The Fool's Girl [Hardcover]

Celia Rees (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 20, 2010

Young and beautiful Violetta may be of royal blood, but her kingdom is in shambles when she arrives in London on a mysterious mission. Her journey has been long and her adventures many, but it is not until she meets the playwright William Shakespeare that she gets to tell the entire story from beginning to end. Violetta and her comic companion, Feste, have come in search of an ancient holy relic that the evil Malvolio has stolen from their kingdom. But where will their remarkable quest—and their most unusual story—lead? In classic Celia Rees style, it is an engrossing journey, full of political intrigue, danger, and romance.

This wholly original story is spun from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, and includes both folly and suspense that would make the Bard proud.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up–This imaginative continuation of the story of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night focuses on some of the darker and more serious elements of the play and develops them into an original story. Violetta, the daughter of Viola and Orsino, is in exile from Illyria because Sebastian, her mother's brother, has conspired with neighboring Venice to overthrow her father and seize power. She has been protected by the fool Feste, and together the two go to England to recover a precious holy relic that is a national symbol for Illyria. There they meet William Shakespeare, who becomes embroiled with them in political and religious intrigue involving Malvolio, a Jesuit operative secretly arranging to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I. Events reach a climax during a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream at a country manor in Stratford on Avon. The book is at its strongest when relating the doings of Shakespeare and other figures of the time, including Richard Burbage, Dr. Simon Forman, and Sir Robert Cecil. Rees's research is impeccable, and the details she includes about daily life and play performance in Elizabethan England are fascinating. The portions of the book set in Illyria do not seem as believable, and not just because of the fantasy and witchcraft elements. This would be an interesting read for a class studying Twelfth Night, as familiarity with the play would help readers understand some of this novel's plot elements.Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ
© Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Booklist

Conceived as both a sequel to and the inspiration for Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, this romantic drama brings Violetta, the teenaged daughter of the murdered Duke and Duchess of Illyria, to Elizabethan London in search of an important religious relic stolen by the wicked Malvolio. Accompanied and protected by the capable if moody Fool Feste, Violetta also enlists the middle-aged Shakespeare—sympathetically cast here as a hardworking artist lonely for his loving wife and family—in her quest. Shakespearean-style complications ensue, driven both by the entrance of Violetta's cousin, lifelong love, and possible betrayer, Stephano, and also the revelation that Malvolio is involved in a Catholic plot to assassinate the Queen. Expertly livening the proceedings with intrigues, japes, kisses, mildly bawdy comments (“the young are apt to be betrayed by their hearts, and other parts”), colorful characters, plot twists, quick violence, and an occasional breath of the supernatural, Rees dishes up a quick-paced tale that builds to a suspenseful climax. Just the ticket for fans of Lisa Klein's Lady Macbeth's Daughter (2009) and the plethora of similar Shakespearean sallies. Grades 8-11. --John Peters

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens; 1 edition (July 20, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1599904861
• ISBN-13: 978-1599904863
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #903,820 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Celia Rees was born in Solihull, West Midlands, UK. She studied History and Politics at Warwick University and then went on to teach English in city comprehensive schools for seventeen years. She now divides her time between writing, talking to readers in schools and libraries, and teaching creative writing.

She has written many books for older children and teenagers, and has become a leading writer for Young Adults with an international reputation. Her books have been translated into 28 languages and she has been short listed for the Guardian, Whitbread and W.H. Smith Children's Book Awards, as well as numerous regional awards in the UK and America. Witch Child won the prestigious Prix Sorcières in France in 2003, and the Di Cento Prize in Italy, 2001. Her latest book, The Fool's Girl, publishes in the U.S. in July, 2010

Celia lives in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, with her husband, Terry. Her daughter, Catrin, now lives and works in London.

