Juliet by Ann Fortier

Juliet by Ann Fortier

This first novel by Ann Fortier transports you back to medieval Italy, but not to Verona, where Shakespeare chose to set his version of the tale of Romeo and Juliet.  Fortier takes us back to where the story actually took place...in Siena, Italy.  The story of Romeo and Juliet is based on the true tale of Romeo Marescotti and Giulietta Tolomei actually occurred in 1340 Siena.  And the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues is actually a feud between the contradas (neighborhoods) of the Tolomeis and the Salimbenis.

Having just visited Siena this past summer, the family names and the Siena locations in Fortier's novel are real.  Fortier does a marvellous job of weaving history and fiction together, and there are plenty of twists and turns in the story that will always keep you guessing.  In fact there were several occasions in which I exclaimed...WOW I didn't see that one coming.

American Julie Jacobs travels to Siena in search of her Italian heritage--and possibly an inheritance--only to discover she is descended from 14th-century Giulietta Tolomei.  Fortier sets up this plausible tale of Julie Jacobs and her twin sister Janice with the death of their Aunt and the reading of the will.  Julie and Janice went to live with their Aunt in the United States after their parents are supposedly killed in a car crash in Italy.  As Julie starts unraveling the mystery of her parents and her legacy, Fortier alternates chapters from present day mystery back to 1340 and actual tale of Romeo and Guilietta and the Salimbeni, Tolomeis and Marescotti families.

So if you are a fan of historical fiction, literary history, mystery and romance, you will love this story.