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A review by super_squirrel
The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson
3.0
This book was a slow burn for me and if I'm honest I didn't know if I was really enjoying it until half way through. As a huge Shakespeare fan I often struggle with modern retellings, and there were elements of this one which I wasn't sure I 100% loved.
I like Jeanette Winterson's quirky and almost casually confronting style of writing but I appreciate it is not for everyone. She doesn't seem driven by what a reader may want and always delivers something that feels authentic to her and the characters she creates. This book is full of that. She takes the characters in directions I wouldn't have chosen but that worked for them, and I think that is why it took me a little while to decide whether I was on board or not.
It is a retelling of A Winters Tale, and has a synopsis of the original in the beginning so it isn't necessary to have read or seen it but there are little things that you see better if you have experience of the original. If you don't like to know the ending you can always skip it though. It also has a personal connection for the author which shines through, but is also explained by the author at the end.
I like Jeanette Winterson's quirky and almost casually confronting style of writing but I appreciate it is not for everyone. She doesn't seem driven by what a reader may want and always delivers something that feels authentic to her and the characters she creates. This book is full of that. She takes the characters in directions I wouldn't have chosen but that worked for them, and I think that is why it took me a little while to decide whether I was on board or not.
It is a retelling of A Winters Tale, and has a synopsis of the original in the beginning so it isn't necessary to have read or seen it but there are little things that you see better if you have experience of the original. If you don't like to know the ending you can always skip it though. It also has a personal connection for the author which shines through, but is also explained by the author at the end.