Book Review: The Fool’s Girl by Celia Rees
The Fool’s Girl by Celia Rees. © 2010 Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books. ISBN 9781599904863. Hardback. Historical/Young Adult. 297 pages. $16.99 US. Source: copy supplied by GOOD GOLLY MISS HOLLY ARC TOURS
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Synopsis: 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.
Review: As those familiar with Shakespeare can tell from the description, this book is spun around the comedic play, Twelfth Night. However, it is not a retelling (though a little is included) but an original account of what after the couples are wed. It is told mainly from the viewpoint of Violetta, Viola and the Duke’s daughter. She, and the fool Feste, fled from Illyria to England when their beloved homeland was under a horrific siege from Sebastian and Antonio. They came to London in search for the holy relic of Illyria which has been stolen by Malvolio (who seeks to rule Illyria as Duke). Without this relic, Violetta will not be able to reunite her country’s people and take the rightful place, by birth, as Duchess.
Shakespeare himself enters the story when Violetta seeks out his assistance. After telling him the story of her homeland, William feels compelled to aid her. Together they travel from London to Oxford to Stratford-upon-Avon in search of Malvolio and the relic. In their travels, Violetta meets friends from Illyria, falls in love and finds the courage to fight for her native land, while Shakespeare finds the inspiration that will become one of his greatest plays.
I’ve heard this from others, and I’m sadly going to have to agree: while Rees’s descriptions are amazingly beautiful and vivid, they do seem to be filler in place of character development. Even as I closed the book, I still couldn’t feel who Violetta was (or really anyone for that matter). There is nothing better than a book which leaves something with you, has you thinking about it for a time afterward, yet because I didn’t really get a full sense of the characters, I pretty much forgot about it once I closed the book.
While part of that is due to the character development, I think part was also due to my annoyance with how Sebastian was painted. Twelfth Night is one of my favorites, I love it dearly and I just could not get behind the idea of Sebastian being a scoundrel driven to villainy by jealousy. So envious of his wife’s close friendship with his sister (Viola) and his sister’s raised position as the Duchess that he would concoct a plan with Antonio, a pirate captain, to raid the city and become Duke himself. To someone would loves the play, I was left aghast at Sebastian’s turn of character.
I kept thinking to myself, “how in the world is this supposed to be Shakespeare influence for Twelfth Night?” That’s not to say that Rees’s story is bad, no, it was quite compelling. I just couldn’t grasp how Shakespeare would have taken something so horrific and turned it into something comedic. Then of course, it isn’t Violetta’s story Will tells in Twelfth Night, but Viola and Sebastian‘s, so perhaps I’m wrong for even pondering that. It was just sad to see my beloved Sebastian turn into such a villain.
I don’t want to be discouraging, The Fool’s Girl is a good read and I admire how Rees took something comedic and weaved such a dramatic after story for it, but I went into it expecting something lighter so I was a tad disappointed in that sense.
Rating: 3 tulips out of 5
