JULIET a Best Seller
One of the titles on the EarlyWord Watch List (i.e., titles we think might take off) is Ballantine’s big fiction debut of the season, Juliet by Anne Fortier. Reviews have been mixed, but even those that are generally negative end up calling it “fun,” as exhibited in the most recent, in the Washington Post Book World by Diana Gabaldon,
On the whole, the story is fun, if silly, and engaging in spots. Its modern-day characters are mostly cardboard, though
The “fun” part is clearly connecting with readers; it arrives on the 9/12 NYT fiction best seller list at # 14.
Gabaldon says this about its appeal,
The strongest point of the book is the flavorful, evocative descriptions of Siena, with its ancient neighborhoods, rivalries and family feuds, and the annual running of the Palio horse race. The Shakespearean scholarship on display is both impressive and well-handled, too, with the original Romeo and Juliet story doled out in exciting installments between Julie’s increasingly convoluted but much less interesting story.
The book will be receiving more attention, including an interview with Liane Hansen on NPR’s Weekend Edition, scheduled to run 9/12.
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RH Audio; UNABR; 9780739384954; $40
Random House Large Print, 9780739377994; pbk; $25