Mini: Romeo & Juliet Reimagined: THE HUNDRED LOVES OF JULIET by Evelyn Skye

In today's episode, we are joined by New York Times bestselling author Evelyn Skye to discuss her debut adult novel THE HUNDRED LOVES OF JULIET and her process for adapting one of Shakespeare's most famous stories into her own. THE HUNDRED LOVES OF JULIET is available now, wherever you get your books! Join us on our Patreon later this month as we dive deeper into the book (with spoilers!) with Evelyn. 

THE HUNDRED LOVES OF JULIET is a modern reimagining of Romeo and Juliet, with a twist: Romeo has been cursed to live forever, Juliet to reincarnate and die soon after they meet. Sometimes they only have minutes together, sometimes they have years. But she always—no matter what they do to prevent it—perishes. Told in alternating dual perspectives, “this novel cleverly imagines the epilogue the lovers didn’t get to have, and how curses can be blessings in disguise.” (Jodi Picoult)

A STORY ORIGINATING FROM THE AUTHOR’S POIGNANT PERSONAL EXPERIENCE: In 2018, just ten months after they were married, Evelyn’s husband Tom underwent an emergency double lung transplant—and since the moment he woke, they have lived with the knowledge that any day could be his last. In the years following Tom’s surgery, Evelyn turned to her own writing to grapple with the uncertainty and anxiety of their future. She was drawn to the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet—but instead of immersing herself in the themes of desperation and senseless loss that mark Shakespeare’s best-known play, she was inspired to reimagine the eponymous characters as two regular people fighting against the heartbreaking fate that bound them together… and instead for the unshakeable, transcendent love that fate dealt them.

EVELYN SKYE is the New York Times best selling author of eight novels, including The Crown's Game. A graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School, Skye lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and daughter. For more, follow her on Instagram at @evelyn_skye or visit evelynskye.com

Transcript to come.

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Skye, Evelyn. The Hundred Loves of Juliet. Del Rey Books, 2023.

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Titus Andronicus: Femininity and Girlhood in Shakespeare’s Time

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Titus Andronicus: Trauma in Shakespeare and Early Modern Theatre