Suzanne

Gorgeous, engrossing, and thought-provoking. A fictional speculation on the connection between the real-life death of Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, and his subsequent writing of Hamlet, which dramatized the relationship between a father and son in death. My only criticism is that the book’s idealization of Anne Hathaway felt overdone, but even that idealization was enjoyable if I let go and allowed myself to partake in the modern fantasy of the perfectly wise healer-witch-rebel woman.

This book is Scorpio lightning-electro-shock therapy administered underwater. I felt like I was immersed in a play about a past life only my body remembered. The themes of friendship gone awry, vague sexual boundaries, and adulthood plagued by the traumas of adolescence will resonate with most, but the author keeps you on the edge of your seat with changes in narration and perspective. I recommend the audiobook version for the expert acting and increased drama.

The cover art drew me in, but if I knew it was essentially a treatise on violence against women, I wouldn’t have opened to the first page. In this case, I’m glad I did. It theorized on violence and oppression in a way that elevated it beyond despair porn (and made me think), but it’s real hook was a collection of viscerally relatable female characters whose caustic existence made my own vulgarities feel like evidence of aliveness.