Cathy's Reviews > Juliet and Romeo

In Juliet & Romeo, the feud between the Montagues and Capulets is of longstanding and born out of a friendship betrayed (‘Time had dealt its blows, yet the enmity between them had never wavered’) and a trade war over pre-eminence in the wine trade.  The uneasy relations between the two families simmer in the heat of a Verona summer, threatening to boil over at any minute.  It even extends to each family’s servants, ‘sharing the same borrowed hatred and never asking why’.

The author brings the reader a Juliet who is intelligent, questioning, spirited and independent-minded.   She finds herself rebelling against the expectations of her parents (primarily the expectations of her father) to make a marriage that will advance the family’s interests, describing herself as ‘a tiny bird in a tiny cage my father and the rest have made for me.’    For the reason explained by the author in his Historical Notes, this Juliet is older than depicted in Shakespeare’s play, more confident and sure of herself, with a witty sense of humour.

Romeo is thoughtful and longs to be a writer although, again, his family see a different future for him, in the law this time.  Although the setting is medieval – 1499, to be precise – there are no ‘thee’s’ and ‘thou’s’ in this book, instead the characters express themselves in modern dialogue, including slang and some juicy insults.  For example, Romeo’s erstwhile love, the daughter of a livestock merchant, is described at one point as ‘randy Rosaline from the knacker’s yard.’

The author brings alive the Verona of the period through descriptions of the houses, palazzos, piazzas, clothing and food.  I could almost sense the aromas from the dishes at a particularly lavish banquet organised by the Capulets to try to impress their pick of suitor for Juliet, Count Paris.  ‘Boned roast goat’s head covered in white meat sauce and decorated with pomegranate seeds.  Fried trout caught in Lake Garda by busy cormorants.  Cucumbers with dill.  Chicken pie with cherries.  Tart with cheese and chard and saffron.  And pastissada de caval, horsemeat stew slow cooked until it was near black, seasoned with laurel, nutmeg and cloves, a dish Verona had been eating for so long it seemed as much a part of the city as its old stone walls and the constant flow of the Adige.’   (OK, not so sure about the horsemeat stew.)  

The novel explores a number of themes, including that of possession and ownership.  At one point, Luca Capulet, insisting that Juliet’s marriage to Count Paris will go ahead, states: “This marriage is made.  Not in heaven.  But by me.”  A chuckle then. “The household god.”    When Count Paris presents Juliet with a ring as a token of his love, she is shocked to see it bears the inscription ‘I have obtained whom God ordained.’ Days later, preparing for her wedding against her will, Juliet reflects, ‘She felt as if she were nothing more than a cog in the mechanism of a relentless machine, turning to the will of others.’  Even Romeo at one point wonders, ‘How much of love was the noble sacrifice that verse portrayed?  How much a selfish, obsessional need to possess another?’  With dread, he recognises in himself ‘a man possessed, who craved to possess in return’.

Juliet & Romeo has everything you would expect of a Shakespearean drama – masks and disguises, mistaken identities, chance meetings, fight scenes, thwarted lovers and comic interludes.  Speaking of the latter, from the cast of secondary characters, I have to pick out Nurse.  With her excruciatingly embarrassing stories about Juliet when she was a baby and her bawdy comments, she reminded me of Nursie in Blackadder 2 (as played by the wonderful Patsy Byrne).

The publishers describe Juliet & Romeo as ‘a gripping romantic thriller’ and it certainly fits that bill in terms of its pace and its menu of intrigue, mystery, body count and more than one race against time.  The author has written that ‘Adaptation means change’.  I’m not going to tell you what one of those key changes is, you’re going to have to read the book to find out.  What I will say is that it’s entirely in keeping with the character the author has created.

Whether you have read Shakespeare’s play, seen film versions of the play or know only the outlines of the story of Romeo and Juliet, you will find much to enjoy in this “novel retelling”.  It would also be a superb introduction to Shakespeare’s play.  The audiobook version of Juliet & Romeo, from which this novel is derived, has been nominated for this year’s Audies, the audio Oscars.  Reading this novel has certainly made me want to seek out that version.