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This was not my usual type of book to read but I found I soon got into it and started to enjoy it. It was a modern day Shakespeare story and I did not know the storyline so each chapter was engaging. Well worth a read.

Thank you for my book :)
I have to say I was a little sceptical having read the blurb as I'm not a massive shakespeare fan, as much as I respect the talent in his work. However, I must say that I've been very pleasantly surprised. It has been acccessible and interesting, the characters are well developed and the plot has had me intrigued along the way - it hasn't felt like just reading a re-written 'Winters Tale', and though I see the similarities it has felt like reading an original text at the same time. I have enjoyed the artful prose and complex relationships between characters - I have to force myself to put it down to get to sleep at night! I'll leave another review here once I've finished it, but I would highly recommend the book and am very grateful for my copy. Thank you Mumsnet!

I love Shakespeare so I wasn't too sure what I would make of a re-telling although I'm happy to say it's safe in the hands of Jeanette Winterson. Very humorous and an enjoyable read. Thank you Mumsnet.

I love Shakespeare. Those plays which I have studied, read, watched have become good friends. In a way I am pleased I haven't, yet, acquainted myself with The Winter's Tale, as I fear I would have felt less favourably on The Gap of Time if I had done so.

Please don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the book, but, like other posters, struggled to be at ease with some of the contrivances. To my mind it was as though the old play was trying to fit into clothing one size too small. It just didn't quite fit. I think that if I knew, and loved the play, I would have felt uncomfortable.

As it was I just read it for what it was and enjoyed it.

Many thanks, Mumsnet!

Thank you for my copy. It is a great read. It is a very clever and beautiful reworking of A Winter's Tale. I will have to a look out for the others in this series. I am particularly intrigued by Hag -Seed (Tempest) by Margaret Atwood.

Thank you Mumsnet for my copy of this book.

This is the first book by Jeanette Winterson that I have read and I don’t think that I will be quick to read a second.

I have never read The Winter’s Tale and I do not remember seeing it when I was about 12. It was therefore useful to have a summary of the play at the beginning. Whilst the knowledge of the play isn’t essential to enjoy the book, the knowledge that it was based upon the play did explain a lot as at times the characters appeared almost caricatures, something which I imagine works much better on stage than on paper.

It was unsatisfactory the quick and abrupt way that Milo’s death was dealt with (although I assume that this is a reflection upon the play) and it would have been interesting to have received more information about the effect that time had had upon Mimi as we do not see anywhere near as much of her as Leo and Xeno.

The prose seemed rather crude and clunky at times although at others it felt very Shakespearian in speed and style, especially in the comedy scenes.

Don’t get me wrong I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it either. I found a lot of Leo’s early scenes just uncomfortable although it was an otherwise easy read.

Although I like Winterson's books I was a bit unsure about this at first, but was pleasantly surprised.

Sort of an unusual mix of the re-telling of The Winter's Tale combined with typical Winterson-esque commentary on life!
Great humourous dialogue, as usual.

Thank you SO much for this book. I'm 3/4 of the way through it and loving it. I have always really enjoyed Jeanette Winterson's books, and this is no exception, it's making me laugh and cry, exceptionally well written, although I'm finding parts of it very difficult emotionally - when Mimi has her baby for example. Brilliant book (so far!) which I would highly recommend.

Haven't read or seen this particular Shakespeare play so the condensed version was useful. I thought it was well written and I thoroughly enjoyed the book, I particularly liked the way the author ended the book.

Just finished this book and I loved it. I agree with the previous comments it is clever, engaging a really intriguing update which unfortunately just goes to show that human nature doesn't change. I really enjoyed this book.

Thank you for the free copy of this book. It is not a book I would have picked up normally because of my somewhat ambivalent attitude towards Shakespeare, but I have previously admired Janette Winterson's writing and so was keen to give it a go. I found it a little hard to get into at first, possibly because I couldn't empathise with the characters, but this changed for me when the narrative moved back to New Bohemia and the adult Perdita was introduced. As I became more immersed, I began to appreciate the quality of the writing - my favourite quote: "He doesn't take a photo or a video because he wants to remember we - by which he means he wants to misremember because the moment is made up of what the camera can't capture". The second half of the book became 'unputdownable'.
Not sure this has made me want to go off and read more Shakespeare, but I may well look out for other modern retellings and I will certainly revisit other Janette Winterson books.

