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Loading... Dark Aemilia: A Novel of Shakespeare's Dark Lady (original 2014; edition 2014)by Sally O'Reilly (Author)Dark Aemilia: A Novel of Shakespeare's Dark Lady By Sally O'Reilly Young Aemilia Bassano, once the Mistress of Lord Hunsdon, and then purported "Muse" and true love of William Shakespeare. She was part of Queen Elizabeth's court, lover of poetry and a feminist way before her time. She struggles to make a name for herself, raise her son, and live life to its fullest. An intriguing plot, with a tough, determined protagonist. Aemilia is head-strong and rebellious, a woman who knows what she wants and is not afraid to go for it. Which by all means was almost unheard of (for women) or this Era. With attention to detail and engaging dialog, I found myself pulled back into time as if I were part of the story. Overall I found Dark Aemilia: A Novel of Shakespeare's Dark Lady, an intriguing, enjoyable read and feel others will enjoy it as well. Little does she know it, but author Sally O'Reilly wrote this book just for me. Set in London during the late 1500s and the time of Queen Elizabeth I, Dark Aemilia has it all: Shakespeare, plague, sorcery, witchcraft, witty dialogue, great writing and hot sex scenes. I mean come on! Sally O'Reilly, I love you! And the cover, oh the cover, simply stunning. Based on a real person, Aemilia is an inspirational woman born before her time, thought to be Shakespeare's dark muse, struggling with the role of women in society and how little power they had over their destiny. She was England's first female poet, and in O'Reilly's hands she's intelligent, proud, headstrong and passionate. Here's a great quote from Page 129: "...all my other little aches and torments have gone. Those besetting symptoms that all of us in London must put up with: soot-wheeze, ale-runs, head-gripe, back-ache, lassitude and dread-belly - not to mention sundry scabs, carbuncles and lesions of the skin - all such ailments have vanished." And this from Page 270: " 'Leave this house', I say. 'Get out, you scripture-spouting, fish-cold arse-wart. Or I'll call down a curse which'll curdle the guts in your belly'. " Brilliant writing, richly evocative and an intelligent story, I loved and adored this novel and didn't want it to end. Dark Aemilia is for lovers of historical fiction, witty dialogue, Shakespeare and the darker side of London in the 16th Century. Yes please! I can't wait to see what talented author Sally O'Reilly writes for me next. A tale worthy of the Bard I'm sure. Shakespeare: tick. Possible identity of the Dark Lady: tick. Supernatural, witches and demons: tick. Stinking, plague-ridden London: tick. The Globe, white-faced boy actors dressed in velvet, smoke, whistles and special effects: tick. Based on a foundation of history, O’Reilly tells the fictional story of real-life Aemilia Bassano and her love affair with William Shakespeare. There is no documentary evidence that this affair took place, but O’Reilly’s imagination conjures a rich story in which the setting of Elizabethan London is vibrant and believable. Wherever Aemilia goes – in an apothecary’s shop, in the audience at The Globe or standing at the edge of a plague pit – you can see, smell and hear her London. Aemilia is something of a feminist, in that she struggles against men her whole life for the freedom to live her own life. Orphaned at 12 she becomes mistress to Lord Hunsdon [readers of Philippa Gregory’s ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’ will be interested to know that Hunsdon was the real-life Henry, son of Mary Boleyn] but during an affair with Shakespeare, Aemilia falls pregnant. Hunsdon arranges a marriage for her to her cousin Alfonso Lanyer, and so Aemilia’s destiny is determined at each stage by men. Father, protector, husband, lover and son. She is a fascinating character, a woman of her time or before her time? As a poet and a lover, her influence on Shakespeare is at the core of this book. But then with her son dying of the plague, she turns to witchcraft and so the wilder element of the story takes off. I admit to skipping some of these sections. For me, the interesting plot was Aemilia, Shakespeare, the Globe and the writing of ‘Macbeth’ and consequently for me the book could have been shorter. Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/ The book takes place during different important years during her life. Aemilia is first the mistress of a powerful man and she had everything. She is happy with her lot in life. But the title already says is and the passion she and Shakespeare share drives them mad for each other. That is the first part of her life. Meeting Shakespeare, and losing it all. The second part takes place when she is married to a gambler and her old life is long gone. She has a son. She still wants to write. But this was not a time for women, men were the writers. In this part something, well I do not want to call it paranormal, let's just call it witchy, comes over it all. Superstition, needs and wants sets her on a different road. It's a shitty life to be honest. I can feel the smell and dirt that was the early 1700th century. And it was not pretty and people were fools. The last part, oh I am not gonna say everything that happens. She was real, if she really was Shakespeare's dark lady we do not know. But I quite like how O'Reilly portrayed it here. Love, passion, need. Witchcraft, sorcery and poetry. Plague, death and despair. Yes this book really gives us all of it. This novel really captures the spirit of Shakespearean England, and it's themes play out like one of the bard's plays, complete with scorned lovers, devious plots, and witchcraft. Based on the historical figure of Aemilia Bassano, who just may be an inspiration for Shakespeare's Dark Lady, this novel presents Aemilia and Shakespeare as passionate lovers and writers, whose passion drives them apart as much as it unites them. Well worth the read! I can't really add much to what other reviewers have said. While I enjoyed the book very much, and Ms. O'Reilly's research is very evident, I still felt the book fell short in a few places. Yes, people of the time believed the supernatural was part of their everyday lives, but this book couldn't decide if it was historical fiction or historical fantasy. While Ms. O'Reilly may have intended to 'tell a story that was [both] authentic and historically accurate,' she has included too much of the supernatural and undermined her own goal. As to comments on the language from others? Well, I hate to break it to you, but people of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries were quite a bit... earthier than "polite" society has been since the middle of the nineteenth and Victorian public standards. Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book as a Goodreads.com giveaway. This bawdy, dramatic, and atmospheric historical novel brings to life Aemilia Bassano Lanyer, a nearly forgotten Elizabethan poet -- the first woman in England to be published -- who, in O'Reilly's hands, becomes a lover and muse to William Shakespeare -- the inspiration of his Dark Lady sonnets. Set between 1592 and 1616 in London, the novel is narrated by Aemilia. The young mistress of an older courtier, Aemilia is renown at court for her wit and beauty, and she catches the attentions of playwright Shakespeare. But their affair leads her to a forced marriage with her cousin and she's removed from court, where she stews over improving her fortunes, pursuing her passion for poetry, and raising her son. As the plague strikes London, Aemilia's focus shifts toward more dangerous territory as she explores black magic to save all that she loves. This was the kind of book I dove into one morning and couldn't put down until I finished. Aemilia's voice is knowing, brash, and unapologetic. She's hungry for her independence, frustrated with her useless husband and her writing, which doesn't match her aspiration. (How I can relate to that!) Although Aemilia reads vibrant, real, and realized, sadly, the grand love affair between Aemilia and Shakespeare felt flat to me. Thankfully, their affair is only a brief interlude in Aemilia's long and eventful life (despite the importance implied by the book jacket), and I was more caught up in her relationship with her son (especially as I had just found out I was having a boy) and her struggles as a writer. I found the setting, while not specifically articulated in any detail, was well evoked -- I felt like I was in Elizabethan London, all the glittery and grimy parts of it. There are some supernatural elements, especially toward the end of the story, which I quite liked; the hints of magic reminded me of those magical moments in Elizabethan works and touch upon the historical Lanyer's own writing. The book is filled with marvelous extras: about ten pages of historical notes, a timeline, glossary of Elizabethan terms, and a list of suggested reading. A delicious read of a long-forgotten writer, this is a fun historical novel for those who like fierce heroines, some vulgar language (Aemilia doesn't mince words!), fabulous sense of place, and plenty of drama. Aemilia Bassano grew up in Queen Elizabeth's court. She later becomes mistress to a much older Lord Hunsdon, the son of Mary Boleyn. Lord Hunsdon takes Aemilia to a play where she meets a young playwright, Will Shakespeare. From the moment they meet, an anger and passion envelop both Aemilia and Will, and their love affair begins. Shakespeare wrote of a Dark Lady... this tells of how dark Aemilia really might have been. I devoured this book! I was thrown into Shakespearean London with a force. There were engaging and very real descriptions of the city, houses, dress, characters and even the plague. Aemilia's character felt raw and real. She is described as a proto-feminist of her time and I felt connected to her cause to become a published and recognized poet and writer. While some of the steps she takes to get there are brash, I think it just adds to the excitement of the story. There