Juliet

Julie Jacobs, whose parents died when she was young, has grown up under the care of her great aunt Rose. When her aunt passes away, Julie inherits a key to a safety deposit box located in Siena, Italy. With nothing to tie her to her home in the U.S. and with a not-so-good-relationship with her twin sister, she flees to Siena to discover more about her family's history, including its connection to the original story of Romeo and Juliet. What she doesn't realize is that she's stepping into an unexpected world of danger and secrets.

This was Anne Fortier's debut novel. I'd read her second novel, The Lost Sisterhood, quite a few years ago. Both books have similar styles: a past and present parallel storyline, and probably categorized as show more historical fiction. I enjoyed both books. While this one had its unbelievable bits, I liked the way Fortier interwove the traditional Romeo & Juliet story with the present-day one. It was maybe not totally believable, but it was fun. This book seems to have mixed reviews, but I quite enjoyed it and would recommend it. show less

Summary: Julie Jacobs's parents died in Italy when she was very young, and she's spent the rest of her life being raised by her Great-Aunt Rose and being overshadowed by her twin sister, Janice. So when Rose dies and Janice inherits her estate, Julie is admittedly a little bit peeved that all she gets is the key to her mother's safe deposit box in Siena. But she travels to Italy, and discovers that her family has a legacy - for her real name is not Julie Jacobs, but Giulietta Tolomei, and she's descended from the Giulietta Tolomei who was the real-life inspiration for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. But her family legacy seems to come with more trouble than treasure... Family feuds in Siena can linger for centuries, and now Julie's show more being stalked by a mysterious and dangerous man. What's more, the modern day descendants of the original two feuding houses believe that both of their families are living under a terrible curse, one that can only be broken if Juliet finally finds her Romeo.

Review: Romeo and Juliet was the first Shakespearean play that I ever read, it's the play I've seen staged the most times, and it's almost certainly to blame for turning me into a Shakespeare buff. So when you hand me a novel that deals with the historical basis of the tale of the star-cross'd lovers - and when that novel uses interweaving modern and historical timelines, one of my favorite literary devices - you've got a recipe for one very happy reader.

And, happily, Juliet did not disappoint. It's a solid mystery/thriller, with clues being doled out at a decent pace, some really surprising twists, a strong historical/literary background that leads to the whole story tying together wonderfully neatly, and even a sizeable dollop of romance thrown in the mix. It was crazy-compelling, keeping me up way past my bedtime because I just *had* to finish it. I also loved that I actually learned something about the history of the play, too - I wish the Author's Note had been more explicit about what parts of the historical sections were verifiable and which were invention, but as near as I could tell the story had a strong grounding in fact. And, as well as Fortier depicts the historical sections, she does even better at describing modern-day Siena. While I've certainly read other books that have made me want to visit their settings, I don't think I'd ever before read one that had me actively researching plane tickets.

This book did have its flaws: Fortier's characterizations are not very complex, and Janice in particular feels a bit overdone. Her writing also still has a few rough edges; while it's mostly unobtrusive, and her dialogue in particular sounds fresh and realistic, she's got a tendency to deliver the exposition in a breathless infodump, rather than letting the answers to the mysteries unfold at a more natural pace. However, while I certainly noticed these things, they didn't really bother me or detract from my enjoyment of a book. There are some books you read for the compelling characters, some books you read for the beautiful use of language, and some books you read because they've got a hell of a plot that is involving enough that you can't put them down. This book falls firmly into the third category, which may not make it a literary masterwork, but definitely made it an absorbing and entertaining summer read. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: This book felt very similar to The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane - modern day thriller coupled with historical mystery. If you liked that book, any of those genres, and/or Romeo & Juliet, then you'll definitely enjoy Juliet as well. show less

Usually when I think of a book being described as "epic", that book is a lengthy piece of fantasy or a nonfictional history tome. However, I think "epic" is great word to describe Juliet by Anne Fortier.

The main story is set in modern day with heroine Julie Jacobs discovering secrets about her ancestors after the death of her dear Aunt Rose. Julie learns that her real name is Guilietta Tolomei and several generations ago a relative bearing the same name was a real-life star-crossed lover whose life became legend and eventually inspired Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Set in Siena, rather than Verona, Julie's story alternates with that of the Guilietta Tolomei in the 1340's. The history and culture of this story-within-the-story are show more brought to life in beautiful detail. The tale that is unraveled is presented as historical fact, bearing only faint resemblance to the popular play it evolved into.

As Julie unravels clues to her family's ancient past, she finds that the parts of the story Shakespeare got right may have huge implications for her future. Along with a "plague" that seems to have cursed her family for several generations, Julie wonders if she is destined to fall for a Romeo of her own. She can only hope that this time the tale will have a happier ending.

