A great interpretation of the characters of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night after the curtain closes. The beginning is a little lengthy when the characters explain what had happened in giant blocks of information, but the story is nonetheless compelling. A great read although slightly melancholic, a reminder that age is not always kind and happy is not always forever after for characters we love. The story is a seamless blend of Elizabethan England historical facts and Shakespeare's beloved play. A great read for anyone who has ever seen Twelfth Night or loves Shakespeare.

This book was the perfect love story. It was full of love for Shakespeare's storytelling, his mysterious life, and his beautifully realized characters. As a fan of the Twelfth Night, this book allowed me to play along and live in the magic of the tale. I understand that it isn't a story for everyone but a lover of the Bard will enjoy the moments lived in this novel.

I'd not read a book by Celia Rees before The Fool's Girl. I'd heard such good things about her though, so I was excited, and I shall definitely be picking up some of her other books in the near future. I also didn't know much about Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare either, so reading this book was a bit of an education. But an entertaining one.

Despite not having a great interest in historical fiction, I do find myself to be quite fascinated with Shakespeare and the period of time that he lived. But in that sort of abstract way. I don't actually know very much about it, but I think that if I did read about it, I would enjoy it like I enjoyed The Fool's Girl.

What I knew about Twelfth Night beforehand, as I said, was very little. That Viola washes up a beach. That a lot of the play is concerned with mistaken identity, as Viola pretends to be a man. It's a comedy. But what Celia Rees does with this book is give the main characters of Twelfth Night a history and a future. She gives shape and history to Illyria which is told in great chunks of narrative from the voices of Violetta, Viola's daughter, Feste, the Fool, and Maria, a servant.

I admit that at first, it was a little difficult to get into, when the storyline was first interrupted in order to relay to Will Shakespeare of the events that occurred in Illyria. But once I slowed down and was able to read and soak in this new story about an interesting place, I found myself swept up into the story. There's so much intersting details of this period of time, there's action and adventure and some amusing characters.

The story takes place many years after the events of Twelfth Night, after death and grief strike Illyria and it is conquered by a neighbouring enemy and looted of its national treasures. Violetta and Feste follow an important religious relic to England, where they enlist the help of William Shakespeare in this plan to take back what rightfully belongs to Illyria. And in the process we see a little glimpse into Shakespearean London and the comings and goings of the Globe theatre. There's intrigue and fighting, there's a hint of magical stones, religious artifacts and the hint of a really sweet romantic relationship. A very entertaining and interesting read! One I can recommend.

Ever since I read ‘Pirates’, I have been a big fan of Celia Rees and like all her novels, ‘The Fool’s girl’ did not disappoint. Set in Shakespearean England, the plot is devised from the famous play of Twelfth Night and centres around Violetta, an exiled Duchessa who is on a mission to restore her country to its former glory and claim back her title as ruler of Illyria. Along with her trusted fool Feste she forms a plan to steal back the holy-relic that was plundered from her city, but to pull it off she must enlist the help of the playwright Will (Shakespeare) and his band of actors. Yet despite Will’s reluctance to help, their lives become tangled together and Violetta finds herself in the centre of a web danger, romance, political plots and religious conspiracies…

I must admit that it took me awhile to get into this book, mainly as the timeline within the story shifts back and forth from present to past, flipping from one characters perspective to the other. However once you settle into the rhythm you will soon find yourself captivated, swept up into a story of intrigue and power.

As usual, Celia Rees paints the time period beautifully, with vivid imagery and easily flowing prose that, at times, is as educational as it is beautiful. Not only does she give the reader a breath-taking glimpse into the past, but adds elements of old magic into the mix that somehow, still manages to keep the story within the realm of possibility – one of the reasons I love her work so much. Even though ‘The Fool’s Girl’ is a work of fiction, it is easy to imagine it being a true tale. It is most definitely an interesting and entertaining read.

Therefore with its depth and attention to detail, I would recommend this book to all fans of historical fiction. However I will also add that although I thought this book was a great read, it was not an easy one. A reader must be prepared to commit to this story as it can be quite confusing at times but I believe it is worth the effort. 3 ½ stars!

Found it by chance at the library and had no expectations - except that I LOVE her earlier book Pirates! - and what an amazing read it was! History, London and Shakespeare, what a treat, this is definitely a new favourite of mine.
The pace is quite slow and there is a lot of walking and talking, mixed with scenery and romantic descriptions, which did it for me.

The ending felt a bit rushed, but other than that I have no complaints.

I normally love Celia Rees. However, I just couldn't get into this book. It felt disjointed, I never felt any sympathy towards any of the characters, I never really cared about their situations, and I felt like things just happened, they really didn't have any driving force behind them. I never felt a threat from the antagonists, and things happened too easily and too fast.

There are things mentioned about Violetta - mentioned, but never actually shown to us. We see her in the beginning of the novel tumbling around, but that's about all of her "performances" that we see. And suddenly, towards the middle, she's talking about how much she loves to perform, how she wishes she was up on the stage. It just didn't work, and I found that a lot of things in the book were like that. It's mentioned how Feste loves Violetta, but he doesn't do much more than scowl at Stephano. At one point, an actor who professes his love for Violetta follows her, and he's directed away from the path that she took. Nothing more comes of it. I never got a real sense of danger, of desperation, and everything was so disjointed that I struggled through this book for almost a week. I almost didn't finish it, and was so happy when I reached the end of a novel.

I do find it very disappointing, because normally I read a Celia Rees novel in one sitting and think about it for days after. Oh well, I don't have to love every single work an author publishes!

I first saw this book in the bookstore. The cover caught my eye and the summary caught my interest. After picking it up I realized that it looks like modern day language, but has a slight touch of old English.

The beginning of the book was very confusing, I became lost and didn't know what to do. I decided to continue reading though in hopes of finding my way back into the story. I'm glad I did. The adventure that Violetta and Feste pursue is like the summary says, "an engrossing journey". There is also a romantic element in the story that I enjoyed. Historical fiction is nice, but add some romance and it is wonderful!

Although the beginning of the story is confusing and a bit boring, hang on. If you can make it through the first 50 pages or so, you'll be glad you did. Celia Rees brings a unique touch to this story and will make you want to read Twelfth Night.

Overall the book was unique and kept my interest.

In the end I couldn't read this book with love, mostly because it was not as interesting as I'd hoped! The characters are forgettable and the book just makes you want to put it down but well,the idea was good!!

I love a good Shakespeare spinoff/tie-in book. However, I think I would have liked this book more if it had been just a bit smarter about it. The only reason I rate it so low is that the plot seemed slightly forced and the reading level was way below what I would normally read. Younger audiences familiar with Twelfth Night may find it more engaging than I did. I had begun reading it nearly a year ago and wasn't compelled enough by the story that I put it down until I finally needed something simple to read before going to bed.
The references to Twelfth Night and Midsummer were fun, but I felt that much of the characterization of these characters that I am so familiar with felt off which was one of the reasons I initially put it down. There were a lot of moving parts to the story that I felt made it cluttered and the backstory felt forced. Honestly, the ending I thought was most effective because it didn't try to change so much of a well-established story and relied on it to create a simple moment that anyone closely familiar with Twelfth Night will appreciate.