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The Emperor's Babe, by Bernardine Evaristo
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Bernardine Evaristo’s tale of forbidden love in bustling third-century London is an intoxicating cocktail of poetry, history, and fiction. Feisty, precocious Zuleika, daughter of Sudanese immigrants-made-good and restless teenage bride of a rich Roman businessman, craves passion and excitement. When she begins an affair with the emperor, Septimius Severus, she knows her life will never be the same. Streetwise, seductive, and lyrical, with a lively, affecting heroine, The Emperor’s Babe is a strikingly imaginative historical novel-in-verse.
- Sales Rank: #1114824 in Books
- Published on: 2004-02-24
- Released on: 2004-02-24
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 7.70" h x .60" w x 5.10" l, .40 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 272 pages
From Publishers Weekly
Employing the same narrative verse style that served her so well in her debut, Lara, British writer Evaristo travels back in time to tell the story of Zuleika, a libidinous but frustrated Sudanese woman who comes of age in a Roman-conquered London in A.D. 211. Spotted at the age of 11 by rich Roman senator Lucius Aurelius Felix, "a man thrice my age and thrice my girth," she lands in the lap of luxury when a wedding quickly takes place. But Felix's lack of libido soon turns the marriage into a prison, and when he begins to travel, jazzy teenager Zuleika hits the social scene in the urban maze that is Londinium and receives some flattering attention from a visiting Roman emperor, Septimus Severus. The two begin a brief but torrid affair until Evaristo wraps up her thin plot by sending Severus off to war as Felix returns to find that the entire community knows about the affair. Plot problems aside, most of this is an excuse for Evaristo to stretch her poetic muscles as she creates a beautiful, passionate African-cum-Roman woman as seen through the imagination of a highly liberated and sexual 21st-century poet. Despite the occasional burst of purple verse, she succeeds admirably in bringing a difficult and treacherous conceit to fruition, liberally indulging in irreverent asides, vivid vernacular speech and clever puns. The generally high quality of the poetry overshadows the failure of the book to develop into a genuine, full-fledged novel. This is a vividly imagined albeit distinctly modern look at a woman's role in Roman times by a talented writer with a fertile mind and a playful spirit.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
This quasi-historical novel, written in free verse, offers an irreverent, fun, and amusingly anachronistic portrait of Roman London circa C.E. 210. It is Bridget Jones's Diary meets Austin Powers meets The Fall of the Roman Empire. In swinging "Londinium," the chic Romans often don Armani togas and Gucci duds for their bacchanalian soir‚es. At the age of 11, Zuleika our free-spirited narrator, the daughter of a nouveau-riche immigrant African merchant is married off to an older, mostly absent Roman businessman looking for a trophy wife. While her husband is away, Zuleika (also called Zuky-dot, Zee, Za Za, etc.) manages to fill up her otherwise mundane existence by cavorting with old friends (including a cross-dressing nightclub owner), assembling her personal posse, mourning her lost youth, scheming against disrespectful servants, reading and writing poetry, and eventually having an affair with the Libyan-born Emperor Septimus Severus when he visits Londinium. The scene in which Zuleika attends a gladiatorial battle is not to be missed. British-born Evaristo's second novel (after Lara) is consistently amusing, clever, and inventive and even makes an indirect comment on present-day multicultural London. Recommended for all public and academic libraries. Roger A. Berger, Everett Community Coll., WA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Review
"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
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Poetry that reads like prose
By Stephen Rimmer
I had to read this book for a seminar I was going to attend. Not being a great poetry reader I did not expect to enjoy it. I read the book in one session, and after the first few pages did not remember that I was reading poetry. It flows really easily, the language making it very easy to dive into the strange world of the author's Roman London. The modern slang and approach make the setting familiar in some ways, and then the very different customs of the period bring the reader up short. The scene set at the local "games" needs a strong stomach to read. Highly recommended.
