‘A brilliant book’ - Mary Wesley, Daily Mail

‘She is simply dynamite … There are no apparent bounds to Trapido’s skill, her inventiveness and her knowledge’ - Philip Hensher, Guardian

Sparky Christina and her saintly adopted sister Pam couldn't be more different. And when they meet similarly mismatched friends Jago and Peter, the four embark on a dazzling series of pairings and partings, outrageous coincidences and eleventh-hour entrances interrupted one disastrous Halloween when schoolboy revelry turns horribly wrong.

Three years on, as Christina has made it to Oxford to study English. While she analyses the wit, cruelty and crossed genders of Shakespearean comedy, the cast of her own life reunites and the curtain falls on some gloriously unexpected partnerships.

‘Juggling by Barbara Trapido is, I think, already well known but it should be even more so. It has the best piece of Shakespeare criticism in it I’ve ever read’ - Katherine Rundell, Guardian

‘A joy to read … Supremely skilful’ - Observer

‘She weaves a cat’s cradle of wit and erudition around her high-stepping characters, take breath-taking risks and triumphs against all the odds’ - Independent