To read, or not to read; that is the question. And the answer is always: to read! So grab your props and swear not by the moon, but by these unforgettable Shakespeare-inspired reads.
The Complete Works of Shakespeare:
William Shakespeare Complete Works Second Edition by William Shakespeare; Edited by Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen
The newly revised, wonderfully authoritative First Folio of William Shakespeare’s Complete Works, edited by acclaimed Shakespearean scholars and endorsed by the world-famous Royal Shakespeare Company.
“There may never be an absolutely definitive collection of Shakespeare’s plays, but this may be as close as we ever come. Clear, user-friendly, and meticulous, this is the edition we all need.”—David Tennant
“All of humanity in all of its complexity is contained within these plays, so much so that it’s hard to imagine that Shakespeare will ever be surpassed as the world’s greatest and most beloved playwright. It’s therefore fitting to have this edition that displays his work’s continuing relevance and resonance to his ongoing audience.”—David Oyelowo
Available May 3rd in Hardcover and eBook Editions.
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Shakespeare-Inspired Fiction:
For the Love of the Bard by Jessica Martin
To go for it or not to go for it? That is the question when two former high school flames return to their Shakespeare-obsessed hometown for a summer of theater and unexpected romance, in a laugh-out-loud rom-com from debut author Jessica Martin.
“If you wished your romcoms had more Shakespeare puns, have I got the book for you! For the Love of the Bard is a delightful ode to complicated family relationships, growing up in the theatre, and opening your heart to a second chance with your first love. The quirky small-town setting is charming, and I wish I could move to Bard’s Rest immediately!”—Jen DeLuca, author of Well Played
“Jessica Martin delivers a sizzling second chance romance full of witty banter, quirky characters, and a sensational Shakespeare infused setting in For the Love of the Bard. For anyone who never got over their high school crush or who adores Shakespeare, this is an absolute must read!”—Jenn McKinlay, New York Times bestselling author of Paris Is Always a Good Idea
Available June 28th in Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.
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Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
The extraordinarily received, deeply moving novel from the acclaimed author of I Am, I Am, I Am about the death of Shakespeare’s eleven-year-old son Hamnet—a name interchangeable with Hamlet in fifteenth-century Britain—and the years leading up to the production of his great play.
England, 1580: The Black Death creeps across the land, an ever-present threat, infecting the healthy, the sick, the old and the young alike. The end of days is near, but life always goes on. A young Latin tutor—penniless and bullied by a violent father—falls in love with an extraordinary, eccentric young woman. Agnes is a wild creature who walks her family’s land with a falcon on her glove and is known throughout the countryside for her unusual gifts as a healer, understanding plants and potions better than she does people. Once she settles with her husband on Henley Street in Stratford-upon-Avon, she becomes a fiercely protective mother and a steadfast, centrifugal force in the life of her young husband, whose career on the London stage is just taking off when his beloved young son succumbs to sudden fever.
“Of all the stories that argue and speculate about Shakespeare’s life . . . here is a novel . . . so gorgeously written that it transports you.” —The Boston Globe
“Transfixing . . . A mystical howl, a thrumming, piercing reminder of how very closely we all exist alongside what could have happened, but didn’t.” —The New York Times Book Review
New York Times Bestseller • Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award
Available in Hardcover, Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.
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The King of Infinite Space by Lyndsay Faye
In this lush, magical, queer, and feminist take on Hamlet in modern-day New York City, a neuro-atypical philosopher, along with his best friend Horatio and artist ex-fiancé Lia, are caught up in the otherworldly events surrounding the death of his father.
“Faye’s latest is not only a richly realized mash-up of mystery and fantasy, it’s also a clever pastiche of Hamlet . . . [Ben and Horatio’s] evolving relationship is brilliantly realized, as, for that matter, is the entire book, which is, alas, ever faithful to the original, which is, remember, a tragedy. The curtain falls.”—Booklist, starred review
“Bardolators will enjoy the clever changes Faye rings on his storylines and characters . . . The ending is just as bloody as Shakespeare’s and nearly as poignant. Smart and suspenseful; top-notch popular fiction.”—Kirkus Reviews
Coming August 10th!
Soon to Be Available in Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions.
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The Little Bookshop of Murder by Maggie Blackburn
A Shakespearean scholar inherits a beachside bookshop—and a murder mystery—in this delightful new cozy series for fans of Kate Carlisle and Ellery Adams.
“[An] engaging cast.”—Booklist
“Blackburn has created a clever mystery…As cozy mysteries go, this is one of the best.”—New York Journal of Books
“A darn good mystery.”—Midwest Book Review
Available in Hardcover, Trade Paperback, and eBook Editions.
