cover image The Prince of Denmark

The Prince of Denmark

Graham Holderness. University of Hertfordshire Press, $33.95 (240pp) ISBN 978-1-902806-12-9

Shakespearean scholar Graham Holderness imagines an 11th-century Scandinavia after Hamlet's death though, by cutting back and forth in time, he suggests a few twists in the tortured prince's life in The Prince of Denmark. Ofelia (as her name is spelled here), for instance, is rescued from the river in time to give birth to Hamlet's son before expiring; Hamlet's foil Fortinbras assumes a much more devious aspect; and Horatio proves himself a hero in a novel that may affront purists but is likely to please more forgiving fans of one of Shakespeare's darkest plays.