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
It's alright
By Katie B
I had to read this book for a class--it was beautifully disturbing but worth the read. the only thing I had issues with is receiving this package-never got it.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
The Emperor's Babe: Magnificent Verse-Novel about Roman-era London
By Joe Kenney
I'm very happy I discovered this little-known book; I don't even remember how I first came across it. Regardless, it's one of the best "new" things I've read: a novel-in-verse from 2001 by Bernardine Evaristo about a young African woman in Roman London. This is a book filled with witty anachronisms, a deep heart, and lively poetry. Sadly Emperor's Babe appears to be out of print in the US, but used copies can be had for cheap. If you head over to Amazon's UK page you'll find the book is still in print on that side of the pond, and you'll also find two great reviews from Kirkus (great save for the comment by the Kirkus US reviewer, who loglines Emperor's Babe as "An episode of Sex and the City written by Ovid," apparently not realizing that Ovid wrote Amores and Art of Love, both of which ARE "Sex and the City written by Ovid").
Evaristo is a good poet, and her verses can easily be read as prose for those who are not poetically inclined. She keeps the narrative moving even though there isn't a whole lot of story. In a nutshell, we open in 204 CE with 11 year-old Zuleika, who's grown up on the streets of Londinium. As an African she stands out in a crowd; Zuleika's parents are immigrants from Sudan, and have come here to reap the benefits of a blossoming economy. Mostly ignored by them, Zuleika hops around town with her same-aged galpal Alba and her older friend Venus, a transvestite who runs Mt. Venus, a club which caters to fellow trannys.
One day Zuleika's spotted by Felix, an uber-wealthy Roman who has a villa in London (as well as several others around the Empire). After an arranged marriage which Zuleika's none to fond of, she withers away for a few years, a kept woman, sequestered in Felix's villa while the man himself is out gallivanting about the provinces. The story picks up a few years later, in 211. Zuleika, now 18, is close to the boiling point, frustrated with her boring life, missing her youthful exploits with Alba and Venus. Then one day at a theater performance she's spotted again, this time by visiting emperor Septimus Severus, who throws ga-ga eyes her way. Soon they are engaged in a torrid affair.
What makes the book so special is the anachronistic verve with which Evaristo writes. The gulf of time disappears between Zuleika's era and ours when we read that she's sent flowers from "Wild @ Heart, a trendy flower boutique," when Zuleika and pals watch a proto-punk band (complete with lead singer "Mad Marcia") perform at Mt. Venus, when we meet an African poet named "Manumittio X" who writes revolutionary verse which always begins with "Take these chains from my heart" and ends with "I just wanna be free." Not only this, but playful references to Armani and current pop culture and current British slang pepper the book, and rather than coming off as annoying it instead puts a big smile on the reader's face.
The characters are all fully realized, especially Zuleika - though this should be expected, as she narrates, her voice carrying the story. Septimus Severus comes off like the harsh-speaking ruffian he most likely was, though the book (and its back cover blurbs) misleads by referring to him constantly as "The African Emperor." This leads an uninformed reader into believing Severus was black, when in fact he was as caucasian as Caligula, despite his African birth. (Please note I state this only for historical clarity.) Alba is a tomcat who bickers with Zuleika endlessly, and Venus is a mentor with a heart of gold and a cache of one-liners. Even Felix comes off as likeable, despite that Zuleika says he's "thrice my age and thrice my girth," despite that he sequesters our heroine into a boring world, and despite that he engenders the tragic ending which casts a pall on what is otherwise a candy-colored romp through Roman London.
So then, a poem-novel to be enjoyed by a wealth of readers, from Classics buffs to chicklit fans to those who look for anything out of the norm. The narrative moves at a brisk pace, the anachronisms delight, and the characters stay with you. Decades ago Fellini boasted that his film "Satyricon" was a science fiction movie, only taking place in the past rather than outer space; Bernardine Evaristo can lay a greater claim to having accomplished this: her story takes place in a world utterly alien yet somehow familiar. Seek out, read, and read again.
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