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There are currently 45 member reviews
for Juliet's Nurse
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Carol B. (Orland Park, IL)
Great Read
I remember stumbling through Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet in high school and watching the movie on the big screen. Juliet's Nurse really made the story so much easier to read than Shakespeare's version. I found the book very interesting and I looked forward to having time to pick up the book to continue reading. The book held my interest all the way to the end with a lot of surprises. The book did contain a lot of Shakespearean language but it was not so much that I felt bogged down trying to interpret the words. I felt I was reading true literature. I would highly recommend this book.
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Helen S. (Sun City, AZ)
Multi-faceted Angelica
Lois Leveen has done a superb job of presenting the lives of both the poor and the rich in Verona, Italy in the 1300s. The author's extensive research is evident in the many details that Angelica, Juliet's nurse, shares as she describes her daily life within the Cappelletti household.
Initially, Angelica seemed like a simple peasant woman who happened to be hired as the wet nurse to new born Juliet. But the many facets of her personality were gradually revealed as her importance to the family grew and she realized that pain and suffering were felt by all people, regardless of their station in life. Although Angelica came to the Cappelletti family filled with grief, she coped with her losses by knowing that "loving what's in this life is the only remedy for death."
I recommend Juliet's Nurse to readers who would like to know more about the characters in Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" as well as what it would have been like to live in Verona in the 1300s.
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Marianne S. (Ulysses, KS)
Armchair Trip to Historic Italy
This is the imagined story of Juliet's nurse from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. I enjoyed it. My husband and I went to Italy a year ago for our daughter's wedding, and I've since developed an interest in Italian history. The book is true to its times, which is important to me. However, the nurse was obsessive about Juliet to an extent that I found somewhat unrealistic. There were some twists in the plot that were surprising to me, although I don't think Shakespeare would have approved of them. The nurse had some character flaws, but so do real people. Still, it was an interesting armchair trip back to historic Italy for me.
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Colleen T. (Lakewood, CO)
Juliet's Nurse
Writing a story from the nurse of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet point of view is inventive and original. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and kept replaying the movie in my mind during the reading. The author, Lois Leveen, did a meticulous job of presenting the era and the people involved, giving the reader a enhanced image of the time period. Leveen also gives an additional surprise to the storyline – which I loved and which I will not reveal – so it is definitely worth the time to read the book.
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Laurie H. (Stuart, FL)
Interesting backstory!
Juliet's Nurse appealed to me as I am a new fan of historical fiction. The author notes that there are several "clues" in Romeo and Juliet that opened to possibility of the relationship between Juliet and her nurse. This book was well written and moved along nicely as we were introduced to the other players in Romeo and Juliet. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it for all fans of the Bard!
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Mary B. (Laguna Woods, CA)
New viewpoint of Romeo & Juliet story
I enjoyed this all time favorite Shakespeare play from the viewpoint of Juliet's wet-nurse. She is a lower class woman who has lost 5 sons to the Black Plague when she gives birth to a daughter who she is told died shortly thereafter. She then is contracted to the Cappellittis to nurse Juliet. The story follows Shakespeare quite closely & explains the rivalries & intrigue in 14th century Verona.
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Joan B. (Ellicott City, MD)
My Friend Angelica
I loved this book for filling in the medical, social and life skills background of existing in Juliet's plague ridden Verona. Leveen's emphasis on loss and endurance is a concept many cannot embrace. Like Angelica, I lost a son (not six) and a merry man who was my husband. Pietro was a favorite character. The characters and their interactions held my attention but two of them were most disappointing. The duplicity of Friar Lorenzo was unexpected from a churchman. Worse yet, was Angelica's rhapsodizing over Juliet's imagined place in her life. So in the end, I was mostly unhappy with the backstory of Romeo and Juliet.
