Top Ten Books I Wish Could Have Had Sequels

This week's Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish asks for the Top Ten Books I wish could have had sequels. I listed a few that I wish had sequels and a few others that might make great prequels or parallel books.

1) Love’s Labor’s Lost: This Shakespeare play supposedly had a sequel, Love’s Labor’s Won, but no one has ever seen it. I wish we could discover it!

2) Motherless Brooklyn: I would love to read more stories featuring Lionel Essrog, the private eye with Tourette's syndrome. He was a hilarious narrator and provided a fresh voice to the classic detective story.

3) Neverwhere: Adventures in a world beneath London, I love it! Richard Mayhew is a regular guy who ends up in a dangerous sideways world. I feel like there are so many more strange characters we could meet in that world.

4) A Dirty Job: I recently read this hilarious account of a reluctant grim reaper and his daughter. I think it’s ripe for a sequel about that daughter and her loyal hell hounds.

5) The Night Circus: I think that Celia and Marco’s story is complete, but I would love a sequel about the twins, Poppet and Widget and their time with the Le Cirque des Reves.

6) Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day: Maybe Miss Pettigrew Takes a Trip or Miss Pettigrew Gets Lost; the character is delightful and the possibilities are endless!

7) I Capture the Castle: I think Cassadra’s stepmother Topaz and her sister Rose are interesting characters and would love to read a parallel novel telling the story from their points-of-view.

8) The Red Tent: I don't want a sequel exactly, but a series of similar books. This one retells a biblical tale from the woman's point of view. It was so good and I think there are lots of other stories in the Bible that would be fascinating from the woman's perspective, Jezebel perhaps, or maybe Bathsheba. Francine Rivers has done something similar, but her Lineage of Grace series lacks the depth of The Red Tent.

9) Rebecca: I would definitely read a well-done prequel telling Rebecca’s side of the story.

10) Harry Potter: I wish Rowling would write a prequel about when Lily, Sirius, James and Remus were at school together. I would love that!

Love's Labor's Lost

Love's Labor's Lost
by William Shakespeare
★★★★

I’m normally a big fan of Shakespeare’s plays, and while I enjoyed parts of this one, it still fell a bit flat for me. The King of Navarre and three of his friends decide they will swear off women and other temptations for three years while they focus on their studies. Of course they decide to do this shortly before the Princess of France and her friends are about to visit. No sooner is the vow made than all four men are swooning over the lovely ladies.

There are some really funny parts, like when the men try to hold each other to their vow while at the same time writing love letters to their new crushes. As with all of Shakespeare’s comedies, hidden identities and witty dialogue confound the characters as they find themselves unexpectedly falling in love.

**SPOILERS**

The play ends with a bit of an unusual cliff hanger. The lovers are all separated when the Princess must return to rule France after hearing of her father’s unexpected death. There is a theory that a sequel to the play existed but there are no surviving copies. The play “Love’s Labour’s Won” is mentioned in other texts from around the same time and it could have been the sequel that resolved the lovers’ future.

**SPOILERS OVER**

BOTTOM LINE: This isn’t one of the Bard’s strongest plays, but if you’re already a fan then it’s worth reading. If not, start with one of his better comedies, like Twelfth Night, As You Like It or Much Ado About Nothing.

“He hath never fed of the dainties that are bred in a book; he hath not eat paper, as it were; he hath not drunk ink.”

“As sweet and musical
As bright Apollo's lute, strung with his hair;
And when Love speaks, the voice of all the gods
Makes heaven drowsy with the harmony.”

I read this as part of the Let’s Read Plays yearlong event hosted by Fanda. From November 2012 to October 2013 participants will read 12 classics plays throughout the year, at least one each month.