The Dark Lady's Mask by Mary Sharratt

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Obtained from: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours/Netgalley

Read: March 1, 2016

Shakespeare in Love meets Shakespeare’s Sister in this novel of England’s first professional woman poet and her collaboration and love affair with William Shakespeare. London, 1593. Aemilia Bassano Lanier is beautiful and accomplished, but her societal conformity ends there. She frequently cross-dresses to escape her loveless marriage and to gain freedoms only men enjoy, but a chance encounter with a ragged, little-known poet named Shakespeare changes everything. Aemilia grabs at the chance to pursue her long-held dream of writing and the two outsiders strike up a literary bargain. They leave plague-ridden London for Italy, where they begin secretly writing comedies together and where Will falls in love with the beautiful country — and with Aemilia, his Dark Lady. Their Italian idyll, though, cannot last and their collaborative affair comes to a devastating end. Will gains fame and fortune for their plays back in London and years later publishes the sonnets mocking his former muse. Not one to stand by in humiliation, Aemilia takes up her own pen in her defense and in defense of all women. The Dark Lady’s Mask gives voice to a real Renaissance woman in every sense of the word.

════════════════════════════ ❧  ════════════════════════════

William Shakespeare

I wish I could say Mary Sharratt’s The Dark Lady's Mask was the first fictional adaptation of Aemilia Bassano Lanier’s life that I’d encountered, but that honor goes to Dark Aemilia: A Novel of Shakespeare's Dark Lady by Sally O'Reilly. My experience with the latter wasn’t ideal as I’ve issues with gratuitous vulgarity, but the source material left a certain impression and inspired a natural curiosity regarding the woman who inspired it which is what led me to Sharratt’s latest release.

First and foremost, I have to admit that I found Sharratt’s adaptation of the rumors and theories surrounding Aemilia beautifully developed. In context, the ideas made perfect sense, but in looking at more abstract notions, I was tickled by the idea of a writer writing about the power of literature and its impact on their audience.

Another thing I liked about this book was the emphasis Sharratt placed on Aemilia as an individual. All things considered, it would have been very easy for our heroine to be eclipsed by her lover and their supposed relationship, but Sharratt’s emphatic dedication to portraying Aemilia’s own merit - her education and individuality - struck a real chord with me.

Following that train of thought, I reveled in the thematic ideas at the heart of the novel. There are a lot of lighthearted moments and good humored narration throughout the text, but Aemilia's resilience fascinated me. Her trials and heartbreak where one thing, but I felt her journey to overcome those challenges inspiring.

Lyrically poetic in its own right, I’d found The Dark Lady's Mask genuine and authentic. Highly Recommended.

════════════════════════════ ❧  ════════════════════════════

She looked at the astrologer wonderingly and struggled not to laugh. Was there truly a soul left in London who didn’t know her history?

════════════════════════════ ❧  ════════════════════════════

Drinking with Dead Women Writers by Elaine Ambrose, & A.K. Turner

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Personal Kindle Library

Read: July 27, 2012

Essays on drinking with Louisa May Alcott, Jane Austen, Erma Bombeck, The Bronte Sisters, Willa Cather, Emily Dickinson, George Eliot, Margaret Mead, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Margaret Mitchell, Carson McCullers, Flannery O'Connor, Sylvia Plath, Ayn Rand and Virginia Woolf. Most early female writers used pen names because women weren't regarded as competent writers. Margaret Mitchell wrote only one published novel in her lifetime, but Gone with the Wind won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937 and sold more than 30 million copies. Emily Dickinson was so paranoid that she only spoke to people from behind a door. Carson McCullers wrote The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter at age 22. Her husband wanted them to commit suicide in the French countryside, but she refused. Ambrose and Turner explore these and other intriguing facts about the most famous (but departed) women in literary history.

════════════════════════════ ❧  ════════════════════════════

Some of you may know that I am addicted to kindle freebies. I’m ashamed to say my digital library is flooded with titles I’ve downloaded at no charge. Thing is, I’ve found that most of these books are decent at best. I try to review them, give my honest feedback and all but I’ve made it a sort of personal mission to find something worth recommending. Usually, I come up short and occasionally I have to concede defeat but I have found reason to hope. Ambrose and Turner’s Drinking with Dead Women Writers is amusing, creative and, in my opinion, worth the 2.99 it is now going for on Amazon.

In a nutshell, the book is a compiled set of mock interviews between the Ambrose, Turner and some of the most well-known literary women of the underworld. Chapters are short, a few pages each but distinctive. I had worried Ambrose and Turner would run out of steam but this wasn’t the case. I was as tickled by Margaret Mead as I was Ayn Rand. Dorothy Parker and Erma Bombeck literally had me giggling through my lunch break. Giggling I tell you! Really my only quibble is the final line of Ambrose’s sit down with Margaret Mitchell. Rather than channel her own work into her dialogue as do our other interviewees, the deceased opted to advertise her appreciation for artistic license and screen legend Clark Gable. It’s funny really; I never would have thought the author would prefer the film adaptation to her own work. Go figure.

Engaging and revealing, but most of all, flat out funny. Will definitely be on the lookout for the next installment, Drinking with Dead Drunks, this fall.

════════════════════════════ ❧  ════════════════════════════

Come and see me sometime at Winchester Cathedral. I’ll be hovering over the nave, making fun of pompous people.

════════════════════════════ ❧  ════════════════════════════