Juliet's Nurse

Boy and girl meet, fall in love, marry in secret, and bring tragedy down upon themselves and their families. A familiar story, and yet Leveen (The Secrets of Mary Bowser) brings new life to this old tale. Angelica and her husband, Pietro, live in Verona, and after the death of their newborn daughter, Pietro arranges for Angelica to stanch her grief by finding her the position of wet nurse to the wealthy Cappeletti family, who also have a daughter, Juliet. Angelica finds happiness in the sweet baby and humor in the antics of Juliet's cousin, Tybalt. For many years her happiness builds as she watches her charge grow into a beautiful young woman, but one night at a masquerade ball Juliet meets a young man named Romeo. Leveen's intricate storytelling is impressive—a careful rereading of Shakespeare's play reveals that the author has found the smallest nuances and expanded them into fully fleshed out events and characters.