Vinegar Girl

Vinegar Girl is the third in Hogarth Shakespeare's line of retold classics by the Bard (The Gap of TimeShylock Is My Name). Anne Tyler's delightful, clever novelization sets The Taming of the Shrew in present-day Baltimore, Md., holding faithfully to Shakespeare's plot and concept but presenting far more complex characters, with absolutely charming results.

Kate is 29 and lives with her absent-minded microbiologist father, Dr. Battista, and her younger sister. She serves as housekeeper and chaperone, not that they appreciate her efforts. Her real passion is gardening. As Vinegar Girl opens, Dr. Battista faces a problem: his gifted foreign assistant, Pyotr Cherbakov, is in the U.S. on an extraordinary-ability visa that's about to run out. Dr. Battista feels sure he's on the verge of a breakthrough, but he needs Pyotr to be able to stay a little longer. The reader realizes well ahead of Kate that what her father has in mind is an arranged marriage. The prickly Kate feels she's been taken advantage of long enough; she finds Pyotr pushy, and she isn't looking for a husband, anyway.

Vinegar Girl's modern setting and language enliven a classic tale of controversy and gender politics. The novelistic form illuminates the inner workings of Shakespeare's characters, revealing attractive nuances. Readers unfamiliar with The Taming of the Shrew will have no problem enjoying this novel, which is funny, fun loving and uplifting. Those who know the original well will be intrigued by Tyler's riffs. In either case, the surprising ending, which deviates from Shakespeare's in important ways, makes for a heartwarming conclusion to a quirky, timeless tale. --Julia Jenkins, librarian and blogger at pagesofjulia

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