Ophelia by Lisa
Klein tells the story of Hamlet and the events of the Danish court from the
perspective of Ophelia. Anyone familiar with Shakespeare’s play knows that
Ophelia commits suicide in Act IV but what if her death was really was an
escape. What if Ophelia survives and tells the tragic tale of Prince Hamlet.
The story opens as a young Ophelia moves to the castle when
her father, Polonius, is employed by King Hamlet. She soon becomes a part of
Queen Gertrude’s court as a lady-in-waiting. There she becomes a favorite of
the queen as she reads love stories to the queen. At the age of 15, she has
grown into a beautiful woman and has caught the eye of the handsome Prince
Hamlet. They soon fall in love and secretly meet with his friend, Horatio, as
their lookout. Hamlet soon leaves for school when tragedy strikes, the king is
dead. The events that occurs in the play unfold. Ophelia begins to fear for her
life. So with the help of Horatio, Ophelia is able to fake her death and escape
to an abbey in France. She soon discovers that she holds the key to the future
of the Danish court. Will she ever be able to return home? Or will she be
forced to live in hiding for the rest of her life?
I found this book many years ago when browsing in a
bookstore. Since I love Shakespeare, I was intrigued at the concept that
Ophelia survives and we hear the story of Hamlet from her perspective. I loved it then and I love it more now that I've read it again. Since
the play tells the story about the death of King Hamlet, this book is a great
imagination of the romantic relationship between Ophelia and Hamlet before he
goes mad with revenge. The book is categorized at a Young Adult; however, I
highly recommend it to everyone. It doesn’t matter if you are familiar with Shakespeare’s
play or not, you will enjoy this story.
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