July 11, 2010

The Fool's Girl

The Fool's Girl by Celia Rees

How Many Shall Fall For Her!


A young woman emerges from the sea, a lone survivor from a shipwreck, onto a foreign land. To preserve her virtue she presents herself to the Duke of Illyria as a man. In this disguise many mix-ups and mistaken identities are plotted through before Viola is able to reveal her true self to Orsino, the man she loves. Thus the story of Violetta's parents is portrayed by Shakespeare. But what has Shakespeare to do with Violetta, and what is she doing so far from home in England?

The Fool's Girl is many things, Stephano's girl, Viola's daughter, Duchessa of Illyra's, but she is no Fool's Girl. I really wanted to like this book, there are so many elements that on their own are exciting and mysterious and if explored more would have been very interesting. There are pirates, politics, Shakespeare, allusions to faeries, and love. Unfortunately the end product is a story of a girl who is always protected by one shinning knight or another.
On sale: 01 May 2010
Price (AU): $16.99
ISBN: 9781408803325
Recommended age: 12-18
In a word: Viola
Re-read it: possibly
Recommend: probably
Star rating: two out of five
xx

No comments:

Post a Comment