I read Jeanette's book really quickly (it's a pacey read) and when I dipped into the thread a few days after receiving the book there was only 1 poster here. I then looked at other reviews online and was somewhat astonished at the resoundingly positive reviews. My view resonates with whenthetimecomes'... I love the play and studied it for A level and I saw the play at Stratford many moons ago when Jeremy Irons played Leontes...

Jeanette is quite a prolific writer; looking at the canon of her work I've read a few of her books over the years and more recently her memoir 'Why be happy when you could be normal' which I bought for 2 friends (just WONDERFUL).

What I couldn't transcend were the contrivances to get the story to represent a version of today's reality - I really felt that Jeanette isn't worldly enough to write about contemporary life (technology etc) with conviction.

Parts are written beautifully, such as the opening section written in the first person, which is very affecting.

Would I recommend this to a friend? Yes with some caveats (3/5). Would I read other novels in this series (Shakespearean plays re-envisaged by modern writers) - yes; especially looking out for the one by Anne Tyler.

A very good book. I haven't read A Winter's Tale but i thoroughly enjoyed reading the Gap of Time. So much drama typical of our everyday lives. The Shakespeare's story was transformed beautifully in a modern tale adopting the characters' names and places. I would definitely recommend this book

Thank you Mumsnet and Vintage for giving me the opportunity to read this novel.

I really enjoyed reading the novel. The quick summary of 'The Winter's Tale' was much appreciated as it had been a long time since I'd read the play.

Having worked in the City I could recognise some personality elements of Leo's character but he was painted almost as a pantomime villain throughout the novel with few redeeming features. I felt the characters of Xeno and Mimi were similarly flawed - allowing their lives to be damaged by Leo's arrogance and jealousy. The faults of the 'grown ups'
within the play were contrasted by the bravery (or youthful rashness?) of Perdita and Zel who upon learning the truth of Perdita's abandonment immediately confront the main protagonists.

The novel is fast-paced and similar to Shakespeare's original the opening events can appear a little rushed. The writing style is beautiful and the themes of jealousy and forgiveness are easily transferred to a modern setting. I'd definitely recommend this novel - not only to Shakespeare fans but as an entertaining standalone novel.

Thank you to the previous poster who reminded me how good Jane Smiley's 'A Thousand Acres' is - a re-read is now planned!

Well, I've finished it now and here's the promised update.

Overall I quite enjoyed this; but do stick to some of my initial comments made here earlier. Winterson clearly loves the play, which has deep personal resonance for her, ('It's a play about a foundling. And I am') and she knows it well. She handles the plot sensitively and at times lyrically; she interweaves the tragic tale of her characters' misunderstandings, jealousy and all the many twists and turns of their lives and relationships with many modern references to computer gaming and life in a recognisably contemporary London as well as in a more geographically vague elsewhere, 'New Bohemia'.

While the characters are all eventually reunited at the end (with the exception of the poor child Milo, whose death in a needless airport accident is only revealed rather perfunctorily very near the end, making us even more irritated with his father, the feckless and hugely unlikeable Leo!) - Winterson actually - deliberately - walks away from the ultimate Reunion To End Them All after the final concert in The Roundhouse, which includes, this time, the reclusive MiMi. (We gather she has been lured back by the wonderful Pauline from her solitary life of haunting the riverbank in Paris; but aren't clear why she hasn't already made contact with her rediscovered daughter Perdita before publically launching into song again after so many years of silence). Psychologically I found this unconvincing, as MiMi's character thus never gets revisited or developed. There is also of course the big unanswered question as to whether she will indeed forgive and be reunited with obnoxious Leo... if it was me, I certainly wouldn't!!

