This is a book I have been meaning to read for two years, after Cindy read it for a book report I was intrigued. I have read Shakespeare's Hamlet and always wanted to know more of the background on the other characters. While Hamlet focuses on revenge, this is a love story between Ophelia and Hamlet. Even though I know Hamlet's madness causes his death, I still read hoping the ending will change. As people in our lives today act different around different people, Hamlet has two sides to him too.
Instead of following Hamlet around, Klein has us follow Ophelia and learn what motivates her and why she acts as she does. I knew early in the novel how Horatio feels for Ophelia, but she is so in love with Hamlet that she does not see what is in front of her face. Would Ophelia's story be different if she saw what the readers see?
I would have liked to have seen Ophelia's immediate reaction to when Laeretes dies, but that would change the ending of the story too much.
This Ophelia is stronger than Shakespeare's Ophelia though. This is a novel worth reading for girls who have lost a mother and seek a connection with other women in their lives.
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