Miranda in Milan

With Miranda in Milan, debut author Katharine Duckett reimagines the consequences of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, casting Miranda into a Milanese pit of vipers and building a queer love story that lifts off the page in whirlwinds of feeling.

After the tempest, after the reunion, after her father drowned his books, Miranda was meant to enter a brave new world. Naples awaited her, and Ferdinand, and a throne. Instead she finds herself in Milan, in her father’s castle, surrounded by hostile servants who treat her like a ghost. Whispers cling to her like spiderwebs, whispers that carry her dead mother’s name. And though he promised to give away his power, Milan is once again contorting around Prospero’s dark arts.

With only Dorothea, her sole companion and confidant to aid her, Miranda must cut through the mystery and find the truth about her father, her mother, and herself.

“Love and lust, mothers and monsters, magicians and masked balls, all delivered with Shakespearean panache.” —Nicola Griffith, author of Hild

“Miranda in Milan is somehow both utterly charming and perfectly sinister, and altogether delightful. A pleasure for any lover of romance, myth, and magic—whether or not they're fans of the Bard.” —Cherie Priest, author of Boneshaker and I Am Princess X

“Love and lust, mothers and monsters, magicians and masked balls, all delivered with Shakespearean panache.” —Nicola Griffith, author of Hild

“Glorious and transformative, this may not be the continuation Shakespeare intended, but it is the one that we deserve.” —Seanan McGuire, author of Every Heart a Doorway

“Miranda in Milan is a wondrous tale that turns Shakespeare's world sideways, to reveal everything he left out — and to show us that the greatest magic comes from claiming your freedom.” —Charlie Jane Anders, author of All the Birds in the Sky

“This luxurious tale gives Miranda a path to self-discovery, wrapped in the dark magic and manipulations on display in the original play. Duckett turns this secondary character into a heroine on her own journey for truth.” —Library Journal, starred review

“Duckett's story is intriguing, adept, inventive and sexy.” —NPR

“This quick read is a complete joy. The writing’s excellent, the characters are complex, and the twists, while not shocking to me, were incredibly satisfying and creative. There’s intrigue around every corner and the love that blooms between Miranda and Dorothea, while it does happen pretty quickly, is charming and romantic.” —Lambda Literary

“Picking up where Shakespeare's The Tempest left off, this brief, potent gem paints a complete portrait of Prospero's daughter—her past, her future, and her love—as it explores the full range of her voice. A glittering fantasy-romance that delves into the dark corners of human nature.” —Booklist

“Duckett writes an engaging tale, with crisp pacing and precise, attractive prose. Her characters are compelling individuals, fully developed with desires and personalities of their own, and the novella mounts with ever-increasing tension to its conclusion.” —Locus

“I enjoyed every plot twist, character decision, and sentence of this tremendously well-crafted novella.” —Fantasy Literature

“If you love Shakespeare as much as I do, reading something like Miranda in Milan is a pure delight. Even more so when written by someone as brilliant as Katharine Duckett. (This is good. Really good.)” —Jenn Lyons, author of The Ruin of Kings

“Miranda in Milan is somehow both utterly charming and perfectly sinister, and altogether delightful. A pleasure for any lover of romance, myth, and magic — whether or not they're fans of the Bard.” —Cherie Priest, author of Boneshaker and I Am Princess X

“This book is for everybody who ever wondered if the wizard Prospero maybe wasn't that great of a dad. Delightful!” —Elizabeth Bear, author of Karen Memory

“Gorgeous and engrossing, Miranda in Milan gives us a look at what happens when a fish out of water returns to her pond, forever changed.” —Mur Lafferty, author of Six Wakes

“Unsettling, romantic, and intricate, Duckett’s debut builds a house of horrors within the walls of Shakespeare’s rich, strange work.” —Max Gladstone, author of the Craft Sequence

“Duckett's novella expands the world of Shakespeare's tale in wonderful ways. Part Gothic, part romance, part mystery, and perhaps most of all a novella about working one's way out of the assumptions of a sheltered life, Miranda in Milan is a delight.” —Malka Older, author of Infomocracy

“I'm so jealous of Katharine Duckett. She's taken my favorite Shakespeare play and made Miranda the heroine she always should have been. This beautifully written fantasy is full of court intrigue and family secrets, marking Duckett as a writer you're going to read for years to come.” —Daryl Gregory, World Fantasy Award-winning author of We Are All Completely Fine and Spoonbenders

“Miranda in Milan is a marvel of a story, full of strange and powerful magic, love, and other wonders. A brilliant take on what happens after the close of The Tempest.” —Kat Howard, author of An Unkindness of Magicians

“Miranda in Milan beautifully and deftly uncovers the secrets hidden in the shadows of Shakespeare’s story.” —Tina Connolly, author of Ironskin

“With gorgeous prose and an unflinching understanding of the characters she's been given, Duckett has crafted a deeply satisfying finish to the story Shakespeare started telling.” —Sarah Gailey, author of River of Teeth and Magic for Liars