Rita M

An immensely enjoyable, engaging backstory to R&J. Leveen has unfolded a masterful account of Angelica, revealing a take on the bawdy and likeable nurse's history, motivations, personality, and perspective on the 14 years leading up to the young lovers' end, all told in a compelling and entertaining narrative that is hard to put down. We learn of Angelica's tenacity through her virtue and humor. The author has aligned her tale well with events and characters in the original R&J, as well as historically accurate references to the time, adding so much more dimension to R&J, if that's possible (all due respects to The Bard). It is also a great reading in literary perspective and an in-depth character study, although as a teacher, I would hesitate assigning this to students younger than high school due to the many sexual references (which, if you know the nurse, cannot be left out of the story!). If you love Shakespeare (and R&J in particular), history, Renaissance period fiction, prequels, or just an all-out good story, I highly recommend this book!