Full review. What I loved most about this novel was Leveen's sensitive look at the emotional implications of being a wetnurse.  Angelica has just lost her child when she's given infant Juliet; it's no wonder she fell in love with the needy infant she nurtured.  But that relationship is fraught, for Angelica is not Juliet's mother, and her connection with the child she loves is dependent on whether her employers still value her.

 

The first half of the novel is devoted to this, which surprised me but was the best part of the novel.  Once the story shifted into Shakespeare's tragedy, the story was less gripping -- of course the nurse is stricken and sad, and of course she's devoted -- and since we know what's going to happen to Juliet, it was just about sitting back and letting the bus drive.

 

As a look at medieval life for a domestic, this was really fascinating. Shakespeare loyalists shouldn't mind this imagining, and those who might be unfamiliar with Romeo & Juliet will be able to enjoy the story just fine.

This is grief's great trick: you think you have faced the worst of it, not dreaming of all that is yet to come.

I, like many others, had to read Romeo and Juliet back in high school. When I first read the book I fell in love with it and couldn't get enough of the star-crossed lovers (oh how young I was). Unfortunately once I grew up from being that starry-eyed girl, I began to like the book less and think it not so romantic as I used to. I decided to request Juliet's Nurse from NetGalley because even though I'm no longer a starry-eyed girl I thought it would be absolutely fascinating to read Lois Leveen's interpretation into the background of Juliet's nurse. This is a wonderful tale filled with love, loss, and a woman's drive to protect the only person she has left in the world, a girl named Juliet.

 

The woman that Leveen creates from the clues that Shakespeare leaves about Juliet's nurse is a woman easy to connect with, love, and at times become frustrated with. Angelica, Juliet's wet nurse, comes into Juliet's life already having experienced great loss and she clings to Juliet to stave off some of her grief. Angelica not only becomes close with Juliet but also with Juliet's cousin Tybalt. With these two children she discover the joy she hasn't had since she lost her beloved children.

 

I absolutely loved Angelica's husband, Pietro. He brought such joy (most of the time) and humor to this story. You couldn't help but want the best for such a kindhearted and loveable man. At this stage in my life I have to say that I loved Angelica and Pietro's relationship way more than Romeo and Juliet. Ultimately I am angry at what happens to Pietro and how Angelica eventually treats him. Pietro had such a goodness to him that no other character truly seemed to have that he became my favorite character in this book.

 

This book covers the events after Juliet is born and some of her childhood and then it jumps to the events covered in Romeo and Juliet. Once it jumped ahead it seemed like the book changed in writing style because some of Shakespeare's dialogue was included (obviously) and that really differs from the dialogue of the first part. The second part was definitely more Shakespearean than the first part but it was fascinating getting to see these familiar events from the point-of-view of Angelica.

 

What Leveen has created with this book is a look into the life of a mysterious but important character of Romeo and Juliet. It may be difficult to do but I felt that she did Shakespeare justice and I would highly recommend this book to all those out there that have read Romeo and Juliet and liked it or to all those out there who want to see the story from another point-of-view.

Lois Leveen’s notes at the end of the novel about the facts behind The Secrets of Mary Bowser are fascinating. Knowing where the line between fact and fiction lies in no way detracts from the story as oftentimes, the truth is more unbelievable than fiction. Mary was indeed as remarkable as the book leads one to understand. Raised with her mother and able to spend time with her father every week, baptized in a church for whites, manumitted at an early age, educated in the North at the expense of her former owner, maintaining a friendship of sorts with said former owner, becoming a teacher, being married in a church for whites – even one of these events would have made Mary’s life experiences atypical for a slave or freed person. The fact that she experienced all of these events made her life extraordinary. Yet, Mary felt the need to forego those freedoms to move back to the dangers of Virginia’s slaveholder culture. It truly is unbelievable and yet true.While there are plenty of people who took unbelievable risks to achieve the same goals, Mary’s is the one that strikes at the heart of the reader because of Ms. Leveen’s ability to reach through the dry pages of history and bring this remarkable woman back to life for modern audiences. As far-fetched as her actions may seem at first, Mary is so alive and so sympathetic that her actions no longer appear implausible to readers. In addition, while most people understand on a functional level the horrors of slavery, Ms. Leveen adds details that dispel any preconceived notions a reader might have held about life for persons of color no matter where they lived in the 1840s, 50s, and 60s, creating a complete picture of just how tumultuous and hypocritical the times were.Ms. Leveen’s research and expertise pays off on this exciting and impressive work of historical fiction. While much may be fictional, The Secrets of Mary Bowser has a feel of authenticity due in part to Ms. Leveen’s unwillingness to shy away from the more grotesque aspects of war and slavery and in large part to her thorough knowledge of the era. Since much of Mary Bowser’s true actions can never be known, Ms. Leveen never strays from the improbable as she attempts to bridge the gaps between historical fact and historical speculation. What results is a taut thriller that combines the familiar with the unfamiliar to showcase another viewpoint of slavery, of the fight for emancipation and freedom for millions of slaves, and of the War Between the States. Truly, The Secrets of Mary Bowser are worth getting to know.Acknowledgments: Thank you to LibraryThing’s Early Reader Program for my review copy!

I received an ARC of "The Secrets of Mary Bowser" through BookBrowse's First Impressions program. I'm definitely in the minority, b/c most reviewers have given it 4+ stars. I found it very slow and boring; the characters just simply never came alive for me. I only made it to page 84 before giving up, so not sure how fair my review is.

Have you ever heard of Mary Bowser?

If not, then read this book! It's a masterpiece.