Fair Rosaline: The most exciting historical retelling of 2023: a subversive, powerful untelling of Romeo and Juliet Paperback – 3 August 2023

When Rosaline Capulet's mother dies of the plague, and her father tells her she must enter the convent in Mantua because he lacks the money to provide a dowry for her wedding, she asks him for twelve days to bid farewell to the world she knows. The Montagues throw a masquerade to celebrate the end of the plague, and Rosaline attends it in disguise. It is there that she meets and falls in love with Romeo Montague. She is so much in love that she is quite prepared to flee with him to Mantua, to live as man and wife... until she learns that he has a less than savory past... and has left several broken hearts and lives in his wake. Their affair ends when she confronts him, and he begins pursuing Juliet, her fourteen-year-old cousin. Rosaline is then determined to save her cousin at any price...A great read--again, serialized by Pigeonhole.

This novel explores the timeless tragedy of Romeo and Juliet with raw sincerity through the eyes of Romeo’s discarded lover Rosaline.A willful and determined young woman in her own right, Rosaline is bound to join a convent but yearns to experience life in color. She is entranced by the older Romeo, whose grand declarations of love seem a bit too practiced. When she ultimately denies him and he turns his attentions on Juliet, Rosaline knows she must do all she can to protect her 13 year old cousin from the predatory RomeoThis novel is rich with descriptions of both setting and emotion, pulling the reader into a fictionalized Italy where the streets hum with activity and the heart aches with a forbidden love. Rosaline is plagued by her secret affection for Romeo even as pestilence haunts the city. Natasha Solomons expertly handles the complex emotions of Rosaline, the war between duty and desire.Love is not what it seems, with Romeo’s fickle affections pulling Rosalie away from the steadfast love of her cousin Tybalt. The Capulet adults are aloof and unfeeling, more interested in profiting from their daughters than protecting them from dangerous men like RomeoThis novel is truly superb, revealing that the most well-known love story in literature is in fact a tragedy of discarded and neglected women. But with Rosaline at the helm, this ship might steer toward a different path than what readers have come to expect from “Romeo and Juliet”

R&J is my most favourite of Shakespeare's plays. This re-telling, from Rosaline's point of view, however, makes me see many (most!) of the characters in a very different light. It is an absolutely inspired piece of writing. It won't 'spoil' your feelings towards the bard's tale, but it will help you re-think it.

"Fair Rosaline" is an untelling of Shakespeare’s "Romeo and Juliet." With this novel, Natasha Solomons gives us a fresh perspective that turns the beloved tragedy on its head. In Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," Rosaline is a relatively minor character who never actually appears on stage. She is mentioned early in the play as the woman Romeo is infatuated with before he meets Juliet. Rosaline's role is to highlight Romeo's impulsive nature and his tendency to fall in and out of love quickly. She is a symbol of unrequited love, representing the idea of a distant, unattainable object of affection. Romeo's swift transition from being heartbroken over Rosaline to falling deeply in love with Juliet underscores the intensity and spontaneity of his emotions.However, in "Fair Rosaline" by Natasha Solomons, Rosaline takes on the central role, and her character is fully fleshed out beyond just being a brief mention in the original play. In this novel, Rosaline is no longer just a fleeting object of Romeo's affection but the protagonist of the story. The narrative reimagines her as a young woman with her own desires, struggles, and agency. Rather than being a passive figure, she becomes the driving force of the plot, navigating the dangerous and manipulative world around her.Without spoiling the plot here, Solomons paints Romeo in a completely different light. No more is he the star-crossed lover we know from Shakespeare. This shift in perspective transforms the entire narrative, offering a darker and more complex view of the familiar tale. Rosaline's role is no longer to serve as a stepping stone to Juliet merely but to challenge the very foundations of the story we thought we knew.In "Fair Rosaline," Rosaline emerges as a strong, independent character who fights against the oppressive forces around her. The novel not only gives her a voice but also critiques the romanticized view of other characters. This reimagining provides a fresh perspective on the classic story, making Rosaline the true heroine and turning the tale of Romeo and Juliet into a story of survival and empowerment.I thoroughly enjoyed the novel for its daring narrative and the way it challenges our preconceived notions of a timeless classic. It’s a bold move that might not sit well with everyone, especially if you hold a soft spot for the original Romeo. But that’s precisely what makes "Fair Rosaline" such a compelling read—it invites us to question the stories we’ve been told and explore the darker sides of the characters we thought we knew.

Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare's tragic star crossed lovers. This version paints Romeo's actions as he is first consumed with love for fair Rosalind, then in a blink of an eye her younger cousin Juliet, in a very dubious light. Food for thought.

This book left me asking the question ‘Have we all, through the centuries, been so beguiled and seduced by the charming and plausible Romeo that we have failed to see him for what he truly is?’