Hag-Seed: The Tempest Retold

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2017 BAILEY WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION“This is an absorbing retelling of The Tempest by Shakespeare. . . . It snaps, crackles and pops. If you need a little revenge in your life, trust me. Revenge is a dish best cooked by Margaret Atwood.” —Shelagh Rogers, CBC Books“Margaret Atwood’s reworking of The Tempest . . . is a triumph. . . . With Hag-Seed, Margaret Atwood’s version of The Tempest, the [Hogarth Shakespeare] project . . . strikes gold. . . . There won’t be a more glowing tribute to Shakespeare in his 400th anniversary year.” —Peter Kemp, The Sunday Times   “[I]ngenious. . . . Atwood exerts a sorceress’s sway over [The Tempest’s] themes of art and treachery, resulting in a slyly inventive, intricately constructed homage with plenty of its own points to make.” —The Mail on Sunday   “Hag-Seed is an absolute triumph. . . . [Atwood] was the ideal author to take on this project.” —The Scotsman “[S]urpassingly brilliant . . . without question the cleverest ‘neo-Shakespearean novel’ I have read.” —Jonathan Bate, The Times “[A] skilful retelling. . . . [A] beautifully executed, bracingly original . . . novel. . . . [A] very human comedy . . . [with] vivid, surprising multidimensionality. . . . What makes the book thrilling, and hugely pleasurable, is how closely Atwood hews to Shakespeare even as she casts her own potent charms, rap-composition included. . . . It’s partly an intellectual game, this business of adapting his play, and you can feel her turning it over in her hands, considering it and its characters in every possible permutation. . . . Like a masterful director, she has found ways to animate The Tempest afresh . . . she has . . . traced glittering new patterns in its air. Where the drama’s action ends, this suspenseful, satisfying novel keeps going for a bit, with boisterous humor, dark pragmatism, and a vigorously defiant spirit. It more than meets the challenge Atwood clearly set for herself: to escape the play. Part Shakespeare, part Atwood, Hag-Seed is a most delicate monster—and that’s ‘delicate’ in the seventeenth-century sense. It’s delightful.” —The Boston Globe“If The Tempest is Shakespeare’s most wondrous play, Atwood’s Hag-Seed is, in every way, a wonder. . . . [H]ag-Seed is a work of genius. . . . The Bard, I think, would approve. . . . The climax is still a wondrous surprise. The novel, of course, sparkles with Atwood’s characteristic wit and play with language. She deftly weaves the language of Shakespeare into her taut and ever shimmering prose, making the lines sing. . . . For readers familiar with The Tempest, Atwood’s deeply insightful and complex engagement with the play will delight and awe. For Atwood fans new and old, Hag-Seed is sheer delight—wonderful in every sense.” —Mona Awad, author of 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl, The Globe and Mail“How can you take on one of the greatest writers of all time? If you’re Margaret Atwood, quite easily. . . . Atwood tackle[s] The Tempest with style and verve. . . . Funny and dark, Hag-Seed is as clever and full of layers as Shakespeare’s original. The Bard would be proud.” —Stylist “[E]ven someone unfamiliar with Shakespeare will be entertained by this compelling tale of enchantment and second chances, and the rough magic it so delightfully embodies.” —BookPage   “Atwood’s canny remix offers multiple pleasures.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)  “Hag-Seed is a marvelous and thoughtful adaptation. . . . [H]ag-Seed is a treat. It’s a beautifully constructed adaptation, one that stands on its own but is even richer when read against its source—and can, in turn, enrich its source material. It’s playful and thoughtful, and it singlehandedly makes a good argument for the value of adapting Shakespeare.” —Vox “[A] brilliant retelling of The Tempest.” —A.V. Club “[T]his is written with such gusto and mischief. . . . The joy and hilarity of it just sing off the page. It’s a magical eulogy to Shakespeare. . . . It’s riotous, insanely readable and just the best fun. . . . [E]xtraordinary. . . . Felix is a fabulous character. Although he’s utterly idiotic and sometimes despicable, Atwood somehow has us in love with him and rooting for him all the way. He’s a superb caricature of these elitist liberals so reviled in some quarters at the moment. . . . The novel builds to a fantastic climax of dark calamity, with a wonderful footnote. . . . There is so much exuberance and heart and wonder in this novel that the only thing I want to happen next is for Atwood to rewrite the whole of Shakespeare. (No offence, Will.)” —Viv Groskop, The Guardian“Atwood is at her bewitching best in this gripping tale of betrayal and revenge that, incidentally, also displays her deep knowledge of The Tempest. . . . Atwood cunningly brings the reader along without giving away the plot.” —Los Angeles Review of Books “The visionary Atwood’s daring and elaborate twenty-first-century take . . . will make you shiver and squirm with dread, wonder, and delight.” —ELLE   “[T]he narrative as a whole is so inventive, heartfelt and swiftly rendered. . . . Highly recommended.” —Library Journal (starred review)   “Hag-Seed is funny and poignant, and offers much to amuse and delight.” —Hot Press   “Even if you’ve never enjoyed Shakespeare, you’ll love this hilarious—and sometimes tragic—retelling of his final play.” —Canadian Living   “Margaret Atwood unleashes her wicked wit in the wonderfully named Hag-Seed, a cunning new novel bound to charm thespians everywhere. . . . Atwood is at her cleverest.” —Buffalo News