The Fool's Girl by Celia Rees

Summary

Young and beautiful Violetta is of noble blood, but her country is in shambles. She and her comic companion, Feste, have just arrived in London on a mysterious quest. Their journey has been long and their misfortunes many, but it is not until they encounter the playwright William Shakespeare that the whole story is reveled. Violetta and Feste are in search of an ancient holy relic-her country’s greatest treasure-that the evil Malvolio has stolen. Malvolio’s plot seems complex and wide reaching, but it’s not clear who else is involved . . . until Violetta’s childhood love, Stephan, enters the scene. Is this remarkable story a comedy or a tragedy? Spun from Shakespeare’s unproarious, Twelfth Night, Celia Rees has crafted a wholly original adventure that stretches from the shores of Illyria to the Forest of Arden, where romance and danger go hand in hand.

Number of pages: 287

Review

Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is not a play I am actually familiar with, but this book kind of makes me want to know more about it. This book is like a “what-happened-after” story with Viola’s noble and beautiful daughter, Violetta. When her country’s most holy relic is stolen as well as her country, and she goes and tries to get it back. Because obviously the female lead needs some spunk and this one has it. Now add the really handsome boyfriend and a mischievous Fool and this story gets interesting. The plot was good, but I got confused at times. Rees wanted to make it seem like you never know who you can trust, but it got to the point where I was like “whaaaat???” I did really like all the characters. Especially how Rees incorporated Shakespeare (“Will”) in the whole book that helped to save the day. I never really thought to give Shakespeare a personality before, but I loved how he turned out here knowing how this loyal and, to be honest, stressed out guy really becomes extremely famous. The ending came suddenly. I was reading and was surprised to see the pages thinning when at the time it seemed like the story was going nowhere. It was a good ending, though a bit predictable. From 1- 10? All around I would have to give this a 6.