Hag-Seed

As befits a prose treatment of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Margaret Atwood’s Hag-Seed plots the story of a deposed arts festival director, Felix Philips (Atwood’s Prospero), and his exile to the backwoods. The notions of exile and prisons is explored through him, and other characters in the book. Do we make our own prisons, can we escape them, what part can retribution play in settling old scores and forging ahead with something better and more just? The magic, is of course, the magic of theatre and the arts. Spirits, again, may or may not be real and Felix very much has his own ghost to deal with.Atwood toys with time in this story so that the actual Tempest is literally a play within the story. She makes it work by tying that play in thematically with Felix’s story. There is only one indulgence expected of the reader, which is to accept the notion of love at first site, which is managed, naturally, by Ariel.As you would expect, the main female character is strong and independent, though her working relationship with Felix as a father figure is to their mutual benefit. Felix also has a female helper in power. She believes in what he is doing with theatre in prison, whereas the conniving politico males do not. The other female is a sort of ghost, Felix’s female side perhaps? I did wonder if the author was tempted to site the action in a women’s prison, though this might have caused problems with the Miranda-Ferdinand conclusion; besides Margaret Atwood has portrayed imprisoned women before, not least in The Handmaid’s Tale.The culture of sexuality in male prisons is sidestepped, though I suspect the author had to do some deep thinking here. There are issues that Felix needs to overcome in terms of casting a “fairy” with all its implications. It must have crossed Margaret Atwood’s mind to delve into that area, but it really is very much a culture of its own and probably something of a minefield for any writer. What’s more, an exploration of male-male prison sexuality would have needed more attention and most probably increased the length of a superbly compact and well-crafted story.The book also explores the themes of death and grief and the role of the arts in prison reform. It will appeal to those who love Shakespeare, however, it works purely as a great story in its own right. Every word counts in this finely tuned novel and it’s a total breeze to read. Margaret Atwood surely is a magical writer.

I was very disappointed. The plot was flimsy and I found it almost entirely unbelievable. I love The Tempest but felt this was a poor representation of it. The part where the play is finally produced really is wasted reading time, the book just seemed to stumble along getting repetitive, yet most of the characters were never really developed so it left a something and nothing, unsatisfying feeling. I was extremely surprised at this from Margaret Atwood as I have loved a lot of her work

Margaret Atwood is an author that I aspire to read but don't get round to often. Her books always seem to be packed with worthy messages but not easy to read. I had heard this novel being recommended and was curious.289 pages split into 47 chapters which makes the format accessible.I knew it was about The Tempest but hadn't realised that it is a complete rewrite of the play and is part of a project for modern authors to rewrite a number of Shakespeare plays - quite a challenge!! I'm not a big fan of Shakespeare and might not have picked up the book if I had read the premise more closely.Having said all that, I was then delighted as I was immediately sucked into the story. Felix's character is impossible and completely believable at the same time - much in the same way that Shakespeare balances fantasy and reality in the play.Felix is cast as a sacked director in a parallel to the castaway Duke in the play. Years after Felix is abandoned he gets a job at a prison which enables him to produce The Tempest and enact his revenge. The development of the production gives plenty of opportunity for discussion and analysis of the play with the uninitiated - a very clever invention by the author.The parallels between this plot of the play are many. The characters here are emotional, deep and poignant but clearly put into place to fulfill a specific role. We get no more backstory than necessary and we only look at everyone in regards to their links with Felix.I think this would be an amazing read for anyone who knows the play well and an interesting read for those (like me) who don't know the play at all. I would even think it would be great for anyone studying the play as it exposes some curious angles of analysis.My main criticism was the final section which explored what might have happened to the characters after the play which I felt was self indulgent. This was unfortunate as I put the book down feeling that it had been an academic exercise.

This novel is a work of genius. I have long been a fan of Margaret Atwood, but this surpasses anything else of hers I have read. Atwood's interpretation of The Tempest brings a new dimension to Shakespeare's timeless play. Every theatre-goer should keep it on their bookshelf (or Kindle) for its fantastic insight as well as its highly readable quality.

A terrific, clever and highly enjoyable reworking of The Tempest which also both reveres the original work and finds gentle humour in the flaws in Shakespeare. Anyone who teaches Shakespeare will also derive extra benefit from discovering how Felix coaxes and cajoles his class of prisoners into willingly taking part in a production of The Tempest. It's a wonderful, multi-layered tale of a prison within a prison and a play within a play.