The clue is in the title of Judy MacLean's new novel Rosemary and Juliet. That's right, this book is a retelling of the Shakespearean play Romeo and Juliet, albeit with a modern twist or two.

Romey and Julie are two teenage girls who, somehow, manage to find each other. I won't be giving anything away by saying that they fall in love. However, the life of the young lesbian is not the easiest place to be and the pair soon discover that there are many who would prefer it if they, ahem, weren't quite so gay.

Thus begins MacLean's novel. I should say that Rosemary and Juliet is more than a retelling of Romeo and Juliet. It's a book that takes its themes and develops them for a different readership. Where Romeo and Juliet were a product of Elizabethan England, Romey and Julie eat curly fries, email each other and are very much a part of the American landscape.

It's always a pleasure to see homophobic religious nuts get what they deserve and MacLean casting of this group as the villains is an effective device. She draws in a strong cast of supporting characters and, what's more, her writing is really top notch.

However, on reading this book one can't help thinking "Why?" I think it would be a stronger work without the somewhat corny Romeo and Juliet allusion getting in the way.

Furthermore, it’s a book that seems to be in the wrong place. Rosemary and Juliet is being marketed as a piece of romantic fiction, in a publishing milieu that is already overloaded with second rate lesbian romances. It's a shame that it should have been plonked there because MacLean writes such convincing young characters and expresses what it is to be a young lesbian in trying circumstances so well. In my humble opinion Rosemary and Juliet would be a stronger novel if it was approached as a piece of fiction for young adults. It's certainly issues-based, yet it's accessible, entirely readable and could be the kind of thing that real life Romey and Julies would find validating and useful. Ah well.

Rosemary and Juliet by Judy MacLean
Published by: Harrington Park Press
ISBN: 1560234830
Price: £11.99

Get Rosemary and Juliet - buy online and save money!