Vinegar Girl

Summary (from the publisher): Pulitzer Prize winner and American master Anne Tyler brings us an inspired, witty and irresistible contemporary take on one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies.

Kate Battista feels stuck. How did she end up running house and home for her eccentric scientist father and uppity, pretty younger sister Bunny? Plus, she’s always in trouble at work – her pre-school charges adore her, but their parents don’t always appreciate her unusual opinions and forthright manner. 

Dr. Battista has other problems. After years out in the academic wilderness, he is on the verge of a breakthrough. His research could help millions. There’s only one problem: his brilliant young lab assistant, Pyotr, is about to be deported. And without Pyotr, all would be lost.

When Dr. Battista cooks up an outrageous plan that will enable Pyotr to stay in the country, he’s relying – as usual – on Kate to help him. Kate is furious: this time he’s really asking too much. But will she be able to resist the two men’s touchingly ludicrous campaign to bring her around?

 

Review: I received an advance reader's edition of this novel as a giveaway on Goodreads.

 

A modern retelling of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, this novel follows Kate Battista, who in her late twenties finds herself running the household for her scientist father and adolescent sister Bunny. Kate's life seems hum drum and uneventful, a cycle from which she cannot see an escape, when her father schemes up a plan to keep his lab assistant Pyotr in the country - Kate will marry him. Despite Kate's annoyance, the two men slowly build their campaign to bring her around.

 

This novel is part of Hogarth Press's project to retell Shakespeare's work through bestselling novelists. Arguably, Tyler got the short end of the stick, as it's difficult to be convincing in a contemporary story where a father attempts to sell his daughter off in a marriage of convenience. Yet Tyler's writing is so lovely and comical and her characters so endearing that it wasn't difficult for me to suspend my disbelief in the plot holes (arranged marriage, evading immigration, etc.). and embrace the charming story.

 

In particular, I loved the character of Kate, who is both forthright and ornery, but ultimately very devoted to her family and students. It was amusing seeing Kate interact with her preschool-aged students: "'How could you not like pasta?' Jason asked finally. 'It smells like wet dog,' Kate told him" (24). The students clearly appreciate Kate's brand of straightforward honesty, as revealed by her boss, despite her disapproval of Kate: 'I would say, in fact, that the children seem quite taken with you,' Mrs. Darling said. The words 'for some mysterious reason' hung silently in the room" (30). The comical interactions between Pyotr and Kate added greatly to my appreciation of the novel, adding dry humor to the text in a way that is often difficult to achieve in print, such as when Pyotr shares a proverb from his home country "'We say, 'Work when it is divided into segments is shorter total period of time than work when it is all together in one unit.' 'Catchy,' Kate said" (37).

 

The title for this novel is quite apt, as vinegary is an accurate description of Kate. Indeed, the title comes from Pyotr's description of Kate; "But why would you want to catch flies, huh? Answer me that, vinegar girl" (124). As the title suggests, this is indeed Kate's story and despite the implication that she was urged into marriage, ultimately, Kate finds herself merely nudged into making decisions and moving away from the stagnant place in life she found herself caught in prior to meeting Pyotr. A comical and deftly written novel that manages to achieve the complex task of turning Shakespeare's original into a truly modern tale.

 

Stars: 4