Juliet

By: Anne Fortier

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 19 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Twenty-five-year-old Julie Jacobs is heartbroken over the death of her beloved Aunt Rose. But the shock goes even deeper when she learns that the woman who has been like a mother to her has left her entire estate to Julie’s twin sister. The only thing Julie receives is a key—one carried by her mother on the day she herself died—to a safety-deposit box in Siena, Italy.

This key sends Julie on a journey that will change her life forever—a journey into the troubled past of her ancestor Giulietta Tolomei.

In 1340, still reeling from the slaughter of her parents, Giulietta was smuggled into Siena, where she met a young man named Romeo. Their ill-fated love turned medieval Siena upside-down and went on to inspire generations of poets and artists, the story reaching its pinnacle in Shakespeare’s famous tragedy.

But six centuries have a way of catching up to the present, and Julie gradually begins to discover that here, in this ancient city, the past and present are hard to tell apart. The deeper she delves into the history of Romeo and Giulietta, and the closer she gets to the treasure they allegedly left behind, the greater the danger surrounding her—superstitions, ancient hostilities, and personal vendettas. As Julie crosses paths with the descendants of the families involved in the unforgettable blood feud, she begins to fear that the notorious curse—“A plague on both your houses!”—is still at work, and that she is destined to be its next target. Only someone like Romeo, it seems, could save her from this dreaded fate, but his story ended long ago. Or did it?

From Anne Fortier comes a sweeping, beautifully written novel of intrigue and identity, of love and legacy, as a young woman discovers that her own fate is irrevocably tied—for better or worse—to literature’s greatest star-crossed lovers.

©2010 Anne Fortier (P)2010 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"To understand what happened centuries ago, in the previous generation, and all around her, Julie relies on relics: a painting, a journal, a dagger, a ring. Readers enjoy the additional benefit of antique texts alternating with contemporary narratives, written in the language of modern romance and enlivened by brisk storytelling. Fortier navigates around false clues and twists, resulting in a dense, heavily plotted love story that reads like a Da Vinci Code for the smart modern woman." ( Publishers weekly)

“One of those rare novels that have it all. . . I was swept away.” (Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants)

EXCELLENT! FUN! WONDERFUL!

the narrator was awesome.
The flip flopping between centuries kept me on my toes.
The modern spin on Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet was so much fun.
The characters were colorful and engaging.
Lived This Book & have re-listened to it MANY times!

I just don't like this narrator

The narrator makes the heroine sound like some obnoxious teenager. She has difficulty with accents, and doesn't lend anything to the story. Parts were okay, but it put me to sleep while driving. So listen to it if you are walking instead.

Tried to Love It, Couldn't Finish It

Would you try another book from Anne Fortier and/or Cassandra Campbell?

Many reviewers have said the print version is about 100 pages too long. I was unable to finish the audio version. The narration is well done, and I enjoyed the first two sections of the book and was anticipating the conclusion. Then I discovered there was still a lengthy part 3 of the recording to go. The story started bogging down and became so repetitive during this portion that I stopped caring and couldn't force myself to finish it. Too many detailed retellings of the Romeo and Juliet story within a story, and the modern protagonists are not interesting enough to make me want to carry on to their story's conclusion. Don't know how it ended, but don't care. Maybe I'll give part 3 a whirl again after some time passes.

Completely captivated!!!

So when I saw this story I figured a typical romance novel. As the story played out, I was entranced by the suspense, the love from the past and the present. Fortier wrote in a way that I felt I was in Palazzo Salimbeni. I'm part Italian, and I have never really appreaciated my heritage except the food, but after this story, I want so much to vissit these places she speaks of. Two thumbs way way up Mrs. Anne!!!!!!!!!!

My favorite

I have listened to this book three times and noticed new details each time. I love the contemporary and historical narratives and how they intertwine.

A rose by this name stinks

I like history; I like Shakespeare and I like Italy. You would think that this book would have been just perfect for me. Not so. This book seems to have been written for sexually frustrated females with no experience of foreign travel. The author goes on about fashion, shoes, girl talk and other chick oriented muck. The story goes on with two Juliet???s; one in the present and one in 1340 Italy. Neither story has any substance. Character and plot development are uneven and farfetched. Don???t look for any clever twist or turns. Everything is boring and predictable. As an extra bonus you are subjected to second rate poetry from Romeo, although I suspect that the author just paraphrased most of it from other sources. This is certainly true of Shakespeare. She mangles the old bard???s words many times and shoves them into her characters mouths. This book is just dreadful.

Sometimes the voice of a reader trivializes a book

What would have made Juliet better?

The book plays on two levels: present day and 15th century Italy. The present day characters were entirely unbelievable.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

If love and lovers are eternal, the chance of them meeting again poses lots of possiblities. The Romeo and Juliet of old meeting today is a great idea. The 15th century part of the story is a lot of fun. The modern part felt sophomoric.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Her voice was petulant and self-centered. It detracted from the story. I actually yelled out loud at the book several times, she made me so angry.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Juliet?

Too many to mention. The modern parts of the book really pushed credibility.

Disappointing

I wanted to like this but the plot was contrived, the characters unconvincing, and the historical setting muddled. I almost never leave a book unfinished but managed to do so on Juliet.

Stretched and snapped my credulity

Full disclosure - I made it only thru parts 1 and 2. I simply could not subject myself to the torture of such banal writing, cardboard characters and unbelievable situations anymore. Ann Fortier, have you ever been to Siena? Anyone who has can tell you that in summer its streets are NEVER EMPTY, as they always are at night in this book so young women can run from bad guys. It would also be nice if some of your characters were motivated by more than one deadly sin - lust, greed, etc. Try TWO! And one more thing, you have used up your lifetime quota for the use of the phrases, "For as long as I could remember," "Ever since I could remember" and "As far as I knew." You're done. How did this get published? How did I get tricked into handing over one of my 2 monthly credits for such dreck? I;ll tell you how - the Publishers Weekly starred review got me. NEVER AGAIN.

Awful !

This was just terrible, even with Cassandra Campbell narrating. A trite, sappy story, unrealistic and unlikable characters.