I feel a little mixed about this book. I loved much of it. Winterson's re-interpretation of the consequences of a husband's unreasonable and unstable jealousy, and its back-story is a vivid page-turner. The story of how his child, whom he believes to be the result of an adulterous liaison between his wife and best friend, ends up in the care of a small-time pianist is similarly engaging. As is the tale, moved on 16 years, of the 70th birthday party for the piano player, now successful bar owner.

The characters are believable, the dialogue lively, the debt to Shakespeare obvious. Then we moved on to a long sequence involving a computer game devised by the husband's best friend, and at that point I lost interest.

Moving on to Act V Scene 1 as it were, and the story moves on apace. There are wonderful tales-within-tales of Leo (the husband) as powerful property developer. But as with the Winter's Tale itself, coincidences and unlikely events pile in on the story, and suddenly, it's over.

I remember being similarly baffled by the play itself when I read it for A Level, so this somewhat hurried ending, tying up every possible loose end is hardly Winterson's fault.

Maybe I owe it to Shakespeare and to Winterson to have a more dispassionate look at both their interpretations of the story's final act.

And don't be put off. This is a good read, and a provocative story, well told. ( )

The Gap of Time was a fantastic retelling of The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare.

When I first started this book I was very unsure about it. Typically retellings are almost an exact copy of the work and appear to be more of a "fan fiction" than their own work. But, this beautiful novel was different! While it was a retelling, it was not an exact retelling. The story follows the general plot line of The Winter's Tale, but also tells it's own story as well!

I was hooked at every word of this story. It was written in a way that kept me wondering what was happening to Perdita and her Father.

There wasn't much I would change about this story. The pace moves at a good speed and the plot does not go off on random tangents. There are also themes that are evident: jealousy, redemption and the concept of love.

Overall, this book was fantastic!

I did receive an ARC copy, so there were some "errors", such as reminders to check certain pages randomly in some sentences. There were some spelling and grammar mistakes as well, but since this was an advanced reader's copy, it was expected.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a general fiction novel that dives into themes. It would also be good for someone looking for a retelling of a classic story.

Five out of five stars!

I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy. ( )

This book was one that really stood out to me right upon reading it, and I would have initially given a 4-star rating. While I really enjoyed the novel initially in how it explored the relationships between the characters, I have found it to be rather forgettable in plot, but would like to re-read eventually. ( )

Jeanette Winterson's re-telling of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale is at its best in Leo, Xeno, and MiMi's back story and the present day of Shep and Perdita, but the parts connecting them didn't quite work for me. ( )

Reason read: ROOT, Shakespeare
Story of a paranoid personality disorder. The plot was hard to follow, characters not very likable. Language crass. Rated 2.9 ( )