is quite a bit of lewd language and erotic romance, which I'm usually not that into; however, it works for me and makes Aemilia more down to Earth. There is a thread of the supernatural that is worked into the story, witchcraft is a theme throughout. At first I thought it was just being used as part of everyday Elizabethan society, but it is taken farther by Aemilia in her quest to save her son from the plague and later to be known as a writer. It seems almost unnecessary, but ends up tying in nicely with the story of Macbeth. As an added bonus for me, I enjoyed learning about Aemilia Bassano-Lanyer; a real woman in history who may have played an important role in many of Shakespeare's writings. This book was received for free in return for an honest review. Aemilia Bassano ( later known as Lanyer) was the first English lady who wrote and published poetry, which was no easy feat for a woman in Queen Elizabeth I's time. She was the mistress for a time of Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon, cousin of the queen, until she became pregnant supposedly not Hunsdon's, Hunsdon paid her dowry and bought her a house so she was married to Alfonso Lanyer. In this novel, Aemilia and William Shakespeare have an affair that results in her pregnancy of her son Henry, whether this is true or not has not been proven. This is a novel that has well known figures from history, William Shakespeare, Astrologer Simon Forman, Moll Cutpurse, King James I who succeeds Queen Elizabeth after her death, events such as the Gunpowder Plot and the building or the Globe Theater being burned to the ground and rebuilt and of course the Plague or Black Death. This novel is well researched by the author and written very poetically with a lot of quotes from Aemilia Bassano and William Shakespeare themselves. At times I had to go back and reread some entries as I was never one much for poetry. That aside I did truly love this novel and everything about it. There was a bit of supernatural and witchcraft woven throughout the story as well. Of course there was always a lot of superstition in the medieval era so the addition of this doesn't surprise me. I think that if you love historical fiction and William Shakespeare you will enjoy this novel about a little known woman( at least to me) who was ahead of her time. I highly recommend it. Title - Dark Aemilia Author - Sally O'Reilly Summary - It is England, 1592, and there is turmoil in the land. The church divided. Politics, lies and treachery fills the court of the Queen Elizabeth; so that even her favorite, the beautiful Aemilia Bassano, mistress and whore to the aged Lord Hunsdon finds herself in peril. Into this time and into the life of Aemilia, comes the young and gifted playwright, William Shakespeare. But there is far more to Aemilia than there is to most of the women of the Queen's court. Taught at a young age into the arts and literature. She fancies herself a poet. Aemilia is determined to be more than a mistress to an old man. She wants to be her own woman in a age where no woman is her own, not even the Queen. But there is even more to Aemilia, a darkness that part of her family legacy. "...I am a witch for the modern age. I keep my spells small, and price them high..." Aemilia finds a passion with the young playwright that she had not felt with any man before and together they embark on a love affair as powerful as it is hidden. But secret stays forever and soon their loves shows. Aemilia is put away by Lord Hunsdon, married off to a lesser man and in one fateful day, the love she shared with William is torn apart. "...If you think I do not love you, this is false, and what I did today was-' 'Oh-you say this is false?' He is so close now that his spittle wets my face and I see the blue veins jumping in his forehead. 'Look- I have a new phrase...' He runs to the table, takes up a quill and scribbles fiercely on one of the torn pages. 'Praise God-I am still a writer! Praise him, praise him, the poet lives! Look...' He runs back to me. 'See? See here? What I have wrote-you are still my Muse, Mistress Busycunt...see-"the bay where all men ride"! You see? I have made you into Art! That, that is poetry. Poetry is pain. Poetry is blood and hatred..." Aemilia, lost without her love, with only her son to fill her heart does not see the danger lurking. Three witches conspiring to take all she has. Desperate she calls on the darkness in her heart and brings forth a power she cannot hope to control. Review - Dark Aemilia is an extraordinary novel of the pain and desperation of a beautiful woman in a time when the best she could hope to be is the property of a wealthy man. Aemilia is high spirited and strong but instead of that making her something to want, it instead brings her derision and hate. Even as she falls from heights of Queen Elizabeth, she finds herself disliked by the locals for her education and knowledge. The novel begins with Aemilia attending a play of Shakespeare's, The Taming of The Shrew. She does not realize at this time