I really enjoyed this story and found the rich landscape of Italy to be enchanting in both the present and past portions of the book. Though there were a few spells when the narrative seemed to drag, for the most part I found the story intriguing and enjoyable. Fortier did a great job of creating a precursor to Romeo and Juliet and tying it nicely to a modern story. Even with such well-known, frequently reinvented source material, Fortier managed to take a new spin on Shakespeare, and Juliet is a book to be enjoyed by fans of the bard as well as those looking for a freshly original work. show less

I really loved this book!! Ann Fortier did an awesome job putting her own spin on the story of Romeo and Juliet, combining historical fiction, Shakespearean drama, Dan Brown-esque puzzle-solving, Indiana Jones-style action (one part reminded me a little bit of “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”), Mafioso conspiracies, familial ties and of course romance. She also leaves the reader thinking about curses, destiny and free will. I would love to write more, but I don’t want to give anything away!

Favorite quotes:

“Everything we say is a story. But nothing we say is just a story.”

“Aunt Rose had always taken for granted that the whole world was in a state of constantly fluctuating madness, and that a neurosis was not an illness, show more but a fact of life, like pimples. Some have more, some have less, but only truly abnormal people have none at all. This commonsense philosophy had consoled me many times before, and it did now too.”

“I think you should always rethink your theories. If you don’t they stop being theories. They become something else”- I waved my hands menacingly in the air-“they become dragons beneath your tower, letting no one in and no one out.” show less

I'm in love with this book. That's not an understatement, I would probably have picked it straight up and read it again but, I'm so behind schedule that it wasn't an option (although I might have to stick a post-it on the front to remind myself in future ;))

I've always been the stereotypical woman who has swooned appropriately at Romeo & Juliet so I picked this book up thinking it would be a fun modern re-write that I could forget about soon after. Turns out though that this was so much more - it went beyond the Shakespeare tale (and was the better for it) and mingled pastlives, romance, destiny, soulmates, history, crime, mystery, adventure, betrayals and all the fun stuff to make a book that I want to re-read immediately. I'm a sucker show more for all that so it's like the book was written exactly to my own specifications, which I clearly cannot complain about at all. Also - added bonus, every chapter is prefaced with a R&J quote - how can you not appreciate that?

It's set for the most part in Siena and the descriptions of the town makes the locales easy to imagine even for someone who has never been there and I almost want to go and book a holiday to Siena solely to experience some of it. The two tales - modern and past blend together beautifully and it says a lot about the author that I was equally invested in both stories, even though I knew that one was going to end tragically. The premise involved Julie travelling to Italy on a quest to get something her mother had bequeathed her after her aunt died, in the belief that it will be worth a lot of money and clear her debts after she was written out her aunt's will unexpectedly. In Italy, she travels under her real name, Giulieta Tolomei and discovers that her family is at the centre of an ancient feud with another family and that her name holds some medieval weight nowadays. Her inheritance turns out to be some books and a crucifix, and disappointed begins to read in the hope it explains where the treasure is and the book turns out to be a diary that talks about Giulieta and Romeo, her ancestor and her lover who were the inspiration for the early Italian tellings of Romeo & Juliet before Shakespeare got ahold of it.

It was a wonderful book, and although I'm sure there were aspects of it that people could find fault with - the characterisation of Janice was maybe a little ott and a little out there, but I didn't really mind it that much tbh. I just didn't mind it that much, and I honestly didn't have any complaints. It checked every box that I could possibly want it to check and the balance just felt right.

The film rights to this have been sold already. As a person who loved the book as completely as I did, I'm delighted to have another way to enjoy it but I just really hope they do it justice. No crappy casting choices just to have some big name in the role who is completely unsuitable, and although I love her, no Amanda Seyfried either. If they are going to botch up the casting, I'd rather they just left it personally.

Now I'm just sad that this was a new release - it means I'm going to have years for the author's follow-up book. show less

Once you accept the mediocre writing, the overuse of coincidence (Oh yes, I just happen to have the exact book you need right here...), and the sensationalist storytelling, Juliet is actually a really absorbing read, the kind that you can sit down with for hours without getting bored. It hearkens back to the original story of Romeo and Juliet, set in Siena, and in Da Vinci Code fashion explores the repercussions of that story on its modern day descendants. In modern day Siena, our heroine Julie goes on an old-fashioned treasure hunt, complete with hidden clues, subterranean crypts and tunnels, gothic rituals, and, of course, Romeo. I could have done without the manipulative prologue and Julie's annoying sister, Janice, but I was pretty show more engrossed in the story, as it switched back and forth between the "real" medieval tale of the star-crossed lovers and the one unfolding in the present. I would recommend this as a good beach read. show less

I actually really enjoyed this book. Not sure about it at the start, as it seemed to drag a bit for my liking, but about halfway through, I couldn't stop listening to it and actually finished it via ebook because I wasn't driving about town.

The storyline switches between present day Siena and Siena in 1340 when the initial Romeo and Juliet met and fell in love. Fast forward down the family tree and you find present day Giulietta who has lost her relatives and travels back to Siena to track down family history/secrets. She does, in fact, meet a mysterious man who is not from her family...you can figure it out from there!

While certain aspects of the storyline are highly predictable, there's enough twists that I was engaged in it show more throughout. It most definitely made me want to travel and explore different parts of a city, that's for sure!

Worthwhile read - longer than I had originally expected, but good! show less