Ophelia's Fan: A Novel

by Christine Balint

"Reconstructs the vibrantly intoxicating atmosphere of the theatrical world in the early nineteenth century. Lavishly romantic." -- Booklist Christine Balint reimagines the bittersweet life of Harriet Smithson, the tragedienne who brought Shakespeare to the French. Born in County Clare, Ireland, in 1800, Harriet is left in the care of the elderly priest Father Barrett, and is brought up on Lamb's Shakespeare, lime-sherbet sweets, and prayer. A child of traveling players, her ultimate inheritance is Covent Garden, London, the green room, and the theater's rough magic. With the arrival of Charles Kemble's English Theatre troupe in Paris in 1827, the Odeon Theatre is awash with the drama and music of Shakespeare. Harriet is Ophelia. The French Romantics swoon, traffic stops, and the high-society women plait straw in their hair in honor of her mad Ophelia. The fiery composer Hector Berlioz falls in love. In Ophelia's Fan , Balint re-creates the texture and breadth of the nineteenth century and brings alive Harriet Smithson; the actress and the woman, her roles and her loves. Reading group guide included.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Music, Ireland, Historical

364 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2004

About the author

Christine Balint, born in Melbourne in 1975, teaches writing at the Victorian College of the Arts.
She has been a professional writer for more than 20 years. Her first novel, The Salt Letters, was shortlisted for the 1998 The Australian / Vogel Literary Award. Her second novel, Ophelia's Fan, was internationally published in 2004.

Reviews

[Marvin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a fictionalized account of the life of the actress who was Hector Berlioz's muse. It's an oddly structured book, told up until the time she & Berlioz marry in 1833, so we don't actually meet Berlioz until p. 250 of the 350-page book. The story, early on, is told in chronological order, but in the latter part it increasingly jumps around in time for no apparent reason, & actually ends in 1827, the year Miss Smithson arrives in Paris & becomes a sensation. There are also odd interludes narrated in first person by one of the characters Smithson plays (Juliet, Ophelia, etc.), reflecting on their own stories. (The story itself is told in first person, too. Are these interludes really Smithson getting into character? I don't know. They, & the book as a whole, remain a mystery to me.)

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows Harriet Smithson, an actress born in 1800. Smithson grows up in slightly unusual circumstances, as she is the only child in her Irish family given the opportunity to be educated. When she's old enough to act and support the family, she is put to work, but only blossoms as an actress when she performs Shakespeare's plays to the French.

The book was a quick read and enjoyable, but I did wish that the letters written to her son, stuck in every few chapters, didn't reveal her husband's name. It took away a bit of the suspense. And the ending was rather quick.

[Celia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't really get into this book about an actress who becomes particularly famous in France for her part of Ophelia (and then marries the composer, Berlioz). The narrative jumped around a lot - we were back in childhood, back to the end of the story, in the midst of the letter to the heroine's children. There was not much of a plot as such - it felt like scattered scenes that didn't really amount to much of a whole.

[Teva Gayou · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the interludes in the narrative where a Shakespearean heroine (Ophelia, for example) expresses her state of mind; it increases my appreciation of the plays. I thought the depiction of Hector Berlioz was overwrought, as perhaps he was in real life, as the author was careful to cite a lot of primary source material and several exhaustive biographies of the composer and his actress wife.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant compilation of pieces of Harriet's life; beautifully written, inspired.

[Lucy Elliott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the beginning and hearing her story unfold. The ending of her life infuriated me.