The novel leaves the characters to sort out their own reunion while Winterson steps out of the novel (where she has been lurking unobtrusively for a while) to embark on a brief, final, rather academic meditation about Shakespeare's last plays and themes, reminding us how towards the end of his life, forgiveness, for Shakespeare, seems to triumph over tragedy and revenge. Perdita is then left to offer some poetic, slightly clichéd observations about life, and how the young may, or may not, do it better.

It's an OK book - maybe 3 out of 5 stars. It became a bit of a struggle to get through it, to be honest, as ultimately I found it altogether a bit too repetitive and contrived. Winterson has a nice way with words at times, though, and there were a couple of moments when I felt briefly moved.

I've been interested to read other readers comments on the book and have posted my replies above. I have really enjoyed Jeanette Winterson's books previously, especially - 'Why be happy when you can be normal?' as she has an engaging, witty writing style which certainly comes to the fore in making this take on Shakespeare accessible.
As I dipped in and out of the book (due to the start of the summer holidays and many interruptions!) I did struggle a bit in trying to keep all the different strands together which was harder as you're trying to get all the references back to the original as well but it's worth sticking with as it's a very clever interpretation of a classic tale.

I agree that it would be a good introduction to Shakespeare especially for teenagers and would make me want to reread the original.

it certainly was 'fast paced and witty and 'hard to put down'

I'm looking forward to reading Ann Tyler's take on The Taming of the Shrew - Vinegar Girl even more now.

I found it engaging too and thought the name choices were a clever update.

I found the abbreviated version of the original at the start useful too.

Thank you very much for my copy. I haven't got too far yet, but am enjoying it. I've been meaning to read a Jeanette Winterson book for ages so was really pleased to be chosen. The story so far is quite gritty and modern, with one fairly unlikeable character, and I am intrigued enough to really want to keep reading and see how the story develops. I haven't read A Winters Tale, but it seems typical of how Shakespeare's stories and characters transcend time - human nature does not change much over the years.

DH has raced through this book and he says: an excellent read. Thought-provoking and insightful. An interesting, moving insight into human motivation and the importance of forgiveness. I was initially doubtful about the artificial premise of the book but Shakespeare's story was convincingly reset in modern times and there were some extremely amusing observations like Autolycus' on roundabouts and the Oedipus complex!

A wonderful novel - exceptionally well written, engaging and deeply moving. I can't wait until next weekend when I can continue reading it

Delighted to receive a copy, and I'm now halfway through it. So my views so far are of necessity only partial, and may be subject to change....

It's quite a gripping story so far. I know the play well already (being a bit of a Shakespeare specialist myself; in fact I happen to be an exact contemporary of Winterson from Oxford days, and was aware of her even then...) In a sense this is a bit of a disadvantage, as I'm finding the plot slightly clunky when it is stretched in some unlikely ways purely in order to fit in with Shakespeare's original: for example in some of the characters' names, and in the psychologically unrealistic decision of Leo (Leontes) to get his elderly gardener (!) Tony (Antigonus) to take the new born baby girl on a long flight to New Bohemia to join her supposed father Xeno (Polixenes). Tony's death by bear is translated into a cruel hit and run car accident/mugging in the street. Some transpositions work better than others. My feeling so far is that Winterson could have afforded to let herself be less doggedly faithful to the (definitely fantastical) original, and taken a bit more artistic licence with the plot where necessary.

The aspect of the novel so far that I'm finding most interesting is the exploration of Leo and his insane misguided jealousy of wife MiMi in her presumed affair with friend/ex-lover Xeno. Winterson is following in a quite well-established recent tradition of writers reworking a Shakespeare original into something contemporary yet recognisable( to the initiated) like Jane Smiley's powerful book ''A Thousand Acres' (based on King Lear). Whether they diminish, actually equal or even transcend the original is, of course, the question..... Smiley did, I think, and her novel certainly stands alone even if the reader was totally unaware of the Shakespearean basis. So far I'm reserving judgement on this one.

I'll come back to let you know what I think of the ending!