Joy McCullough

I absolutely recommend the audio book for this, the multiple narrators really bring this to life, and like plays themselves, this is better experienced more than read. Even if you don't know the plays being mentioned, the stories are well supported enough that you can understand even without needing to know the Shakespearean lore.

If you are expecting this to be written like Shakespeare, well to be honest I'm really not sure why, but this is written in Joy McCullough's style with Shakespearean influence. She's an excellent author and that's why I picked this book up in the first place. I loved it, because it's about women taking control of their own stories, and brought up ideas and perspectives that had not occurred to me before about these old plays. An excellent listen/read, especially if you're a fan of writing in verse.… (more)

I was not expecting this book to be drafted in the form of monologues or asides or siliques as if I was reading a play. Each of the key female characters from Shakespeare's plays, as well as some key historical figures, are represented in the Traproom scenes. I enjoy poetry and I do enjoy Shakespeare's Blank Verse; however, I was very taken aback and I feel that you should be prepared as well, because Enter the Body felt more in line with a Collection of Poetry rather than a traditional Shakespearian Play or a novel. There seems to be very little interaction between the characters listed so it looses the give and taken and playfulness that is expected from a play -- especially Shakespeare's plays.

If you like poetry, enjoy reading song lyrics, or enjoy musical theater librettos then Enter the Body will be a good fit for you because there is a lot of depth and presentation of how each of these characters feel when looking back at their story -- it's just in the formats previously mentioned. But maybe the second part of the book changes this up.… (more)