Publication Date: May 27, 2014Picador/Macmillan
Formats: eBook, Hardcover
READ AN EXCERPT.
A TALE OF SORCERY AND PASSION IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY LONDON—WHERE WITCHES HAUNT WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE AND HIS DARK LADY, THE PLAYWRIGHT'S MUSE AND ONE TRUE LOVE.
The daughter of a Venetian musician, Aemilia Bassano came of age in Queen Elizabeth’s royal court. The Queen’s favorite, she develops a love of poetry and learning, maturing into a young woman known not only for her beauty but also her sharp mind and quick tongue. Aemilia becomes the mistress of Lord Hunsdon, but her position is precarious. Then she crosses paths with an impetuous playwright named William Shakespeare and begins an impassioned but ill-fated affair.
A decade later, the Queen is dead, and Aemilia Bassano is now Aemilia Lanyer, fallen from favor and married to a fool. Like the rest of London, she fears the plague. And when her young son Henry takes ill, Aemilia resolves to do anything to save him, even if it means seeking help from her estranged lover, Will—or worse, making a pact with the Devil himself.
In rich, vivid detail, Sally O’Reilly breathes life into England’s first female poet, a mysterious woman nearly forgotten by history. Full of passion and devilish schemes, Dark Aemilia is a tale worthy of the Bard.
Selected by O, The Oprah Magazine as one of 17 Books You Won't Be Able To Put Down!
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Review: I was attracted to this book from the moment I saw the cover, but more so than just the stunning cover art is the subject matter. I've been reading a lot of books about talented figures and the women that figure into their lives this year.
Amelia is a woman that had an affair with William Shakespeare and that was enough to draw me in, sadly it didn't live up to my expectations quite as much as I wanted it to. I don't know why, but I was craving a bit more romance.
But before you dismiss the book, don't. Aemilia is a character pulled out of the pages of history. So really, I didn't have to like her, and it was good that the author didn't pretty her up to make a romance or a fantasy novel revolving around her life. She's a feminist in a time when women were chattel. In a way, she was a little like Queen Bess. Once I was able to accept that, I really enjoyed the book.
Ms. O'Reilly crafts a story that is deep in history. I love the Elizabethan period and she brings it to life here, as well as the time after Elizabeth's passing.
Rating: 4 flowers
About the Author
Sally O'Reilly has received numerous citations for her fiction, which has been shortlisted for the Ian St James Short Story Prize and the Cosmopolitan Short Story Award. A former Cosmopolitan New Journalist of the Year, her work has appeared in The Guardian, The Sunday Times, the Evening Standard, and the New Scientist. She teaches creative writing at the Open University and the University of Portsmouth in England. Dark Aemilia is her U.S. debut.
For information and news please visit Sally O'Reilly's website and the Dark Aemilia Facebook Page.
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