that it is a metaphor for her life to come. She does not realize that the strengths she thought she possessed in her beauty and intelligence would be used as her downfall. O'Reilly does a wonderful job of creating an entertaining tale of England and the difference between the rights of women and men during the late 1500s and into the 1600s. The height of the hypocrisy being that England was at this time ruled by the Queen. This is a terrific novel, well research and paced. A truly entertaining read. Book source: Free review copy via Historical Fiction Book Tours As soon as I got the chance to read Dark Aemilia: A Novel of Shakespeare’s Dark Lady by Sally O’Reilly, I eagerly accepted. Historical fiction is a favorite genre, and I was curious to read about Aemilia Bassano seeing as she was England's first published poet. The story is set during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in England. The stunningly beautiful Aemilia Bassano has been mistress to Lord Hunsdon since she was sixteen, he is forty years her senior. Content with being his mistress, Aemilia lives a comfortable life, until she meets a young writer, William Shakespeare, and her life is turned upside down. The two have an instant attraction and begin a passionate and secret love affair. When Aemilia becomes pregnant, she winds up married off by Lord Hunsdon himself in order to save his reputation. Aemilia ends up in a loveless marriage and the story flashes forward a decade. It is Elizabethan London, there is the plague, love affairs gone wrong, a curse and poetry. Although I found it all really intriguing to read about, I have mixed emotions about this book. First of all, I have to mention that author Sally O’Reilly does a fantastic job at creating a rich and vivid setting, I could easily envision the sights and sounds of London. The writing was wonderfully descriptive and I felt like the author did her research on this time period. At 400+ pages long, I found it hard to put this book down. I breezed right through it as I was transported to another time and place. As the story unfolded, there were witches and dark arts involved, which added an air of mystery to the storyline. An apothecary, a necromancer and black magic were blended into the plot and I was surprised to see the story take some dark twists and turns, I enjoyed it. Aemilia was a force to be reckoned with, I liked that about her. I also enjoyed the scenes between Aemilia and William at the start, as they were deeply in love and I'm a sucker for passionate romance between star crossed lovers. However, I wanted to see more of William, it seemed after he was heavily featured at the start of the novel, he disappeared for a good while until reappearing much later on in the story. These two were so in love at the start of the book, I was confused to see his character drop out of the storyline like that. I really enjoyed Dark Aemilia: A Novel of Shakespeare’s Dark Lady. This is an interesting historical centered around the woman who is said to have been the inspiration behind some of the famous Bard's works. I just really wish the Bard himself would have been more of a constant throughout the entire story. disclaimer: This review is my honest opinion. I did not receive any type of compensation for reading and reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers and authors, such as this one, I am under no obligation to write a positive review. This novel imagines the life of Aemilia Bassano (later Lanyer), based on the real woman, who was one of the first women poets published during Elizabethan times. Growing up she was educated beyond the standards of a typical woman of her time and became a favorite of Queen Elizabeth because she could converse in Latin. Her beauty and learning landed her as mistress of Lord Hunsdon and the lover of William Shakespeare. An accidental pregnancy forces her into marriage and her circumstances change drastically as she studies in witchcraft and magic. Where the novel excels brilliantly is reimagining London during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century. The grit, filth and overcrowded streets can be easily conjured while reading this book. Not much is known about Aemilia, but it has been suspected that she was Shakespeare’s “dark lady”. The love story between Aemilia and Shakespeare is central to this story and I enjoyed its inevitable drama. I wasn’t a huge fan of the supernatural element of the book and I think that Aemilia’s life was interesting enough without it. There are witches, necromancy, demons and depictions of other such things that are difficult to slog through and I found myself skimming these sections. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions of London and of the struggles of life at this point in history but the book was incredibly slow at times making it difficult to finish. I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The flow of the story was a bit off, at least for me. There was one part that had me wondering if the story had been properly edited or proof read. In my mind, if you have a rope around your neck with mob ready to hang you for witchcraft that almost succeeds, I cannot foresee that it would be possible to go back and live in the same house especially if your neighbor was one of those ready to hang you. I was very confused by that part. It was almost like the near hanging didn't happen or like there were two scenarios one with being rescued from hanging and one without the hanging and rescue from hanging, but the after the rescue from hanging part was not revised to match what happened. At any rate that was the main issue I had. Otherwise the book was pretty enjoyable. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/971090728 A lot happens in this book over a decent period of time: Aemilia is Lord Hunsdon's mistress, falls in love with Will Shakespeare and has an affair, becomes pregnant and is married off to Alfonso Lanyer, gives birth to her son Henry. Years later when Henry catches the plague, Aemilia conjures up a demon to protect him, then writes The Tragedie of Lady Macbeth in exchange for the favor (though she always wanted to write anyway). But when Burbage rejects Aemilia's play but then puts on Will's Macbeth, she conjures the demon again to prevent the play from being staged, and one of the players - her neighbor's son - is killed. Throughout, Aemilia is an outspoken opponent against women's role in society in the Elizabethan era. I enjoyed this book, but didn't find it wholly absorbing; the many plot points failed to cohere into a larger story, and I was never quite convinced of Aemilia's writing abilities (though her intellect seemed strong enough). The magical elements were woven neatly into the story, and the descriptions of plague-ridden, filthy London were excellent without being didactic ("look how much research I did!"). Quotes You don't fool me by saying I am different from the others of my sex. I am not different, I am the same but more so. (Aemilia to Will, 29) The years will make sense of me again; it is not possible to fall so hard for nothing, for words and a hungry look, a moment in time. (29) I have made myself so ill with this that I felt it must be a form of penance for a sin that I have committed only in my heart. (Will to Aemilia, 30) This is a passion that transforms me, and a love that makes the world glitter. (62) The rain pelts harder and seems to wash some sense into me, and in the end I reach the conclusion that I like least and which pains me most. But I cannot see another way. (75) My head aches with grief, and I am filled with bitter anger that this must be my lot. If I am such a faithless whore, why am I disabled by scruples I can't afford? A depraved and desperate woman should be ruthless in the execution of her desires. There is no place for me in the hierarchy of mankind, and, to make things worse, my own character is wrongly put together. I have the mind of a philosopher, the education of a prince and the morality of a nun. (76) I think that Hell must not only be a place of fire and punishment, but of clocks that tick and tock in an eternal present, where nothing ever happens. (76) "A poet is a madman, who knows nothing, and makes a world of his insanity. And you, my lady, may be a scholar and you are certainly a whore, but you will never be a poet." (Will to Aemilia, 94) "A woman may not be a jester, but a poet may be a fool....You are all eyes and no sight." (146) "You are always seeking to know the reason for things, and I have rarely seen you grateful. You know your own worth." (Elizabeth to Aemilia, 189) "Whether Heaven or Hell will receive my soul, I know I am all but done with this life. But the journey out is full of pain." (Elizabeth to Aemilia, 191) Expecting nothing is an excellent preparation for receiving it. (209) "All science comes from somewhere, and all knowledge has its price." (Joan to Aemilia, 216) "Your impatience is proof of your weakness. You grabble after small things, won't wait to be wise." (Simon Forman to Aemilia, 255) Why have I never lived straightforwardly? ...Why has my life always been such an unseemly muddle? (353) "You are too proud. Perhaps your pride is all you have." (Will to Aemilia, 355) |
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Young Aemilia Bassano, once the Mistress of Lord Hunsdon, and then purported "Muse" and true love of William Shakespeare. She was part of Queen Elizabeth's court, lover of poetry and a feminist way before her time. She struggles to make a name for herself, raise her son, and live life to its fullest.
An intriguing plot, with a tough, determined protagonist. Aemilia is head-strong and rebellious, a woman who knows what she wants and is not afraid to go for it. Which by all means was almost unheard of (for women) or this Era. With attention to detail and engaging dialog, I found myself pulled back into time as if I were part of the story.
Overall I found Dark Aemilia: A Novel of Shakespeare's Dark Lady, an intriguing, enjoyable read and feel others will enjoy it as well. ( )