The Hogarth Shakespeare project undertakes to reinvent the Bard's classic works in novel form; the first installment is The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson (Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?), a "cover version" of The Winter's Tale. In Shakespeare's original, the kings of Sicily and Bohemia are great friends until one accuses the other of sleeping with his wife.
The Gap of Time is set both in London, just following the 2008 economic crisis, and the fictional American city of New Bohemia. Londoners Leo and Xeno were childhood friends and, for a time, lovers; as adults, despite very different values, the bohemian Xeno and the materialistic Leo have become business partners in Sicilia, a high-tech gaming company. Leo's wife, MiMi, son, Milo, and his uber-capable assistant, Pauline, round out a highly functional, loving family of sorts, until Leo becomes obsessed with the idea that MiMi and Xeno are sleeping together. Leo reacts violently, and loses his son and wife. When he tries to ship MiMi's baby daughter overseas to Xeno, whom he wrongly believes to be her father, the little girl goes missing.
As the title indicates, Winterson's version of The Winter's Tale plays with the concept of time even more than the original did, asking questions about what is changeable about our pasts and our futures. This is a stirring tale filled with waste, simple mistakes and regrets. But as in the original, it also offers hope, young love and the possibility of new beginnings. --Julia Jenkins