Falling for Hamlet

Title: Falling for Hamlet
Author: Michelle Ray
Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: July 2011

Falling for Hamlet is a modern retelling of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet told by Ophelia, Hamlet’s on-again and off-again girlfriend. Hamlet is the Prince of modern day Denmark. Ophelia lives in the castle as the daughter of Polonius, advisor to the King. She and Hamlet have known each other since they were young and have been together, mostly, since she was 15. Now, three years later, tragedy befalls Hamlet and those surrounding him. Can their relationship survive being in the spotlight? Can any of them survive, period?

Hamlet is my favorite play, so I was a little apprehensive about a “modern retelling.” It turns out this book made me love it and the play even more. This is definitely not the book to read as a cliffs notes version of the real thing. The story is told after the fact by Ophelia, so there are obviously some major plot differences. You could also read this without having read the play and enjoy it. It is a quick, engrossing read. Each chapter is told in three different styles with the beginning being a talk show style interview, the middle being what really happened, and the ending being the police interview transcript. This is Michelle Ray’s first novel. I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us next.

The Bottom Line:
I highly recommend this book to fans of Hamlet, those who like to read about the affects of fame on people, or anyone who likes a good tragedy.


The publisher provided me with an advanced reader's copy of the book for this review. Falling for Hamlet has an expected release date of July 2011.