Saturday, May 2, 2009

Ophelia by Lisa Klein

You may know the character Ophelia from Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. However, you do not need to have read or know the story of Hamlet to enjoy Ophelia. Ophelia lost her mother at a young age and lives with her father and older brother. When Ophelia’s father goes to work for King Hamlet, the family, Ophelia, her father, and her older brother, move to Elsinore Castle. Ophelia has been allowed to sit in on her brother’s tutoring sessions and, thus, has more education than most girls in the 16th century. Eventually, this attracts the queen’s attention, and Ophelia becomes one of her ladies in waiting. This puts Ophelia into closer contact with Prince Hamlet. The two fall in love and begin a forbidden affair—Ophelia is too far beneath Prince Hamlet’s status to be considered an appropriate match for him. The two lovers decide to elope, but the murder of Prince Hamlet’s father gets in the way. Prince Hamlet is consumed with the desire to avenge his father, and Ophelia is forgotten. However, Ophelia knows too much about the suspected murderer, and, despite her hope of regaining Prince Hamlet’s attentions, decides she must run away from Elsinore to save her life.

This is a fun read. Whether you are familiar with the Shakespeare play or not, you will enjoy it. It does get a little slow in parts, but mostly kept my attention through to the end. The author diverges a little from Shakespeare's story, mainly to give Ophelia life beyond when she has died in the play, and this will keep those familiar with the story on their toes. The purpose of the book is to give Ophelia more of a voice than she had in Hamlet.

Book; 12+; ISBN 9781582348018; New York: Bloomsbury, 2006

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