Overview

A riotously smart and sassy coming-of-age story from the Booker Prize-winning author of Girl, Woman, Other - beautifully repackaged for the next generation Meet Zuleika- sassy girl about town, former child bride, A-list Roman babe, black immigrant in ancient Londinium. She knows this city like the back of her hand - its squalor and bustle, its slum tenements and sumptuous villas. But she doesn't know how it feels to fall in love. Sold in marriage to a rich, fat Roman, stranded in luxurious neglect with only slaves and sex workers for company, it's not long before Zuleika is up to no good. And one day, when the Roman Emperor himself strolls into town and catches her eye, the trouble really starts...

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9780140297812

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?Smart, imaginative, and readable . . . A rich farrago of historical fact and outrageous fancy.? ( The New York Times Book Review ) A heroine of ancient times for the modern age... a glittering fiction... brilliant.? ( The Times, London) A riotous, racy whirl through Roman Londinium... Bernardine Evaristo has spun a captivating tale in verse.? (Robert Fagles)

"?Smart, imaginative, and readable . . . A rich farrago of historical fact and outrageous fancy.? (""The New York Times Book Review"") A heroine of ancient times for the modern age... a glittering fiction... brilliant.? (""The Times,"" London) A riotous, racy whirl through Roman Londinium... Bernardine Evaristo has spun a captivating tale in verse.? (Robert Fagles) Smart, imaginative, and readable . . . A rich farrago of historical fact and outrageous fancy. (""The New York Times Book Review"") A heroine of ancient times for the modern age... a glittering fiction... brilliant. (""The Times,"" London) A riotous, racy whirl through Roman Londinium... Bernardine Evaristo has spun a captivating tale in verse. (Robert Fagles) ""Smart, imaginative, and readable . . . A rich farrago of historical fact and outrageous fancy."" (""The New York Times Book Review"") ""A heroine of ancient times for the modern age... a glittering fiction... brilliant."" (""The Times,"" London) ""A riotous, racy whirl through Roman Londinium... Bernardine Evaristo has spun a captivating tale in verse."" (Robert Fagles) ""A riotous, racy whirl through Roman Londinium . . . Bernardine Evaristo has spun a captivating tale in verse."""

Holy Po-Mo, Batman! How about a historical, multicultural, transgender novel-in verse, yet!-about a colony of third-century Africans living in London under the empire (the Roman empire, that is). There are some stories that just can't be told straight, and newcomer Evaristo doesn't bother trying. She lets herself go wild in this account of the fabulous life and celebrated adventures of Zuleika, a Sudanese girl ( Illa Bella Negreeta ) whose parents brought her from Khartoum to London-er, make that Londinium-and married her off to a Roman nobleman before she had even come within spitting distance of puberty. Her husband Felix was an old man in his 30s, very rich, and hardly ever in town, and he saw to most of Zuleika's needs, installing her in a gigantic house with an army of servants to attend to her. The problem was that he attended to other matters himself, and left her completely on her own. So she became a club kid in short order, hanging out at the ultra-hip Mount Venus nightclub with all the trannies and fashionistas and even became tight with transvestite goddess Venus herself. Zuleika soon becomes a fixture of the downtown scene, getting her frocks from the best shops and trading adulterous gossips with her girlfriends. Eventually she is spotted at the theater by the Emperor Septimus Severus, who happens to be passing through his British colonies on a kind of goodwill tour, and the two are struck by a thunderbolt. True love at last! And Felix can hardly complain, even if he were of a mind to, since everybody has to stand aside to let the Emperor cut in. Unfortunately for Zuleika, however, the Emperor is a king as well as a lover, and a soldier as well as a king. And soldiers have a way of dying in battle. Truly crazy, lots of fun, and more than slightly perverse: this reads like an episode of Sex and the City written by Ovid. (Kirkus Reviews)

A story written completely in verse, liberally sprinkled with Latin vocabulary, sounds like a recipe for terminal boredom. Far from it. This is an intoxicating, outrageous romp through London in the second century AD, and the frantic pace will leave you breathless but panting for more. Evaristo is an established poet, and her debut verse novel, Lara, scooped her the EMMA best book award in 1999. She returns to the genre with a vengeance in her latest book, which was inspired by her research into the history of Roman London. When she discovered black Africans formed a substantial minority of the London population, the idea for her feisty Sudanese heroine was born. Zuleika is a streetwise young urchin at the start of the book, rollicking round London with her mates Alba and the transvestite Venus (nee Rufus). Her wild-oat-sowing days are soon cut short, however, when she is married off to the ponderous but wealthy Felix who leaves her to mooch around his expensive villa, bored and frustrated, while he travels the globe on interminable business ventures. Writing poetry, entertaining her parents and vile young brother, and sneaking out with Alba and Venus all help to pass the time, until the day she is spotted at the theatre by the Roman Emperor himself, Septimius Severus. They embark upon a passionate affair which can only end in disaster. This is a thoroughly modern rendering of an ancient tale and one of the book's fascinations is spotting the hundreds of modern references that strew its pages. A flower shop is called Wild@Heart; a local protest poet bears the name Manumittio X; even lyrics from West Side Story pop up ('There's a place for us/Somewhere a place for us'). Reading The Emperor's Babe is as exhilarating as a cold shower - Latin has never been so much fun! (Kirkus UK)

A riotous, racy whirl through Roman Londinium . . . Bernardine Evaristo has spun a captivating tale in verse. Smart, imaginative, and readable . . . A rich farrago of historical fact and outrageous fancy. ( The New York Times Book Review ) A heroine of ancient times for the modern age... a glittering fiction... brilliant. ( The Times, London) A riotous, racy whirl through Roman Londinium... Bernardine Evaristo has spun a captivating tale in verse. (Robert Fagles) Smart, imaginative, and readable . . . A rich farrago of historical fact and outrageous fancy. ( The New York Times Book Review ) A heroine of ancient times for the modern age... a glittering fiction... brilliant. ( The Times, London) A riotous, racy whirl through Roman Londinium... Bernardine Evaristo has spun a captivating tale in verse. (Robert Fagles) ?Smart, imaginative, and readable . . . A rich farrago of historical fact and outrageous fancy.? ( The New York Times Book Review ) A heroine of ancient times for the modern age... a glittering fiction... brilliant.? ( The Times, London) A riotous, racy whirl through Roman Londinium... Bernardine Evaristo has spun a captivating tale in verse.? (Robert Fagles)

Author Information

Bernardine Evaristo, MBE, is the award-winning author of eight books of fiction and verse fiction that explore aspects of the African diaspora. Her novel Girl, Woman, Other made her the first black woman to win the Booker Prize in 2019, as well winning the Fiction Book of the Year Award at the British Book Awards in 2020, where she also won Author of the Year, and the Indie Book Award. She also became the first woman of colour and black British writer to reach No.1 in the UK paperback fiction chart in 2020. Her writing spans reviews, essays, drama and radio, and she has edited and guest-edited national publications, including The Sunday Time's Style magazine. Her other awards and honours include an MBE in 2009. Bernardine is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University, London, and President of the Royal Society of Literature. She lives in London with her husband. www.bevaristo.com

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