Anne Tyler is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of such books as The Beginner’s Goodbye and Breathing Lessons. Her newest novel, Vinegar Girl, is a re-telling of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

Kate Battista is stuck. She runs the house for her father—eccentric at best, “mad scientist” at worst—and attempts to care for her pretty—and to Kate’s way of thinking, useless—younger sister, Bunny. The kids at the daycare where she works love her, but their parents are less than impressed with her forthright opinions and inability to sugarcoat her thoughts. In short, she is smart, capable, and independent, with absolutely no prospects.

Kate’s father is on the verge of a breakthrough in his research that could help millions, but he’s about to lose his brilliant research assistant, Pyotr, who is about to be deported. Then Dr. Battista comes up with a plan:  have Kate marry Pyotr so he can stay in the country. Kate is furious at her father, and at Pyotr, but the two men begin a relentless campaign to bring her around to their way of thinking.

Vinegar Girl enters the life of tart Kate, the bulwark of her stagnant family, the always-dependable daughter who sacrifices her own happiness to the sake of her family. But will Kate continue her self-sacrifice, or will she finally stand up for herself and what she wants?

(Galley provided by Crown Publishing via NetGalley.)

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