To learn more about Celia and her books, visit her website at: www.celiarees.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the fools girl, August 6, 2010

By 

Fair Play - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fool's Girl (Hardcover)

Celia Rees is a subtle writer.She never lets her extensive research get in the way of an exciting story. Violetta has an almost overwhelming task but she grows into a realisation that the men she meets can only give her limited assistance, quite often reluctantly as they know what forces are ranged against her.What a great introduction to Shakespeare for any young adult who has not had the chance to enter his fascinating world.This book stands alone - you don't have to have read or seen 'Twelfth Night' to enjoy this novel but it will make the inquisitive reader want to know more.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A class writer, August 6, 2010

By 

jack vern - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fool's Girl (Hardcover)

Celia Rees always writes interesting and original stories, and the Fool's Girl is no exception. I find her stories involving, detailed, dramatic and intense, and she manages to make even 'history' interesting. Ms Rees can take a fairly simple story and somehow add a kind of 'depth' to it. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good story that is well written.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rees uses earthy humor that would undoubtedly have appealed to Shakespeare's audiences as much as it will to the youth of today., September 27, 2010

By 

Teenreads.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fool's Girl (Hardcover)

Twelfth Night was the first Shakespeare play I ever saw, and it remains my very favorite. I was in seventh grade and had been nervous about my own capacity to understand Shakespeare's language. But as soon as the local university production of the comedy began, I was instantly hooked by the romance, the humor, the mistaken identities --- and, yes, by the language, too. The quick-witted Viola, the pompous Malvolio with his ridiculous yellow stockings, the boisterous Sir Toby Belch, and the surprisingly complicated Fool, Feste, all combined to make me fall in love with the Bard.

And apparently I'm not alone in my affection for Twelfth Night. Popular author Celia Rees has used the play as the inspiration for her new novel, THE FOOL'S GIRL, providing in her typically detailed, well-researched style both a sequel of sorts to the play and a dramatic explanation of how and why Shakespeare chose to dramatize this story.

Short version of Shakespeare's play: Shipwreck victim Viola washes ashore, disguises herself as a boy to gain entry to the court of Duke Orsino, who pines for the countess Olivia even as Viola secretly longs for Orsino himself. When he sends the disguised Viola to plight his troth, Olivia falls for the young messenger instead. Much confusion ensues, but ultimately Orsino and Viola are wed, as are Olivia and Viola's long-lost twin brother, Sebastian.

In Rees's novel, Illyria, where Twelfth Night is set, is a real place, known primarily for its possession of a holy relic, the container in which one of the Magi brought a gift to the infant Jesus. But Malvolio, who, since the events eventually memorialized by Shakespeare, has become not only arrogant but also cruel, has stolen the relic and, in the wake of a rebellion staged by Sebastian, left Illyria for England with prisoners in tow. He's bent on seizing another mystical item --- a fortune-telling stone --- and on making life as miserable as possible for Violetta (daughter of Orsino and Viola) and Stephano (son of Olivia and Sebastian). Violetta, accompanied by Feste, is determined to retrieve the relic and restore it to her home country (and, she hopes, restore Illyria's fortunes as well). She and Feste have hatched a plan for the young playwright William Shakespeare to help them. But is it possible that Violetta's childhood friend Stephano has betrayed her? Can she trust him with her secrets --- and with her heart?

Rees's affection for Shakespeare's play shines through every page of THE FOOL'S GIRL. She has provided readers with countless well-researched details about Shakespeare's London, the culture of Elizabethan performance, and the plays themselves. Told in an engaging narrative style that travels forward and backward chronologically and that allows a half-dozen characters to share storytelling duties, the novel unfolds briskly and suspensefully. Like Shakespeare's plays, it treads the line between lyrical and bawdy, as Rees uses earthy humor that would undoubtedly have appealed to Shakespeare's audiences as much as it will to the youth of today.

Although THE FOOL'S GIRL will be of most interest to students who have already read Shakespeare's play, it can still be read and enjoyed by those who long for romance, drama, and a heady mix of history, magic and literature.

--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl