"I try to see her and love her as I must, then imagine her burdens: the villain she's taken for a lover, the saint she's leaving behind, the deed she's spoken for, the darling child she'll abandon to strangers. Still love her? If not, then you never did. But I did, I did. I do." 2016 was the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare. So fittingly, 2016 was also the year of Shakespeare retellings. Particularly prominent is the Hogarth Shakespeare project, which sees acclaimed and best-selling novelists reimagining the works of Shakespeare for a modern audience. From Jeanette Winterson, to Margaret Atwood and Gillian Flynn, this ambitious project has released three titles in the series so far, with Winterson's take on The Tempest next to be released this month. Ian McEwan, in Nutshell, has released his own take on a Shakespeare favourite, Hamlet, independent from the Hogarth series. Probably the most notable, intriguing and unique aspect of this book is our narrator, who as an eight month old foetus, is the unwilling third party privy to scheming conversations plotting the murder of his father. There are clear parallels with Hamlet. Our unnamed narrator is McEwan's Hamlet, whose mother Trudy (Gertrude, Queen of Denmark) and his uncle Claude (Cladius, King of Denmark) are plotting the murder of the foetus's father, John. There are themes of murder, deceit, betrayal, adultery, revenge. There are musings from the foetus on his impending birth, and on whether he should be born at all given the circumstances he is being born into. He plots his own suicide inside his mother's womb. As a foetus, there is little ability for him to act, as much as he wants to intervene in the plotting he overhears. Instead, he is committed to listening, contemplating, and considering the different pathways his future could follow. This is not so much a mystery of whodunnit, but will-they-do-it and will-they-get-away-with-it. There is plenty of intrigue to keep the pages turning. As one would expect from McEwan, the prose is masterful. He manages to make the ordinary sound grand, elegant and beautiful. It really is exquisite. Somehow the perspective of the foetus was made believable; and I came into this book fairly sceptical and worried it would feel gimmicky. It certainly was a unique and imaginative way to be a 'fly-on-the-wall' to a murderous plot. As much as I appreciated the near perfection of prose and the way the narrative was constructed, I struggled to connect with this book. I just didn't like the characters. For me, characters don't need to be perfect or likeable; I do appreciate complex characters who are flawed and whose actions and motivations are perhaps different to what my own would be. However I do need to feel some empathy for them. And therein lies the problem for me. The foetus I found too intelligent and a little too pretentious. Trudy was weak and just plain unlikeable, showing no concern or compassion for her soon-to-be-born baby who seems to be an afterthought in her life. Claude was shallow, mean and callous. Finally John, the subject of the murder plot and who was at first the one character in the story I did care about, soon proved to be just as deceitful as the others. Despite my disconnection and lack of empathy for the characters, the story in itself was interesting enough to hold my attention for the short, 197 pages; if it were any longer I would have struggled to finish. I have read Hamlet in the past year, but haven't studied it in detail so I'm sure there are numerous references I have missed. I don't feel that has detracted from my reading of this book at all. I still do believe this is worth a read just to experience and appreciate the unusual perspective and creative new take on an old classic tale. There have been many, many very positive reviews of Nutshell, so I do have a slightly unpopular opinion and I'd still recommend reading this book if the concept interests you!