I had this book on my kindle for quite a while before I got around to reading it, thinking it would be a bit of a chore, like reading Shakespeare, but actually, when I finally got around to it, it was very readable and fun.
It is a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest (a play that I am not that familiar with, although the book explains the plot quite well so that wasn’t a hindrance to my enjoyment or appreciation). A washed out over ambitious actor is ousted from his theatre position and ends up teaching a Literature class in a men’s prison where he has the inmates perform a retelling of a Shakespeare play every year, which they re-write themselves in modern American parlance (like a mirror to the novel itself!).
When the people who turned on him and fired him from his previous role themselves rise through the ranks of politics and visit the prison (not knowing who the teacher is as he works under an alias) he plots a way to get his revenge on them.
I enjoyed the book, I think it was quite short (it’s hard to tell with a kindle book – lol!) at least it didn’t take me long to read it, or the reading flew in, so, if like me you are put off – don’t be, read it, it’s fun!
Sarah Wray Writer 