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So I have mildly conflicted feelings on Bernardine Evaristo's The Emperor's Babe.
On the one hand, I really enjoyed it! The book is a novel-in-verse, told by Zuleika, a Londinium girl and the daughter of Sudanese immigrants who is married off at an (extremely) young age to a wealthy Roman businessman. The voice is the strong point here; Zuleika is young, urban, and super-chic, and the author does a really good job of sliding in between historical fact and deliberate anachronism to get the feel across of a bustling and up-and-coming Londinium. It shouldn't work to have Zuleika tossing off references to her Armani togas, but it totally does because Evaristo is really smart about how and where she does it. The novel-in-verse thing works too because Zuleika is an aspiring poet, though it's never quite clear exactly how much talent she has (which, naturally, I love). And I appreciated that the most important relationship in the book, in the end, is between Zuleika and her best friend Alba as opposed to the Great Romance.
So why the conflicted feelings? Well, first of all, after seeing someone comment somewhere on the ridiculous number of books that are titled things like The _____'s Wife, I have a kneejerk reaction against the title despite the fact that otherwise I find it awesome! Also, for a book told by the female narrator and with several other strong female (or female-ish) characters, it really should not have been so hard for it to pass the Bechdel Test. (It does, eventually! It just . . . takes a while.)
However, it was definitely a fun read, and I think I want to try more books by this author!
IN OTHER NEWS: I am going to NY ComicCon on Saturday! \o/ (And possibly Sunday as well, we will see.) I am super excited! I mean, slightly unnerved, because, GIANT CON, but super excited also!
On the one hand, I really enjoyed it! The book is a novel-in-verse, told by Zuleika, a Londinium girl and the daughter of Sudanese immigrants who is married off at an (extremely) young age to a wealthy Roman businessman. The voice is the strong point here; Zuleika is young, urban, and super-chic, and the author does a really good job of sliding in between historical fact and deliberate anachronism to get the feel across of a bustling and up-and-coming Londinium. It shouldn't work to have Zuleika tossing off references to her Armani togas, but it totally does because Evaristo is really smart about how and where she does it. The novel-in-verse thing works too because Zuleika is an aspiring poet, though it's never quite clear exactly how much talent she has (which, naturally, I love). And I appreciated that the most important relationship in the book, in the end, is between Zuleika and her best friend Alba as opposed to the Great Romance.
So why the conflicted feelings? Well, first of all, after seeing someone comment somewhere on the ridiculous number of books that are titled things like The _____'s Wife, I have a kneejerk reaction against the title despite the fact that otherwise I find it awesome! Also, for a book told by the female narrator and with several other strong female (or female-ish) characters, it really should not have been so hard for it to pass the Bechdel Test. (It does, eventually! It just . . . takes a while.)
However, it was definitely a fun read, and I think I want to try more books by this author!
IN OTHER NEWS: I am going to NY ComicCon on Saturday! \o/ (And possibly Sunday as well, we will see.) I am super excited! I mean, slightly unnerved, because, GIANT CON, but super excited also!
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I've barely even started checking out booths and panels and such. Too many options!