What do readers think of Juliet's Nurse by Lois Leveen? Write your own review.

Nurse by Lois Leveen is a retelling of the Romeo and Juliet story from the perspective of Juliet's wet nurse. Through Angelica we experience life in 14th century Verona. Her life is a struggle and is in contrast the riches of the Capppelletti family. The royal families in Verona are in a constant battle for power and influence. As in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet are caught up in the conflicts of their families. I enjoyed this book because I felt transported to Verona. Even though the ending is not a surprise I kept wishing for a change of "history".

Lois Leveen gives the Nurse from Romeo and Juliet a name and her own story. It's difficult to write a story with characters so well known, and expanding on that story and making it work. Leveen also brings to life the Verona of the time in fantastic detail. All in all a fantastic read.

I think it is a risk to tackle a book about characters so well known and loved as Romeo and Juliet. That said, the author does manage to successfully evoke the atmosphere and has created a thoughtful and provocative look at the story from Juliet's nurse's point of view. While I did not necessarily like her portrayal of all of the characters, I found myself praying that the story wouldn't end the way I knew it had to, just as I always do when I read Shakespeare's play.

I really enjoyed this story of Romeo and Juliet told from the point of view of Juliet's nurse. Lois Leveen has done an amazing job of setting the scene, portraying the atmosphere of the place and time (making me grateful that I was not born into that time period and especially that I did not give birth then), and fleshing out the backgrounds of some of Shakespeare's characters. The twists the plot takes kept me totally involved. Leveen also uses the language of Shakespeare in her dialogue, some lines actually borrowed from the original play. There is much of the sensuous here and much to be savored. This novel does not detract from the original, it enhances it.

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.

This is a well-written and well-researched book. The main characters are familiar to anyone that has read Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and the author does not change the ending to that tale. However, she takes a look at the birth and life of Juliet as told through her nurse's eyes. We also get to read of the nurse's life which shows what 14th century Verona was like. All in all an interesting read that held my attention throughout.

Juliet's Nurse is a good commentary on life in Verona during trying times and the development of Angelica, Juliet's wet nurse. The book is well researched and historically accurate. I found myself revisiting the story of Romeo and Juliet to refresh my mind about the details of the lovers' lives. The development of Angelica and Juliet's relationship is believable and more compelling because we know what happens to her beloved Juliet. There could have been a few less bawdy details of her relationship with her husband and at times I got bogged down in her soliloquies about her feelings and thoughts but over all it was a good read. It inspired me to next read Lois Leveen's previous book The Secrets of Mary Bowser.

The author stated she wanted to give voice to the person who had the most dialogue in Shakespeare's original version of Romeo & Juliet, outside of the two main characters, Juliet's wet nurse. Seen though her eyes we learn about Juliet's infancy and early years, as well as the author's poetic-licensed interpretation of Juliet's birth. The depictions of 14th century urban Italian life are vivid, including the devastation of the plague. While a work of fiction with more than a few liberties taken, the author's attempt at bringing the reader a new vantage point into the best known play in English literature is compelling and satisfying.