Vinegar Girl

In the latest of Hogarth’s Shakespeare series, Pulitzer-winner Tyler transposes the famously shrewish Kate and her would-be master Petruchio to Tyler country: Baltimore’s genteel Roland Park neighborhood. This modern retelling has no big plot surprises, but actress Potter’s narration sparks new life into the taming of feisty Kate. Potter voices a cool but none-too-confident character who baffles her screwy scientist father and silly teenaged sister with sharp sarcasm and ironic humor. Against her inclinations, Kate begins to develop a liking for her father’s lab assistant, Pyotr. Potter makes smooth work of Kate’s transition from man-hater to wife and mother by slowing and softening her speech and diluting Kate’s vinegar voice with sweeter sounds. A Hogarth hardcover. (June)