A fascinating reimagining of one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, as seen through the eyes of an overlooked character.
Romeo and Juliet is arguably Shakespeare's best known and most performed work, yet Rosaline, a character who plays a pivotal role in its opening acts, is seldom recalled; although she's Romeo's obsession before he meets Juliet, the Bard gives her no voice. In Fair Rosaline, Natasha Solomons corrects this oversight, rewriting the tale from this forgotten woman's point of view and casting the star-crossed lovers in a completely new light.

As Solomons begins her tale, 15-year-old Rosaline Capulet has just lost her mother to the plague and her father is sending her off to a convent, where she'll remain cloistered for the rest of her life. She bargains for a 12-day reprieve, and vows to spend the time enjoying life as much as she can. She sneaks into a party given by her family's enemies, the Montagues, where she and Romeo meet and enjoy a romance that lasts until Romeo encounters Rosaline's cousin, 13-year-old Juliet. The story largely follows Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet from that point, although as observed by Rosaline.

What turns this familiar tale on its head is the author's depiction of Romeo. In her imagination, he's not a teenager in love but an older predator – Solomons envisions him to be about 30 – who's constantly on the prowl for extremely young women he can use and then callously discard. It's an incredibly creative take on the story, turning it from a romantic tragedy into a much darker narrative about powerful, manipulative men and their victims.

In addition to simply being an interesting spin on an old story, Fair Rosaline is top-notch historical fiction. Solomons frequently inserts period details that lend her account credibility. She writes, for example, that people sniffed "posies and oranges studded with cloves to ward off the plague" and that "harmony in church was banned by Rome for inspiring profane and lustful thoughts" – information that helps her readers become fully immersed in the world she creates. Her dialog, too, mimics what one thinks of as period speech without it becoming so realistic as to be unintelligible (e.g., "I should like to know you better, daughter"). It comes across a little stilted at first, but once one's "reading ear" gets used to it, it's effective, preventing the dialog from seeming too modern. I was also impressed by the author's beautifully descriptive writing:

At dawn the sun rose again and Rosaline with it. The dew was fresh upon the grass, laundering it clean and bright and luridly indifferent to her misfortune. Bees diligently pursued dangling lobes of jasmine for pollen, and a woodpecker rapped for breakfast.

The author takes a risk rewriting such a well-known and beloved tale, and some may have a difficult time enjoying such a radical reinterpretation. I for one found it challenging to reconcile Shakespeare's Romeo with Solomons', and I remain unconvinced by her rationale for this interpretation of the play, which she bases on Shakespeare's unusual emphasis on Juliet's age. And although Solomons' attention to historical minutia is admirable, at times her characters' actions and attitudes seem anachronistic, especially regarding Rosaline's interactions with Romeo and Tybalt.

Despite the issues mentioned above, I found Fair Rosaline interesting and entertaining, and a worthwhile read. I recommend it to readers who've enjoyed books like Circe and Ariadne – novels that give voice to women who, until now, have been silenced. Its beautiful prose and outstanding historical detail should make it popular with those who appreciate well-written historical fiction, and its feminist themes make it a good choice for book discussions.

Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark for my copy! All thoughts are my own.

2023 has been the year of surprising books for me. I was intrigued by the title alone by Fair Rosaline, but when I realize it was more on the lit fic side of the genre, I wasn’t too sure if I was going to have the brain power to read it. But then I found the audiobook on Scribd and in about three seconds of listening, my expectations were dashed and I was sucked in.

As an actor, I have always loved Shakespeare retellings. But this book isn’t a re-telling…it’s an un-telling. It’s taking ownership of the women in the story of Romeo & Juliet which, as a very loud feminist, was quite important to me. This book made me rage, cry, and feel at peace. I’ve always felt like Romeo was the character needed to point fingers at, but people always like to make fun of Juliet for being young and dumb. But she isn’t, and to finally give voice to Rosaline was so important to me.

Synopsis:

“The first time Romeo Montague sees young Rosaline Capulet he falls instantly in love. Rosaline, headstrong and independent, is unsure of Romeo's attentions but with her father determined that she join a convent, this handsome and charming stranger offers her the chance of a different life.

Soon though, Rosaline begins to doubt all that Romeo has told her. She breaks off the match, only for Romeo's gaze to turn towards her cousin, thirteen-year-old Juliet. Gradually Rosaline realizes that it is not only Juliet's reputation at stake, but her life .With only hours remaining before she will be banished behind the nunnery walls, will Rosaline save Juliet from her Romeo? Or can this story only ever end one way?

Shattering everything we thought we knew about Romeo and Juliet, Fair Rosaline is the spellbinding prequel to Shakespeare's best known tale, which exposes Romeo as a predator with a long history of pursuing much younger girls.” —StoryGraph

What I Liked:

The “Untelling” Aspect—I didn’t invent this term, it came from the author herself. There is an interview with her at the back of the book and it made so much sense in hindsight. I think a lot of people will be able to relate to the “coming out of a plague” aspect of this story.

The Pacing—This story moved so well! It takes place over just two weeks and so you process everything with Rosaline and it all feels so plausible.

The Reveals—The reveals of all the villains and heroes! I know the play extremely well but I think even if you don’t you’ll still be nodding along cause it all makes SENSE. I’m obsessed.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

I wanted a little more from the ending, but I think that’s because I became so attached to Rosaline.

Character Authenticity: 5/5 Spice Rating: 0/5 Overall Rating: 4.75/5

Content Warnings:

toxic relationship, adult/minor relationship, gaslighting, death of a parent, death, emotional abuse, drugging, infidelity, murder, miscarriage, still birth

*I received a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity*

Trigger warnings: pedophilia, sexual abuse, grooming, death

In this retelling of Shakespeare's beloved Romeo and Juliet, FAIR ROSALINE takes a deeper look at not only the off-cast character of Rosaline, but the titular characters of the original play.

After the death of her beloved mother, Rosaline Capulet discovers her father has no plans to pay for her dowry-- but instead, Rosaline will live out her days at the local nunnery she visited as a child. Desperate for one last night of freedom, Rosaline sneaks into the Montague household's summer party where she meets the infamous Romeo. Quickly swept off her feet by the charming man, Rosaline will soon uncover the dark underbelly of her fair Verona and the love of her Romeo.

Rosaline is a strong heroine and her character arc was compelling, and I thoroughly enjoyed the ending of the story, <spoiler> specifically that there was hope Rosaline could find fulfillment at the nunnery, but it was let open ended for reader interpretation </spoiler>. Solomons frequently pulls dialogue directly from Romeo and Juliet and blends it into the story seamlessly, and she did a superb job bringing 14th/15th century Verona to life.

However, this story was wild. Extra points to the author for creativity-- the idea of <spoiler> a middle aged Romeo being the pimp of the upper class sex trade where he seduces literal children (Juliet is 13 in this story, Rosaline 15) and then sells them into sexual slavery is certainly creative </spoiler>. FAIR ROSALINE is certainly not for the die hard fans of Shakespeare, because the departure from the source material is pretty intense.

I am fascinated by the negative reviews this book has earned, and I feel they are incorrect. Why not take a small character from a play and run with it? Why not ask the question - who was Rosaline, and why is she so small a character?

I enjoyed this book, and I especially enjoyed the fact that Solomons does not dream up Rosaline out of thin air - it is clear that Solomons has read and researched Shakespeare fully, and she bases the character of Rosaline on the Rosalines that appear in his other plays.

This book is a fun piece of fan fiction that I enjoyed. I will also be using it in my classes because it helps students to see beyond the traditional characters in the novels they traditionally read.

One of the trendy things to do currently is to apply modern ideologies and conventions to age old stories.
Solomons reworking of Romeo and Juliet does just that.
I appreciated her giving a voice to Rosaline but I thought her making Romeo out to be the villain and lout was too much.
The ending had an interesting creative twist.

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for the eARC.

Comprehensive, engaging and entertaining tale of Rosaline.

I’ve been teaching Romeo and Juliet off and on for 20 years. Every time, I tell the kids, “Romeo is a player.” Clearly, Natasha Solomons agrees. Solomons does not follow the usual theory that Romeo is a teenager, and backs up her interpretation in the notes at the end of the novel. In this case, having Romeo be in his 30s makes him even creepier. No…pervier. Really. He’s not just a player, he’s a groomer and an abuser.

Told from the point-of-view of Rosaline, the woman we only hear about in Act I of the Shakespeare play, this story takes the tragedy much deeper. Romeo leaves a wake of ruined girls behind him. He likes them young and innocent and, with Friar Laurence’s help, makes sure their lives are ruined after he loses interest.

Rosaline’s character is well-rounded and beautifully imperfect. She is impetuous and opinionated and defiant. She’s also very smart, and once she puts two and two together and realizes just how Romeo has played her, she doesn’t just cry and whine. She acts. Her revenge is perfect and appropriate. She makes sacrifices to see justice served, and considers them worthy sacrifices.

This story is not without heartbreak. How could it be?

Possible Objectionable Behavior:
Unmarried sex, pregnancy, violence, death, drinking, mild cursing.

Who Might Like This Book:
It helps, but isn’t essential, for you to be familiar with the source material. If you like coming-of-age stories, this is a good choice.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book is also reviewed at https://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/2023/09/an-assortment-of-new-releases.html

A fantastic Shakespearean retelling that even the Bard himself would have enjoyed. This wonderful feminist take on "Romeo and Juliet", starring Rosaline, Romeo's first love interest was beautifully written and Rosaline herself comes alive on the pages. I loved the descriptions and the poetical phrases that Ms. Solomons used to tell this tale, and I savored every line. It was about time Rosaline had her story told, and she is no fair shrinking maiden but a strong and capable woman in her own right. Highly recommended, especially for those who loved "The Marriage Portrait" and "Circe", this book was absolutely fabulous. Ten stars!

From the first time I was introduced to Romeo and Juliet nearly 20 years ago (YIKES!), I found it odd how quickly Romeo moves on from Rosaline when he meets Juliet. When I heard about Fair Rosaline, I was so excited to read a version of the story that dives into her version of events.

You could certainly read Shakespeare’s play as disturbing on several levels. As Solomon points out in her author’s note, Shakespeare goes out of his way to point out how young Juliet is, which is not true of his other characters. As Juliet says in & Juliet, “On my next birthday, I’m going to be 14.” The audience/reader does not learn how old Romeo is, which makes this emphasis on Juliet’s youth especially disconcerting.

Solomon’s highlights this predatory element of the story by positioning Romeo as a serial romancer and manipulator of young women. She turns the way Romeo moves on so quickly from Rosaline from a sign of true love for Juliet into a sinister pattern.

I know Romeo and Juliet like the back of my hand. I’ve taught the play, studied the play, and seen the play many many times. Despite that, Solomons managed to keep me in suspense about what was going to happen next at every turn.

As a Shakespeare nerd, I loved Solomon’s nods to both the original text of Romeo and Juliet and to his other plays. Rosaline references “Pyramus and Thisbe,” which is the play that the Mechanicals in A Midsummer Night’s Dream put on at the wedding at the end of the play. It made the story feel driven by a real knowledge and appreaciation of Shakespeare’s work.

Solomon’s prose is lyrical and poetic, painting vivid images of everything in Rosaline’s world. She writes of Rosaline’s early feelings for Romeo: "Her pulse was a bead in her throat, as tight beneath her skin as the fluttering wings of a moth. She wanted to reach out and touch his hand, feel the rough fingertips worn from the leather of his horse’s bridle and the solid muscle of his thigh. Was this impulse, this need to touch, love?" The language is so precise that the reader can help but be drawn into Rosaline’s thoughts and feelings.

Rosaline in Romeo and Juliet is quite literally not given a voice. I loved that Solomon turned her into a strong and determined young woman, who is willing to fight against the wrongs she sees around her. It makes me happy that there are so many pieces of art in the world today (like Fair Rosaline and & Juliet) that are given agency to Shakespearean women like this. The ending of Fair Rosaline reminds me very much of where & Juliet begins (if you know, you know), and I’d love to see a sequel to learn what happens next.

Fair Rosaline enthralled and entranced me as I read. It was one of those books that I put down and immediately needed to tell everyone about. I highly recommend picking it up, but I will warn you that it is a very dark version of what is already a tragic story.

As a fan of "Romeo and Juliet" since its required reading during my freshman year of high school (during which we also watched the 1968 film adaptation, my English teacher obscuring Romeo's bare butt cheeks by placing a blackened computer window over them; but I digress), I mostly enjoyed this very 2023-feminist retelling. Romeo is portrayed quite obviously as the 30-something-year-old predator that he is, leaving indelible marks on teenage girls in the Verona that we know and love. We dive into the psyche of enigmatic character Rosaline, who is mentioned but not observed and is the recipient, almost exclusively, of men's sexual objectification and depravity in the Shakespeare original. While this retelling admittedly does hand its moralism to the reader on a silver platter, I think that—in this case—it both works and would be difficult not to do. In my opinion, "Fair Rosaline" falls short of a higher rating due to challenges arising from wonky plot pacing, slightly underdeveloped characters, and a writing style that is technically fine, and clearly simplifies the play's prose to appeal to a modern audience, but one that I did not personally connect with. Nonetheless, the ideas and reworkings of the story are entertaining, and I am glad to have once again delved into this literary universe after many years.

