Lois Leveen s richly detailed, fascinating novel offers a wholly original and intriguing take on one of Shakespeare s most beloved plays ("New York Times "bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini).
In Verona, a city ravaged by plague and political rivalries, a mother mourning the death of her day-old infant enters the household of the powerful Cappelletti family to become the wet-nurse to their newborn baby. As she serves her beloved Juliet over the next fourteen years, the nurse learns the Cappellettis darkest secrets. Those secrets and the nurse s deep personal grief erupt across five momentous days of love and loss that destroy a daughter, and a family.
By turns sensual, tragic, and comic, "Juliet s Nurse" gives voice to one of literature s most memorable and distinctive characters, a woman who was both insider and outsider among Verona s wealthy ruling class. Exploring the romance and intrigue of interwoven loyalties, rivalries, jealousies, and losses only hinted at in Shakespeare s play, this is a never-before-heard tale of the deepest love in Verona the love between a grieving woman and the precious child of her heart.
In the tradition of Sarah Dunant, Philippa Gregory, and Geraldine Brooks, "Juliet s Nurse" is a rich prequel that reimagines the world s most cherished tale of love and loss, suffering and survival."