. Let us absent ourselves from their
felicity awhile” (p. 228). The author then writes: “Shakespeare stood up and followed
him down the hall murmuring, ‘Absent – felicity…” (p. 228). The idea is that
Shakespeare is remembering it to use in Hamlet’s speech in Act V Scene ii, when
he says, “Absent thee from felicity awhile.” Shakespeare is working on a new
play, and Miranda asks him what he’s calling it. “‘The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, I think,’ Shakespeare
said” (p. 229). And then the author writes: “‘A fig on it,’ Edmund said.
‘Everyone has seen the old one’” (p. 229). This response doesn’t quite make
sense, as Edmund has seen the collected works of William Shakespeare and knows
that the play is a success. And then there is another error. If the timeline is
changed, and Shakespeare hasn’t written Hamlet,
then it makes no sense when some guy on a motorcycle shouts, “To be or not to
be, is that the question?” (p. 236).
When Edmund is asked for his previous credits, he
includes, “I perform’d Doctor Pinch in Ye
Comedy of Errors” (p. 74). There is another reference to that play when the
drama teacher says, about Romeo And
Juliet, “The second half of this thing might as well be called The Comedy of Errors II” (p. 87). The
play is mentioned again when they young players are meeting with people who
could build their set for them: “Because most of it’s ready to go – we did the
same kind of thing last year up in San Francisco. Open air Comedy of Errors. We’ve still got the stage” (p. 198).
After Edmund gets the role of Romeo he says, “All’s well
that ends well” (p. 84).
At one point Edmund says: “I read in Will’s book. A thing
called MacBeth. Very poorly writ.
This fellow MacBeth has a wife who speaks of children that never appear” (p.
99). Later Edmund quotes the play: “If ‘twere done when ‘twere done, then
‘twere best done quickly” (p. 123), which is the first line of Macbeth’s speech
in Act I Scene vii. Well, the actual line is “If it were done, when ‘tis done,
then ‘twere well/It were done quickly.”
A little later Edmund sings a song from Act V Scene iii
of As You Like It (p. 112). That play
is mentioned again by Edmund: “’Tis like the Forest of Arden in As You Like It” (p. 129). And then he
refers to Jacques’ famous speech when he says, “If all the world’s a stage as
‘tis said” (p. 195). Later, after William Shakespeare shows up, there is
another reference to that speech: “‘So anyway, I thought that, if the stage is
the world, then the world is a stage,’ Drew said” (p. 209). And this novel has
Drew quoting Shakespeare be the thing that gives Shakespeare the idea in the
first place: “‘All the world’s a stage!’
Shakespeare said. ‘All the men and women
merely players. I must write that down’” (p. 209).
Edmund also makes reference to A Midsummer Night’s Dream when he says, “Oh, I am a very fox for
valor” (p. 148). Lysander, in Act V Scene i, says, “The lion is a very fox for
his valour.” There is another reference to A
Midsummer Night’s Dream later: “Oh, did I mention that Edmund was
brilliant? He was totally in charge and totally not throwing his weight around.
He was Oberon the fairy king and we were his loyal sprites” (p. 204). And after
William Shakespeare shows up, he says to Miranda’s mother, “Ye are wise as ye
are beautiful” (p. 217), nearly quoting Titania’s line to Bottom (“Thou art as
wise as thou art beautiful”).
Miranda’s mother gives Miranda relationship advice by
mentioning Much Ado About Nothing:
“There’s another play Shakespeare wrote around 1597, Much Ado About Nothing. I played Beatrice. She was in that kind of
situation and she handled it pretty well” (p. 162). Beatrice is mentioned again
at the end: “I had taken a try at being Beatrice” (p. 261).
There is also a reference to The Winter’s Tale. At the end of the book, the author writes: “And
maybe Mom is in The Winter’s Tale as
Paulina, the noblewoman who stands up for the truth against the king. It’s the
kind of thing Mom would do.”
There seems to be a mistake in the book, because Bobby
(who is playing Tybalt) says to Edmund (who is playing Romeo), “Capulet
bastard” (p. 166). Of course he should say “Montague bastard.”
The Juliet Spell was published in 2011.
