Title: Shakespearian fantasias
Subtitle: adventures in the fourth dimension
First published: 1929
Description: Esther Singleton’s delightful novel takes readers on flights of fancy as they accompany the narrator, a woman from the twentieth century, who mysteriously finds herself transplanted into the worlds of many of Shakespeare’s comedies. Sweet Anne Page guides her and us into the world of The Merry Wives of Windsor; the feisty Beatrice is our guide through the complications that arise in matters of the heart in the world of Much Ado About Nothing, and the witty Berowne introduces us to the complexities that arise as four English gentlemen court four filles from France in the world of Love’s Labour’s Lost. These and the other fantasias – eleven all told – not only introduce readers to delightful tales from Shakespeare’s plays but also are likely to seduce them into wanting to read the original dramas. Shakespearian Fantasias was Singleton’s only novel. She completed it during the final year of her life, and described it as “the best work that I have ever done, and the most original.”
Subjects: In literature
People: William Shakespeare (1564-1616)