I LOVE Shakespeare and R & J...but I also love when adaptations and unique side stories are written! Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't, but I thought Fair Rosaline was great! I loved that we saw a different side of Romeo and learned more about Fair Rosaline! I don't know if this book will be for everyone but I thought it was a good read!

Fair Rosaline is not a cute rewrite of Romeo and Juliet. It doesn’t give a famous tragedy an ending that makes it into a comedy. It’s not updated to modern times. The difference is that it is told from the viewpoint of Rosaline, the woman briefly referred to in Shakespeare’s play as being Romeo’s previous love. So while nearly all of the original tale of woe remains, it is told through Rosaline’s eyes.

Rosaline Capulet is a young woman of 15, two years older than her young cousin Juliet. Rosaline’s mother has just died and left her at the mercy of her father. Grieving his wife’s loss, he decides Rosaline will go to a nunnery immediately. She has no desire to live cloistered behind bars, in God’s service. She really has little desire to marry, either. And that leaves her with no real options in her era. But she wants to taste of life in the short time remaining before going to the nunnery.

She is surprised to be swept off her feet by a handsome man named Romeo, who just so happens to be of the Montague family, hated by her own. They meet in secret and he even makes his way to her bedroom multiple times. He promises her marriage and a happy future. But when she starts to doubt his promises, she breaks it off. And immediately afterward, Romeo is suddenly in love with Juliet, who is even more inexperienced in worldly ways than Rosaline.

Alarmed, Rosaline tries to warn Juliet, but the relationship proceeds quickly. And as she learns more about Romeo’s connections, Rosaline fears that Juliet’s very life may be on the line. But she has little time left, and what can she possibly do to change this tragic ending?

Fair Rosaline is a thoroughly depressing tale. Most of the men are horrible people. Women are controlled; they are raped and taken advantage of as a rule. They are powerless, at the disposal of men. Rosaline is young and learns some hard lessons through sad experience. But she is determined to take back some power and do what she can to protect others.

The book left me feeling wiped out and sad. What Rosaline did accomplish should have felt like a victory, but it felt nominal after the onslaught of the book. I think I was hoping for the story to be just a little lighter. However, it has stuck with me and made me think, and I’ll never see Romeo and Juliet the same way again.

What I liked about this book was that we finally get to hear from Rosaline directly. In the original works of Shakespeare you only hear about Rosaline through either Romeo or his friends. Each time they discuss her they’re very unkind and call her a whore and many other names. In the original you’re very much supposed to believe that Rosaline was just a fling and it wasn’t love, but knowing men, we know this isn't true!

What’s even more important in the play is that we get told several times how young Juliet is, but never Romeo. In this book we also don’t exactly know, but Rosaline can see speckled gray in his hair and observes his body and remarks it doesn't look like that of boys her age. She is a girl of sixteen and this man has the audacity to woo her, steal her virginity, and then rob her under the guise of his “love”. As soon as he gets what he wants, he’s off to Rosaline’s cousin Juliet who is FOURTEEN.

This is the story of the girl who saves Juliet. The girl who is fierce in her loyalty and love to her family. The girl who is strong, opinionated, and intelligent. This is the story of Rosaline and it deserves to be read.

This was a weird fanfic of Romeo and Juliet based off of the perspective of Rosaline. It worked for a bit, but the blend of modern writing and verbatim lines from the play got a little too hooky for me. I do like that this book tries to add character to Rosaline, but overall it just felt like a step up from a fix-it fanfic

One take away though is Men Ain't Shit!

Fair Rosaline is a powerful retelling of Romeo and Juliet, faithful to the major plot beats of Shakespeare’s tragedy, but with a shift in perspective that changes everything. It’s fascinating, fast-moving, and now that I’ve finished, hard to stop thinking about. Highly recommended.

I'm almost always the first to admit that I don't really love Shakespeare, and I often feel less than warm about what is probably one of his most talked about works: Romeo and Juliet. It's overdone, it's really not all that much of a love story, and it's boring. I'm not going to go on and on about it because that would be an entire review in and of itself.

That being said. I have (on occasion) been known to enjoy retellings of this certain work of Shakespeare's. Namely, Chloe Gong's These Violent Delights and Hulu's satire comedy Rosaline. So, while I didn't have *high* hopes for this book, I did hope that I was going to get something new and exciting.

