Thanks to Amy Bruno of Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, I am giving away 5 copies of ‘Dark Aemilia: A Novel of Shakespeare’s Dark Lady’.
Book Description:
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!
Praise for Dark Aemilia: A Novel of Shakespeare’s Dark Lady:
“With elegant style, masterly wordplay, and an eye for historical detail, O’Reilly beautifully relates a passionate and tragic love story, worthy of two such well-known figures. With Shakespeare’s 450th birthday approaching this April, fans of historical fiction writers such as Philippa Gregory, Anne Easter Smith, and Tracy Chevalier won’t want to miss this one.” —Library Journal
“O’Reilly’s American debut is an imaginative take on the life of poet Aemilia Layner, a contemporary of William Shakespeare…. This is a lively, vividly rendered novel about the dramatic life of an extraordinary woman.”—Booklist
“Seductive, sharp-witted lady-in-waiting Aemilia Bassano, who later becomes known as England’s first published female poet, falls into a love affair with the Bard himself, loses favor with the court, and resorts to black magic and sorcery to save her child in this textured work of historical fiction.”—O, The Oprah Magazine
“We all know Shakespeare wrote love sonnets. Now, O’Reilly’s new novel brings us the Bard’s sonnet-writing lover and sonnet-inspiring muse.”—The New York Post
“A gripping novel that gives feisty feminist voice to the unknown woman who inspired Shakespeare’s sonnets… O’Reilly brings her star-crossed lovers together and drives them apart through plot twists that are, for once, credible outgrowths of the characters’ personalities and beliefs, finally giving them a tender, heartbreaking parting. First-rate historical fiction: marvelously atmospheric and emotionally engaging.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred)
“[Dark Aemilia] mesmerizes with its descriptions of the Bard’s London…O’Reilly casts her story with witches, doomed royals, evil courtiers, and star-crossed lovers, as if it were a Jacobean play. But her finest accomplishment is not the tribute she pays to these historical figures, but the bold imagination she displays in bringing them together.”—Publishers Weekly
About Sally O’Reilly:
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.
This giveaway is open to the U.S. and Canada and ends on September 2, 2014. Please use Rafflecopter to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I don’t usually read this genre, but the Shakespeare connection sounds interesting. Thanks for the giveaway.
This would be fascinating and unique. thanks.
I’ve been a Shakespeare fan since I first encountered his plays in high school. I’ve read a lot of his work and seen and participated in many productions too. This book is right up my alley.
The reputation it has established for being very well-crafted historical fiction, the involvement of that mysterious literary genius with whom I have passed many an hour without knowing as a human, and the historical story behind the fiction to satisfy a bit of that appetite. If any of you fellow readers are interested, I got a free backgrounder on the topic by the author herself for free on Kindle on Amazon. I haven’t read it yet, but one reviewer says there’s little historical information to stand the short read on at all. Still, it is/was free — thought I’d share. thanks for this Teddy!
Aemilia sounds like a fascinating character and one I certainly didn’t know anything about. Thanks for the intro and chance to win,
The Shakespearean connection sounds fascinating,
I love novels about The Bard and this one looks especially good. Beautiful, dark and mysterious femme fatale on the cover echoes the subject of the book.
Would love to enter your giveaway (this book looks awesome) but I’m in Australia 🙁
I am interested in the history and the devilish schemes in the book.
The cover got me first and the description only made me more interested.
Aemilia sounds fascinating. One of the best books I read a couple of years back was about Shakespeare’s wife Anne. Interested to visit this era again.