Vinegar Girl

The third book in the Hogarth Shakespeare series, a major global initiative the Guardian calls "The great rewriting project of the 21st century"

Shakespeare's controversial comedy The Taming of the Shrew sees wilful, independent Katherina transformed into a willing, obedient wife to Petruchio. It is one of Shakespeare's most re-visited plays, with adaptations includingKiss Me Kate, and 10 Things I Hate About You.

Anne Tyler's delightful Vinegar Girl features Kate, a socially awkward young woman, adored by the preschool children she teaches but misunderstood by her peers. Her father is a scientific genius, but not so great on emotions. About to lose his (equally genius, equally socially inept) research assistant, Pyotr Cherbakov, because of visa problems, and desperate to save the project that is his life's work, he comes up with a plan: Kate will marry Pyotr who will then be able to stay in the country and finish the project. The plan sounds perfect, except for one small hitch: Kate.

Anne Tyler was born in Minnesota and grew up in North Carolina. She is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author ofBreathing Lessons and nineteen other bestselling novels. Her most recent novel,A Spool of Blue Thread, is a New York Times bestseller and was shortlisted for the 2015 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland.