New Boy: Othello, Retold

Paperback Published on: 05/03/2026
Price: £10.99
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Bookseller Reviews

View all
New Boy
Chevalier's retelling of Othello will creep up on you and linger in the mind long after you've turned the last page.
In 'New Boy' Tracy Chevalier has created an incredible retelling of Shakespeare's Othello that creeps up on you, and lingers in the mind long after you've ... READ MORE
Sorcha O'Dowd at Cambridge
New Boy
Stunning
Tracy Chevalier's retelling of Othello is stunning. Set in a 70's primary school, the inevitable tragedy unfolds over the course of a single day. Timely a... READ MORE
Helen at Scarborough

Synopsis

Shakespeare's Othello is ingeniously transplanted into a high school setting in this taut story about teenage friendship and racial tension.

Arriving at his fourth school in six years, diplomat’s son Osei knows he needs an ally. Luckily he hits it off with Dee, the most popular girl in school. But one student can’t stand to witness this budding relationship: Ian decides to destroy the friendship between the black boy and the golden girl. By the end of the day, the school and its key players – teachers and pupils alike – will never be the same again.

The tragedy of Othello is transposed to a 1970s suburban Washington schoolyard in this powerful drama of alienation, adolescence and friends torn apart.

‘A compact and intense read full of twists, turns and intrigue’ Daily Express

'New Boy, with its angsty teenagers, racial frictions and a magnificently fleshed out antagonist, is a tense and tight read... A heady rollercoaster of emotions' Observer

SHAKESPEARE RETOLD: Time travel. Zombies. Power-hungry media moguls. This is Shakespeare as you’ve never seen him before: nine iconic plays transformed by the best novelists of our time, with covers by Michael Craig-Martin.

Publisher information

  • Publisher: Vintage Publishing
  • ISBN: 9781784878856
  • Number of pages: 208
  • Dimensions: 196 x 129 x 15 mm
  • Weight: 150g
  • Languages: English

Customer Reviews

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New Boy
Totally riveting
With 'New Boy' Tracy Chevalier recreates the story of Othello in one school day in the life of Grade 5 pupils in a school in Washington. Into this all whi... READ MORE
Maggie Macdonald
New Boy
A tour de force.
An excellent reinterpretation of Shakespeare's Othello. At first I wasn't sure the 1970s American school setting would work but Tracy Chevalier has a achie... READ MORE
Ali Thurm
New Boy
A modern retelling of a classic tale
Really enjoyed this retelling of Othello. It has its flaws but Tracy Chevalier is a great writer whose prose makes up for it. Yes some of the scenes weren’... READ MORE
MetLineReader
New Boy
It's never easy being the New Boy.
Tracy Chevalier is one of my favourite authors and I have read most of her historical fiction novels. This is a completely different direction for the auth... READ MORE
DubaiReader MaryAnne Pardoe
New Boy
A decent retelling
"NEW BOY" is the third book in the Shakespeare retold series from the bestselling author of Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Last Runaway, Tracy Chevalier... READ MORE
Lou
New Boy
Smart reworking of Othello
A reworking of Othello, set in an American school in the 1970s. Hard to put down - I was in severe danger of missing my Tube stop. Chevalier condenses the ... READ MORE
Roz Morris
New Boy
Disappointing
I couldn't get to grips with this book at all. I found the time line of one day difficult and impossible to really know the characters. I also struggled wi... READ MORE
jean
New Boy
An intriguing retelling
A modern reimagining of Shakespeare's Othello, this sees a Ghanaian diplomats son, Osei, on his first day at a new school in an American suburb of Washingt... READ MORE
Clare R
New Boy
The scariest, most intense book you will ever read - and still so important and relevant today.
I don't think I've ever read a more intense and psychologically testing book - it raised my pulse and made my mouth go dry. It blends the plot of Othello w... READ MORE
Callum Tilley