Gertrude and Claudius are the “villains” of Hamlet: he the killer of Hamlet’s father and usurper of the Danish throne, she his lusty consort, who marries Claudius before her late husband’s body is cold. But in this imaginative “prequel” to the play, John Updike makes a case for the royal couple that Shakespeare only hinted at. Gertrude and Claudius are seen afresh against a background of fond intentions and family dysfunction, on a stage darkened by the ominous shadow of a sullen, erratic, disaffected prince. “I hoped to keep the texture light,” Updike said of this novel, “to move from the mists of Scandinavian legend into the daylight atmosphere of the Globe. I sought to narrate the romance that preceded the tragedy.”
- Top 50 eBooks of 2023
- New eBook additions
- Available now eBooks
- Try something different
- Most popular
- New teen additions
- New kids additions
- Trending on BookTok
- Mysteries
- Biographies
- True Crime
- Romance
- Fantasy
- See all
- Top 50 eAudios of 2023
- New audiobook additions
- Available now Audios
- Try something different
- Most popular
- New teen additions
- New kids additions
- Trending on BookTok
- Mysteries
- Biographies
- True Crime
- Romance
- Fantasy
- See all
- Top 50 eAudios of 2023
- Top 50 eBooks of 2023
- Top 50 Teen Reads of 2023
- Top 50 Kids Reads of 2023
- New Magazines
- Always Available Audiobooks
- Always Available eBooks
- Comics, Graphic Novels, & Manga
- See all