Falling for Hamlet
CBC Books | CBC | Posted: June 13, 2017 7:53 PM | Last Updated: June 13, 2017
Michelle Ray
Meet Ophelia, high school senior, daughter of the Danish king's most trusted adviser and longtime girlfriend of Prince Hamlet. She lives a glamorous life and has a royal social circle. Her beautiful face is splashed across magazines and television screens. But it comes with a price — her life is ruled not only by Hamlet's fame and his overbearing royal family but also by the paparazzi who hound them wherever they go.
After the sudden and suspicious death of his father, the king, Hamlet spirals dangerously toward madness and Ophelia finds herself torn, with no one to turn to. All Ophelia wants is to live a normal life. But when you date a prince, you have to play your part. (From Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
From the book
She leans forward and begins: "Today we have a guest who will amaze you." She pauses to punctuate the drama and yells, "Ophelia is in the house!" Her tone sends the audience members to their feet again. They know how lucky they are to be in the audience on this day, and this is their moment to show it. The camera cuts to mostly middle-aged women in seasonal sweaters gasping, clapping, smiling. One even dabs a tear of excitement, or is it sadness? Who can tell, and who really cares? It's a tear that some cameraman was lucky enough to capture, a cameraman who is planning, as he films, what he will buy with the bonus the segment producer will give him for catching an actual tear wipe.
The audience calms down after a last twitter and exchange of amazed glances. "Our nation has been so deeply saddened by the tragedies surrounding the royals of Denmark. Today, we will speak to Ophelia herself and find out how this young woman was caught up in the secrecy, the revenge, and the madness... madness that we all thought had consumed her."
From Falling for Hamlet by Michelle Ray ©2012. Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.