I didn't. This just... ugh. Romeo has always been a somewhat problematic bad boy. The kind your mom would tell you to steer away from, or the one you would swipe left on in a dating app because all he had was shirtless pics and his info was very "hey bro" frat-guy type sentences. But even though he's always been... less than great, I don't know that taking him all the way to being a pedophile was the best choice.

Were Romeo and Juliet probably very young in Shakespeare's original? Yes. Were times different and age gaps possibly less of a scandal? Probably also yes. BUT. This is a retelling. Make it unique. Make it fun. Make it as original as you can. Don't freaking make Romeo a pedophile and basically leave the entire rest of the story the same. That's pointless.

I just... don't think retellings should be a thing unless you're actually going to retell the story in a different way. And maybe I prefer retellings that are so different they almost aren't retellings. But. I still didn't like this.

DNF - I truly was pulled in from the book description bc I love a fresh retelling, especially from a different character's POV, so I thought what could be more fresh and original than the story of Romeo & Juliet told from Romeo's prior love Rosaline? It was a fantastic idea - except the writing just wasn't solid enough.

I only got about 30% of the way through before I realized I wasn't in love with the protagonist Solomons created in "Fair Rosaline" and quite frankly didn't care what happened to her. Nothing about the plot or story was inventive enough to leave a good lasting impression and the pacing imo was all skewed. Some scenes seemed to drag out for infinity (with nothing incredibly exciting taking place) while others felt rushed and lasted two paragraphs.

Great story idea just not enough creative execution. Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for a digital ARC.

I really tried to separate my frustration over some of the author’s choices from the enjoyment of the story, particularly its unique take on the timeless tale of star-crossed lovers. There was certainly much to digest, and I found myself bogged down through much of the narrative. I think it might have been down to my own biases, but I had hoped to enjoy this more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my free copy. These opinions are my own.

A story of two families, the Montagues and the Capulets, with a focus on Rosaline Capulet, cousin to young Juliet.

This begins with a funeral, the funeral of Madonna Emelia Capulet, mother of Rosaline, a funeral that was limited due to the epidemic that was spreading rapidly. There was no gathering except for their family, which now consisted only of Rosaline, her father, and Valentino, her brother. The service was hurried as the friar was eager to remove himself from the proximity of this disease.

’In truth Rosaline knew that fear, pain, and love were all beyond her mother now. She belonged here, among the ghosts of other long-departed Capulets.’

When they return to their home, officers are waiting for them, informing them that since a member of their household had been infected, they were not permitted to leave their home for twenty days.
Their door had already been marked with a red cross to mark the house. Soon, the doors of their neighbors will be marked with the red cross as the plague spreads.

When her father informs her that her mother’s wish was for her to live her life in a convent, Rosaline questions this, but her father is not bending on his conviction that it is in her best interest.

’Rosaline determined to know something of love before she was locked away, husband or not.’

Her father allows her twelve days of freedom before she will be taken to the convent.

’If she must surrender the sinful world, then first she’d gorge herself on its pleasure. The thought of the Montagues was frightening, but she had so little time left. She must be brave. If the devil himself was playing host, she would attend with ribbons in her hair.’

Soon after, dressed as a boy, she meets Romeo, who believes her to be a young man. When she loses a duel with him, he unmasks her.

Their romance quickly turns into more, as he sneaks into her room one night, leaving at dawn’s light, lest they be caught. He returns for several nights, convincing her of his love, and talking of marriage. When he gets everything he wants from Rosaline, his attention turns to her cousin, Juliet.

Rosaline now knows she meant nothing to him, that he has done this to many other girls like her, but will she be able to convince Juliet that Romeo will likely do the same to her, or will Juliet ignore her warnings. There is so little time left, so she must act quickly, before her father sends her off to the nunnery.


Published: 12 Sept 2023

Many thanks for the ARC provided by SOURCEBOOKS Landmark, Sourcebooks Landmark

Such an amazing book! The story is phenomenal. This Romeo and Juliet “untelling” is one of my favorite takes on “the classics “ Seeing the story told from a different perspective feels like being on stage, watching the actors performing a parallel story, unseen by the audience.
In the author's words, Romeo and Juliet is not a tragic love story; it’s the story of a group of adults failing to take care of their kids. And this is particularly evident in this version of the story. Rosalie is Juliet’s cousin and Romeo’s love interest. But she knows that he is not who everyone thinks he is and will do everything to save her cousin from the charms of this predator..
A beautiful book and one of my favorites books of the year!