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)

Romance Novel w/twist (if that's your thing)

First of all, I will pretty much listen to anything. And I id finish this book. While the play on the historic Romeo & Juliet is intriguing... I wanted to strangle the heroine & her beloved Romeo. Sappy stuff. Narrator did a decent job with the Italian accents.

Great Concept, Poor Execution

The concept was fun as I’m a big R&J fan- but the writing seemed forced and awkward at times. The love story was too fast without big moments to capture the reader’s heart and make me care about whether or not the major characters make it. And, for my taste, way too much plot line is filled in with long flashback narratives.

wanted to love it

With a passion for both Shakespeare and all things Italian, I was excited at the premise of this book. While some of the twists and turns kept me reading, I found the modern day Juliet to be one dimensional, not the brightest bulb, and an inconsistant character. The smattering of the supernatural was tepid, the coincidences were too "on the nose", and the relationships underdeveloped. Read this with expectations of a light, fluffy experience. Its "PG rating" would make it a good read for a student along side their first exposure to Shakespeare.

wish someone else wrote this book

story was clever, but that's about it. writer's usage of dialogue was piss poor, which then leaves the narrator sounding amateurish...as if were watching a D rated movie of the week. this book made me regret choice in reading it. don't bother not unless you like feeling frustrated.

The True Story of Romeo and Juliet?

This book is supposed to recall the true story of Romeo and Juliet and also follows their descendants (who are irritatingly also named Romeo and Juliet) on a Davinci-Code-like quest through Siena to find a hidden statue and break a 600 year old curse. It's not terrible, I teetered on the verge of liking it, but I eventually fell into the "I don't like it" camp.

I came across a review on Good Reads that perfectly explains why I would not recommend the book:

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“There were things in the book that did not make it past my suspension of disbelief. I find it hard to believe that the Virgin Mary would curse a family for 600 years just because she didn't get her way with the original Romeo and Juliet. I also didn't like how the ancestors of Romeo and Juliet seemed to have this "Well, you're named after Romeo and I'm named after Juliet, so we're supposed to be with each other and fall in love" attitude. It was weird and I didn't find it to be the least-bit romantic. And I found it infuriating the way that none of the characters were ever straight with each other on anything until the very end. And while the climax of the book was satisfying, a great portion of the book left me rolling my eyes.

If you have a deep love of Romeo and Juliet, can buy into the idea of your life being controlled by "fate" and curses, and have sappy notions about romance, then you might like this book. Otherwise, I recommend that you pass it up”

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I agree 100%! (well, more like 99% - I didn’t find the book’s climax satisfying)

If you like a stupid protaganist and sappy romance

This book has an excellent premise and could have been a fast paced, suspense story like The Da Vinci Code. It's set in Italy and uses intriguing references to Shakespeare and history. Normally it would have been a great book for me. As it is, I really grew to dislike the whiny, spoiled, weak, and stupid main character. How anyone would fall in love with her is beyond my comprehension. The author had a great idea, but her execution of the story gets pulled down by idiot characters. She even made the characterization of the supposedly "real" Romeo and Juliet in 14th century Sienna seem pathetic. She obviously did her research, but the plot and characters were just not worth it. I'll give her 2 stars for the research, the history and the literary references to Shakespeare. Not a memorable book and not one I could recommend.

Disappointment big time!

Disjointed, overwrought plot. Meldramatic reading by turns whiny, bitchy, and spoiled baby talk. Wish I had read a review like this one before I launched into this super-long tortuous book.