Name: The Gap of Time
ISBN: 9780804141352

Jeanette Winterson

One of Shakespeare's final plays, The Winter's Tale is the spellbinding story of newfound love, treacherous jealousy, revenge, regret, and ultimately, redemption. Beloved and award-winning author Jeanette Winterson will introduce this classic in a new and unique way, in the first installment of Hogarth's historic Shakespeare series.

The Winter's Tale Retold

The Gap of Time

'I saw the strangest sight tonight.' New Bohemia. America. A storm. A black man finds a white baby abandoned in the night. He gathers her up - light as a star - and decides to take her home. London. England. After the financial crash. Leo Kaiser knows how to make money but he doesn't know how to manage the jealousy he feels towards his best friend and his wife. Is the newborn baby even his? New Bohemia. 17 years later. A boy and a girl are falling in love but there's a lot they don't know about who they are and where they come from. Jeanette Winterson's cover version of The Winter's Tale vibrates with echoes of the original but tells a contemporary story where Time itself is a player in a game of high stakes that will either end in tragedy or forgiveness. It shows us that however far we have been separated, whatever is lost shall be found.

a perfect summertime camping (lost!) read. Interesting retellings tangling of Shakespearean The Winters Tale and contemporary elements, rich words, clever characters. 

Beatrix

haven’t read the original shakespeare but feel like i could have enjoyed it more if i did 

Cameron Gleeson 

Briar's Reviews

The Gap of Time was a fantastic retelling of The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare.

When I first started this book I was very unsure about it. Typically retellings are almost an exact copy of the work and appear to be more of a "fan fiction" than their own work. But, this beautiful novel was different! While it was a retelling, it was not an exact retelling. The story follows the general plot line of The Winter's Tale, but also tells it's own story as well!

I was hooked at every word of this story. It was written in a way that kept me wondering what was happening to Perdita and her Father. 

There wasn't much I would change about this story. The pace moves at a good speed and the plot does not go off on random tangents. There are also themes that are evident: jealousy, redemption and the concept of love. 

Overall, this book was fantastic!

I did receive an ARC copy, so there were some "errors", such as reminders to check certain pages randomly in some sentences. There were some spelling and grammar mistakes as well, but since this was an advanced reader's copy, it was expected.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a general fiction novel that dives into themes. It would also be good for someone looking for a retelling of a classic story.

Five out of five stars!

I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy.

Sonja H

"The Gap of Time" ist die Nacherzählung des Wintermärchens von Shakespeare, eine Geschichte über Eifersucht, Freundschaften und Familienschicksale. 
Die Autorin ist bei ihrer Erzählung sehr nah am Geschehen geblieben, lässt die Handlung jedoch im modernen London und Paris spielen und gibt insbesondere den Nebenfiguren mehr Tiefe.
Es ist ihr unglaublich gut gelungen, die Erzählweise Shakespeares aufzugreifen und mit ihren eigenen Ideen und Erfahrungen zu füllen. 
Ich könnte stundenlang über dieses Buch schwärmen und ich weiß, dass ich es noch mehr als einmal lesen werde. 
Ein wundervolles Werk, das es wert ist, gelesen zu werden!

The Winter's Tale is one of Shakespeare's "late plays". It tells the story of Leontes, King of Sicily, whose insane jealousy results in the banishment of his baby daughter, Perdita, from the kingdom and then the death of his beautiful wife, Hermione. Perdita is brought up by a shepherd on the Bohemian coast, but through a series of miraculous events, father and daughter, and eventually mother too, are reunited. In Jeanette Winterson's retelling we move from London, a city reeling after the 2008 financial crash, to a storm-ravaged city in the US called New Bohemia. Her story is one of childhood friendship, money, status, video games and the elliptical nature of time. It tells in a hyper-modern way, full of energy and beauty, of the consuming power of jealousy on the one hand, and love, redemption and a lost child on the other.

The Winter's Tale Retold (Hogarth Shakespeare)

Deborah Meades

Fantastic writing. I loved this book. I read the Shakespeare play of The Winter's Tale as I did nt know the play at all. I m glad I did as I think it really helped me enjoy the novel. The characters are so fascinating and Winterson's writing is just superb. I hope the rest of the Hogarth Shakespeare series are as good as this.

Ruth Parker 

The influx of Shakespeare related books has been sublime. I love the Bard, I love retellings, I like Jeanette Winterson. I did not enjoy this book. Maybe it wasn’t the right time to read it for me. I just found myself kind of bored. I flipped through and skim read a lot of it and it still took me nearly a week to finish. 
The themes were all there... but the characters were lacking for me. Didn’t hate it. Didn’t like it.

SnarkByThePage

I really loved this book, but that wasn't really a shocker, as it's exactly the kind of book I enjoy. It's a modernization of a Shakespeare tale, and that aspect is done really, really well. Stand alone, it's a well told tale as well. Even without the awesome novelty of the retelling, it's a great read because of the writing alone.

Jennifer Crumbling

Will Vunderink

'A shining delight of a novel' New York Times 'Clever and beautiful...it soars' Financial Times A baby girl is abandoned, banished from London to the storm-ravaged American city of New Bohemia. Her father has been driven mad by jealousy, her mother to exile by grief. Seventeen years later, Perdita doesn't know a lot about who she is or where she's come from - but she's about to find out. Jeanette Winterson's cover version of The Winter's Tale vibrates with echoes of Shakespeare's original and tells a story of hearts broken and hearts healed, a story of revenge and forgiveness, a story that shows that whatever is lost shall be found. 'Emotionally wrought and profoundly intelligent... A supremely clever, compelling and emotionally affecting novel that deserves multiple readings to appreciate its many layers' Mail on Sunday 'There are passages here so concisely beautiful they give you goosebumps' Observer 'Pulsates with such authenticity and imaginative generosity that I defy you not to engage with it' Independent

The Gap of Time The Winter's Tale Retold

Reviews