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A Collection of Retellings from the Hogarth Shakespeare Series:
Hag-Seed: William Shakespeare’s The Tempest Retold: A Novel by Margaret Atwood
The beloved author of The Handmaid’s Tale reimagines Shakespeare’s final, great play, The Tempest, in a gripping and emotionally rich novel of passion and revenge.
“A marvel of gorgeous yet economical prose, in the service of a story that’s utterly heartbreaking yet pierced by humor, with a plot that retains considerable subtlety even as the original’s back story falls neatly into place.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Part Shakespeare, part Atwood, ‘Hag-Seed’ is a most delicate monster—and that’s ‘delicate’ in the 17th-century sense. It’s delightful.”—The Boston Globe
Available in Hardcover, Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.
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Vinegar Girl: William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew Retold: A Novel by Anne Tyler
Pulitzer Prize winner and American master Anne Tyler brings us an inspired, witty and irresistible contemporary take on one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies.
“Shakespeare . . . would be pleased, I am sure . . . ‘Vinegar Girl’ is an earthy reflection of this fleeting moment, both lively and thoughtful.”— The New York Times Book Review
“A perfect read.”—New York Post
“An effective retelling, while nodding to the original text, stands on its own . . . Tyler succeeds in creating a world we believe in . . . Charming . . . Clever.”—Boston Globe
Available in Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.
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The Gap of Time: William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale Retold: A Novel by Jeanette Winterson
In The Gap of Time, Jeanette Winterson’s cover version of The Winter’s Tale, we move from London, a city reeling after the 2008 financial crisis, to a storm-ravaged American city called New Bohemia. Her story is one of childhood friendship, money, status, technology and the elliptical nature of time. Written with energy and wit, this is a story of the consuming power of jealousy on the one hand, and redemption and the enduring love of a lost child on the other.
“The Gap of Time takes the play’s themes of love, jealousy and estrangement and spins them into a taut contemporary tale.”— The New York Times
“Engrossing, almost soapily addictive novel.”—The Independent
“Astonishing.”—Elle
Available in Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.
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Shylock is My Name: William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice Retold: A Novel by Howard Jacobson
Man Booker Prize-winner Howard Jacobson brings his singular brilliance to this modern re-imagining of one of Shakespeare’s most unforgettable characters: Shylock.
“[An] ebullient riff on Shakespeare . . . Jacobson’s highflying wit is more Stoppardian than Shakespearean, even amid rom-com subplots and phallocentric jests equally well suited to Elizabethan drama as to the world of Judd Apatow.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Sharply written, profoundly provocative.”—The Huffington Post
Available in Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions
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A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
This powerful twentieth-century reimagining of Shakespeare’s King Lear centers on a wealthy Iowa farmer who decides to divide his farm between his three daughters. When the youngest objects, she is cut out of his will. This sets off a chain of events that brings dark truths to light and explodes long-suppressed emotions.
“Brilliant . . . Absorbing . . . A thrilling work of art.” —Chicago Sun-Times
“A family portrait that is also a near-epic investigation into the broad landscape, the thousand dark acres of the human heart . . . The book has all the stark brutality of a Shakespearean tragedy.” —The Washington Post Book World
“Powerful and poignant.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Superb . . . There seems to be nothing Smiley can’t write about fabulously well.” —San Francisco Chronicle
Available in Hardcover, Trade Paperback, and eBook Editions.
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New Boy: William Shakespeare’s Othello Retold: A Novel by Tracy Chevalier
Tracy Chevalier brings Shakespeare’s Othello—a harrowing drama of jealousy and revenge—to a 1970s era elementary school playground.
“What Chevalier has done is recast the play to illuminate the peculiar trials of our era . . . a fascinating exercise . . . provides some wicked delight. She’s immensely inventive about it all.”—The Washington Post
A masterful and powerful retelling of this classic story that takes the original to new places.”—San Francisco Book Review
Available in Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audiobook Editions.
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Macbeth: William Shakespeare’s Macbeth Retold: A Novel by Jo Nesbø
Shakespeare’s dark and tragic play retold in a heart-pounding New York Times bestselling thriller from the author of The Snowman and The Thirst.
“Inventive and deeply satisfying . . . [Nesbø] offers a dark but ultimately hopeful Macbeth, one suited to our troubled times.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Nesbø manages the balancing act of being true to the original play without slighting his own interests as a writer: bleak settings, loyalty (or the lack thereof) among crooks, clever escapes from tight spots, the affinities between policemen and the criminals they chase.”—The Washington Post
Available in Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.