- Anyone But You by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes - This
novel takes the Romeo And Juliet
story and moves it to modern-day Chicago, with the two families owning rival
Italian restaurants. It’s told from the perspective of Julietta Caputo (who
goes by the nickname Gigi), who is turning sixteen (so a bit older than
Shakespeare’s Juliet) and spends all her time working in the restaurant. The
Caputos are involved in a feud with the Montes, who own a nearby restaurant.
But what is interesting is that this novel also gives us the history of how the
feud started, with alternating chapters told from the perspective of Nick
Monte, those chapters taking place in the 1930s through the 1940s.
Each of the chapter titles is a line or phrase from Romeo And Juliet. Chapter 1 is titled
“From Ancient Grudge Break to New Mutiny,” a line from the Chorus’ opening
speech. This chapter is told from Gigi’s perspective, and she talks about the
rivalry with another family-run restaurant, a rivalry whose origin no one seems
to know. A fire alarm causes the sprinkler system to go off, ruining the
customers’ food, on a night when a restaurant critic is there. The Caputos
assume that Roman Monte is behind it. In the second chapter, “She Doth Teach
the Torches to Burn Bright,” we go back to the Depression where twelve-year-old
Nick Monte and his best friend Benny Caputo go to the World’s Fair. Nick, who is afraid of heights, meets Stella
and is immediately smitten. The third chapter, “It Is an Honor That I Dream Not
Of,” returns us to Gigi, who is about to turn sixteen. Gigi’s father tries to
set her up with Perry (this novel’s version of Paris), the son of a man he’s
doing business with. Gigi’s cousin is Ty, the Tybalt of this story.
Interestingly, the family cat is named Sampson, which is the name of the
Capulet servant who speaks the first line of Act I Scene i of Shakespeare’s
play. Gigi, like Juliet, is cut off from having a social life. She goes to an
all-girl school, and works at the restaurant nearly every evening. The fourth
chapter is titled “Is Thy News Good or Bad? Answer to That.” In the fifth
chapter, “Then, Dreadful Trumpet, Sound The General Doom,” we learn that Chef
(the equivalent of Nurse) calls Gigi “Ladybird,” as the Nurse does in
Shakespeare’ play. On the night of her Sweet Sixteen birthday party, Roman and
two friends crash the party (as Romeo, Benvolio and Mercutio crash the Capulet
party in the play), and Gigi sees Roman and is instantly attracted to him. In
the sixth chapter, “What Light Through Yonder Window Breaks,” Nick and Benny
start a pizza restaurant. At this point, they’re twenty years old, so it’s
eight years after the events in second chapter. Interestingly, in this chapter,
there are direct references to the play. The first is when Nick says to Benny,
“He’s been switched, under cover of night, with some sappy, starry-eyed Romeo”
(p. 62). He then says, “But that’s what you may liken your ‘fair Juliet’ to
tomorrow when the next pretty girl turns your head” (p. 62). It turns out that
Benny has now fallen in love with Stella (now going by the name Estelle). A
greater time period is covered in the Nick chapters than in the Gigi chapters. In
chapter seven, “You Kiss by the Book,” we return to Gigi’s birthday party,
where she again sees Roman. She calls him “the very object of my idolatry” (p.
73). In Shakespeare’s play, Juliet says “the god of my idolatry.” He tells her
he came with friends who crashed the party, and he’s unaware that she’s
Caputo’s daughter. They kiss, and he leaves before she learns his name. But her
cousin Ty recognizes him and tells Gigi who he is. In the eighth chapter, “This
But Begins the Woe Others Must End,” there is another direct reference to the
play, as Nick takes Carmen to Queenie Mab’s Candy Shoppe (p. 89). There he runs
into Stella. The ninth chapter, “My Only Love Sprung From My Only Hate,” returns
us to the end of Gigi’s party. Gigi steps outside and calls her friend, leaving
a message about Roman, which Roman overhears, just as Romeo overhears Juliet’s
declaration of love for him. And Gigi warns Roman, “You know, if anyone finds
you here,” just as Juliet worries about Romeo. There is another sort of
reference to the play, when Gigi says, “After all, this wasn’t the sixteenth
century” (p. 98), the century in which Shakespeare wrote Romeo And Juliet. This chapter, which has the equivalent of the
balcony scene, finds Gigi saying: “‘Of all people,’ I finally said, trying to
keep a hold of my senses, ‘why do you have to be Roman Monte? Why couldn’t you
just be ‘Joe Schmo?’” (p. 99), the equivalent of “Wherefore art thou Romeo?”
