New Book: Capuleft and Montaright
“A fabulous modern take on Romeo and Juliet set in a gritty urban backdrop”
It’s been a busy six months since I wrapped up World of Wonders as a weekly newsletter, and one of the things I’ve been up to since is preparing my most recent book, Capuleft and Montaright, for publication. Now a very nice review has just come out on ReedsyDiscovery and I thought it worth sharing with you.
Capuleft and Montaright is a sword-and-cell-phone novel-in-verse that riffs on Romeo and Juliet. Unlike the original, nobody dies, but a lot of people end up in bed with each other. It’s an exploration of male desire, and the social and personal tensions and contradictions that men have to live with. While it’s not explicit, it dives into sex—straight, kinky, and queer—and friendship and love from a male perspective, while at the same time being rollicking and joyous and fun.
If I could figure out how to get it into the hands of the young men seduced by Jordan Peterson’s nonsense I could change the world.
The review is by Emily Thompson and describes the book as “A fabulous modern take on Romeo and Juliet set in a gritty urban backdrop”:
Having studied a lot of Shakespeare at school I wasn’t sure I’d like a modern take on this famous story. It’s such a famous tale that how can anyone really do a good retelling? Surely modern retakes have been done to death in films already?
While the language TJ Radcliffe uses echoes that of Shakespeare’s rhythmic poetry, the Capuleft and Montaright story is indeed modern in setting. It is also not so flowery and archaic that the story is easy to follow and a pleasure to read:
“Much later at the end of his long shift Ben packed his gear away in banging lockers thinking on her hot and eager kiss when first he had discovered her, a shocker for his truly innocent young mind!”I really enjoyed reading this tale, it reminded me of Phillip Larkin poetry, really urban and gritty but still paying close attention to poetic form and keen to closely imitate Shakespeare’s language.
“Ben pressed ahead, dodging flying missiles thrown from hands uncaring who they hit so long as they could vent their righteous anger across the vivid air of summer dusk.”The story is definitely bawdy and feisty and I’d definitely recommend reading this for any poetry lover, whether you are a lover of Shakespeare or not.
Well, then. Like many artists and authors and performers, I’m shy of reviews, good or bad. But I definitely prefer ones like this to the other kind.
Even with reviews like this, I acknowledge the audience for novels-in-verse riffing on Shakespearean themes in a sword-and-cell-phone fantasy setting is, let’s say… specialized.
Possibly even refined.
Dare I say, “elite”?
So if you’re reading this, you’re probably a member of the elite. Welcome!
Capuleft and Montaright is available world-wide from Amazon, including Canada, the US, and the UK, in both e-book and quality paperback format.
If that sounds interesting to you, I’ve priced it as accessibly as possible. And it would make a great Christmas gift for any budding Shakespearean or young man you might know!
With regard to the future, should I return to regular posting here, it will likely start with a chapter-by-chapter reading of Capuleft and Montaright, with the aim of making an audiobook of it.
If you read the book and enjoy it (or not, for that matter) please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, and most especially as an Amazon rating or review: humans are social creatures, and “social proof” in the form of third-party reviews are the gold standard by which others judge the value of art.
Your comments, ratings, and reviews can make a huge difference to how widely read an independent author will be, and I honestly believe this is a work that should be as widely read as possible, because we live in a world that needs to be given a bit of a push just now, to be perturbed away from hate and division, and nudged in the direction of love:
“She felt the pull of gravity, but still held tight onto propriety, and yet like a planet that has been perturbed by the passing of a nearby star she felt her orbit ’round the steady sun of everyday behaviour was disturbed. What were his words? “For who would say that all we really need is just a little less of love, and more of hate?” Oh yes, perturbed.”
Having read the book, I can say that the review is very on point. This is a wonderfully written and important work which I really hope will get into many, many hands.