Shakespeare has permanently etched this day in our collective brains cautioning Caesar to “beware the Ides of March”. Well, he didn’t and look what happened to him. Some people say that Shakespeare wrote every story possible: love, jealousy, revenge, intrigue, murder, mystery and fantasy. For centuries he’s been beloved and despaired of by school children. His characters are instantly recognizable and have been adapted and imagined by these writers, placing Shakepeare’s greatest heroes and villain in another time or place, or just speculating what might have happened next.
In the centuries following The Tempest, we learn in L. Jagi Lamplighter’s Prospero Lost (M) that Miranda is running the family’s corporation. Prospero Inc is keeping the world safe from natural and man-made disasters. Miranda must enlist the help of her eight siblings when their father Prospero goes missing. Prospero has warned Miranda that the mysterious Shadowed Ones are planning to steal their family’s magic.
In the second of the series, Prospero in Hell (M), Prospero has been taken prisoner in hell. The demons are demanding an enormous ransom for his release. Miranda, the always dutiful eldest daughter, must venture to hell to rescue her father, all while trying to keep her siblings in line. Finally in the third in the series Prospero Regained (M) Prospero’s family make their journey through hell to rescue Prospero and their siblings, all while coming to grips with their centuries old family secrets and mysteries.
Iago: a novel (M) by David Snodin picks up where Othello leaves off. Iago escapes Cyprus accused of the murders of The Moor and his wife. Young Stornell travels with and is held hostage by Iago. He is a young Venetian scholar and it is through his eyes that we see Iago pursued by Annipale Malipiero, chief inquisitor of Venice, well known for his cruel torture techniques.
The Great Night (M) by Chris Adrian. San Francisco’s Buena Vista Park is the secret home of Oberon, Titiania and their court (A Midsummer’s Night Dream). Titania is heartbroken over the end of her marriage, and three mortals, with broken hearts of their own, get caught up in her chaos. Titania releases Puck onto an unsuspecting world causing much confusion and madness.
Juliet: a novel (M) by Anne Fortier. Modern day Julie Jacob inherits a key to an Italian safety deposit box which leads her to her ancestor Guiletta who was in love with a young man named Romeo. Julie travels to Italy, not only to learn about her family history, but to find information about her parents’ suspicious deaths.
And in another variation on Romeo and Juliet in O, Juliet (M) by Robin Maxwell, Juliet Capellati might either face an arranged marriage to a business man of her father’s choice, or the love of Romeo, a dreamer who wishes to make peace between their families. The plague has hit Florence claiming many lives and Romeo, once a younger son of little importance is summoned home.
The Turquoise Ring (M) by Grace Tiffany is a re-telling of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. A young Spanish Jew, Shiloh ben Gozan, flees the Inquisition with his infant daughter. His only possession is his late wife’s turquoise ring. Leah, his wife, was tortured and killed for refusing to renounce her faith. The ring becomes central to his life and the lives of those who surround him.
An Antic Disposition (M) by Alan Gordon tells the “true” story behing Shakespeare’s greatest character – Hamlet. Theophilos, a jester hiding with the Fool’s Guild in the Black Forest, tells the story of his teacher Terence of York who is better known as Yorick.
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