Chef interrupts them, just as Nurse interrupts Romeo and Juliet. The tenth
chapter is titled “The Earth Hath Swallow’d All My Hopes But She,” and marks
the United States’ entry into World War II. The eleventh chapter, “Here’s Much
to Do with Hate, But More with Love,” takes us to the morning after Gigi’s
party. And we learn that Mark is basically the Mercutio character, as Roman
tells Gigi: “Oh, that’s Mark…Not related, but he’s a waiter here. We go to
school together, too. He’s the funniest guy I’ve ever met. He loves to hear
himself talk” (p. 122). But their relationship is a bit different from that
between Romeo and Mercutio, as Roman continues, saying that Mark “mocks me
endlessly, but there’s no one I trust more with my secrets. He already knows
about you, actually” (p. 122). In the play, Romeo never tells Mercutio about
Juliet. If only he had, all the deaths might have been prevented. The twelfth
chapter is titled “I Am No Pilot.” The thirteenth chapter is titled “I’ll Pay
That Doctrine, or Else Die in Debt.” There is a reference to The Merchant Of Venice in this chapter,
when Perry says, “Pops can be a real Shylock, I’ll grant you” (p. 142). The
fourteenth chapter is titled “Sad Hours Seem Long.” There is another reference
to the play, when Nick remembers a letter that Stella had sent him. That letter
includes the line, “Until then, I must make do with cutting remembrances of you
into little stars that shine on me always” (p. 148). That is a reference to a
line in Juliet’s “Gallop apace” speech: “Take him and cut him out in little
stars,/And he will make the face of heaven so fine.” The fifteenth chapter is
titled, “Beautiful Tyrant! Fiend Angelical!” In this chapter, we learn that
Roman and Ty did have some sort of altercation, and that Roman was trying to
protect Mark. So it is similar to the play, except that Mark and Ty are still
alive (though Ty is in critical condition in the hospital, and Mark says it was
an accident). The sixteenth chapter is titled “No Warmth, No Breath, Shall
Testify Thou Livest.” This chapter has another direct reference to the play, as
Nick’s plane is christened “Fair Rosaline” (p. 164). The seventeenth chapter is
titled “A Madness Most Discreet.” The eighteenth chapter is titled “Why the
Devil Came You Between Us?” The nineteenth chapter is titled “Thou Canst Not
Teach Me to Forget.” In this chapter (and a bit in earlier chapters), Carmen
sort of plays the Friar Lawrence role. Here she conspires to get Gigi one more
night with Roman before the family moves. She even has lines similar to those
the Friar speaks. She says: “You’re alive. That’s
something to be happy about. You’re young and beautiful. That’s something to be happy about. You have a family that loves
you, and a very charming boy who
loves you, too” (p. 191) Compare those lines to these that the Friar speaks to
Romeo: “Thy Juliet is alive,/For whose dear sake thou wast but lately
dead./There are thou happy. Tybalt would kill thee,/But thou slewest Tybalt.
There art thou happy./The law, that threaten’d death, becomes thy friend/And
turns it to exile. There art thou happy.” The twentieth chapter is titled “See
What a Scourge Is Laid Upon Your Hate.” The twenty-first chapter is titled “Two
Households, Both Alike in Dignity.” And the epilogue is titled “And the Rank
Poison of the Old Will Die.” At the end of the novel there are two more
references to the play. The inscription on a bench reads in part, “From gloom
and woe let peace and friendship grow,” a reference to the Prince’s final
speech of the play. And the last line is, “In the trees above us, a nightingale
– or was it a lark? – sang sweetly” (p. 222), a reference to the scene of Romeo
and Juliet’s morning parting.
This is actually a really good book, and I was surprised
to find myself so emotionally engaged.
Anyone But You
was published in 2014.