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Dunbar: William Shakespeare’s King Lear Retold: A Novel by Edward St. Aubyn
A reimagining of one of Shakespeare’s most well-read tragedies, by the contemporary, critically acclaimed master of domestic drama.
“St. Aubyn rivals Shakespeare in his magnificently scathing language . . . There’s no novelist alive who combines his gift for irony and his Wodehousian satire of the upper classes with his acute comprehension of the bleakness of existence.”—The Atlantic
“St. Aubyn shines at skewering the rich and profligate.”—Los Angeles Times
“[Dunbar is] an enjoyable, breakneck ride through the misdeeds of one of the greatest stages of fools you’ll ever meet.”—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Available in Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.
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A Retelling—with a Twist:
William Shakespeare’s The Merry Rise of Skywalker Star Wars Part the Ninth by Ian Doescher
Complete your collection of the William Shakespeare’s Star Wars® series and experience the blockbuster finale to the Star Wars® saga in a brand-new way, here reimagined as though it had been penned by the Bard of Avon.
“Truly a unique treat.”—GeekDad
“A brilliant look into the soul of these iconic Star Wars characters . . . beautifully well-written, humorous, and is an insightful critic of the mythology we know and love . . . the perfect capstone to the work of this modern-day literary genius.”—Coffee with Kenobi, 5 stars
Available in Hardcover and eBook Editions.
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William Shakespeare’s Avengers: The Complete Works by Ian Doescher
Assemble, Ye Avengers! All four Avengers films are presented as Shakespearean plays in this must-have for Marvel fans.
“Author Ian Doescher has remixed the familiar “Avengers” films into a format Shakespeare himself would be proud of.”—Los Angeles Times
“It’s a lot of fun, seeing the Marvel universe rewritten in iambic pentameter, and trying to spot the actual Shakespeare references sprinkled throughout the text.”—GeekDad
Available in Hardcover and eBook Editions.
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On Shakespeare:
This is Shakespeare by Emma Smith
An electrifying new study that investigates the challenges of the Bard’s inconsistencies and flaws, and focuses on revealing—not resolving—the ambiguities of the plays and their changing topicality.
“Brilliantly illuminating . . . Perhaps the best book on Shakespeare, full stop . . . Emma Smith’s voice is disarmingly frank, refreshingly irreverent, full of pop culture . . . Her reading of the plays is dazzling, her original research totally convincing.” —The Observer
“Anyone who doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about should read This Is Shakespeare. Smith—who is no enemy of fun: her book fizzes with jokes—is celebrating a Shakespeare who talks to the present. She does it all with such a light touch you barely notice how much you’re learning.” —The Guardian
Available in Hardcover, Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.
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Listen to a Clip from the Audiobook.
How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare by Ken Ludwig
Winner of the Falstaff Award for Best Shakespeare Book, How To Teach Your Children Shakespeare is a foolproof, enormously fun method of teaching your children the classic works of William Shakespeare by Tony-Award winning playwright, Ken Ludwig.
This book’s simple process allows anyone to impart to children the wisdom of plays like A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet. And there’s fun to be had throughout. Shakespeare novices and experts and readers of all ages will each find something delightfully irresistible in How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare.
“Don’t be fooled by the title. This book is for anyone who wants to brush up on Shakespeare . . . Don’t buy this book to teach your children; take them along as you commit these beautiful speeches to memory.”—Kirkus Reviews
“[Ludiwg’s] enthusiasm is also infectious . . . it’s hard to come away from this book without wanting to find someone, child or adult, to convert.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer
Available in Trade Paperback and eBook Editions.
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Shakespeare in a Divided America: What His Plays Tell Us About Our Past and Future by James Shapiro
A timely exploration of what Shakespeare’s plays reveal about our divided land.
“In this sprightly and enthralling book . . . Shapiro amply demonstrates [that] for Americans the politics of Shakespeare are not confined to the public realm, but have enormous relevance in the sphere of private life.” —The Guardian (London)
“[A] terrific new book . . . Among all the fine words currently being spilled examining the American mess, James Shapiro has outshone many of our best political pundits with this superb contribution to the discourse. He upped the wattage simply by bouncing his spotlight off a playwright 400 years dead who yet again turns out to be, somehow, us.” —New York Times Book Review
Available in Hardcover, Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.
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Shakespeare for Your Ears:
“Take, then, this companion by the hand, Who hath a story ready for your ear.”—Measure for Measure
Click for Audiobooks for Shakespeare Lovers.
