Shakespeare’s Twin Sister … Richard Seltzer’s Newest Novel
Richard Seltzer keeps up the torrid pace of publishing with the release of his latest novel, Shakespeare’s Twin Sister. He reports, “I had a LOT of fun with this one!”
The plot device is clever: Shakespeare’s twin sister Kate wakes up in the body of a 99-year-old woman in a nursing home in 1987. She has quite a tale to tell:
- her coming-of-age story, posing as a boy to get an education
- twins separated at birth sorting out the mystery of their otherworldly connection to one another
- a lifelong three-way love story
- soul projection and transference linking individuals to one another and connecting past to present
- and the story of a young reporter who falls in love with the soul he finds in the body of an old and dying woman.
As a cross-dressing sword-fighting teenager, Kate beats Mercutio, captain of the King’s Musketeers, in a duel in Paris.
As Will’s double and writing partner, Kate enables him to do the work of two geniuses. This outlandish view of Shakespeare’s life and times stays true to the facts, while presenting explanations that are intriguingly plausible.