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Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia
Young, rich, and beautiful, Contessa Olivia di Castellamare has just announced that she will not marry for the next seven years. Why then, does she fall in love with the first boy she meets? Does she know that the boy she loves is really a girl?
“ The L Word meets Shakespeare”
Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia retells the story of Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night from the perspective of the three young women that the play leaves Viola, the girl passing as a boy, Countess Olivia, and Olivia's faithful lady of the bed-chamber Maria. Now from the recently-discovered manuscripts of an English aristocrat comes this story of Sapphic love and feminine courage too graphic to publish until today.
Lovingly compiled and restored by feminist scholar Dr. Hannah Miyamoto from the recently-discovered manuscripts of an English aristocrat, Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia is the first in a remarkable story by Lady Vanessa--a contemporary of Virginia Woolf, Radclyffe Hall, and Vita Sackville-West--about women that love women, men that love men, and even an intersexed man that looks like a woman, living together 500 years ago in an Italy wracked by treachery, murder, and war.
Transferring Shakespeare’s mythical Illyria to a real kingdom during the Italian Wars (1494-1559), Lady Vanessa conveys the fears, anger, lusts and loves of Countess Olivia, as she wields her kiss and her sword with equal ability. Reading Vanessa’s brisk narrative, Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia will leave you too “What would You do for Love?”
CONTENT Brief Sexually Explicit Descriptions.
“ The L Word meets Shakespeare”
Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia retells the story of Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night from the perspective of the three young women that the play leaves Viola, the girl passing as a boy, Countess Olivia, and Olivia's faithful lady of the bed-chamber Maria. Now from the recently-discovered manuscripts of an English aristocrat comes this story of Sapphic love and feminine courage too graphic to publish until today.
Lovingly compiled and restored by feminist scholar Dr. Hannah Miyamoto from the recently-discovered manuscripts of an English aristocrat, Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia is the first in a remarkable story by Lady Vanessa--a contemporary of Virginia Woolf, Radclyffe Hall, and Vita Sackville-West--about women that love women, men that love men, and even an intersexed man that looks like a woman, living together 500 years ago in an Italy wracked by treachery, murder, and war.
Transferring Shakespeare’s mythical Illyria to a real kingdom during the Italian Wars (1494-1559), Lady Vanessa conveys the fears, anger, lusts and loves of Countess Olivia, as she wields her kiss and her sword with equal ability. Reading Vanessa’s brisk narrative, Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia will leave you too “What would You do for Love?”
CONTENT Brief Sexually Explicit Descriptions.
111 pages, Paperback
Published April 13, 2023
7 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 19, 2023
"Twelve Nights With Viola & Olivia," was an unexpected journey for me. I'm not typically the target audience for books heavy on Shakespearean flair or explicit sapphic themes, but there were parts of this book that really stood out to me.
What really grabbed my attention wasn't the main storyline, but the reader's guide in the foreword. It's a dive into the social hierarchy and linguistic intricacies of Shakespeare's era. The way personal pronouns were used to convey respect and status was particularly intriguing. The guide even includes a detailed table of social ranks, which adds a layer of depth to understanding the story's context. It's a bit of a brain teaser at times, especially with the nuanced meanings of pronouns in different social interactions.
The structure of the novel is like each chapter playing out a scene from a play. I found it helpful to take a moment after each chapter to reflect on what had happened, which really helped me connect with the characters and their arcs, particularly that the plot plays heavily with mistaken identities.
There are some gay male characters in the mix, but they tend to stay in the background. I'm curious to see if they'll be more fleshed out in the sequel, though it seems the focus will remain on Viola and Olivia, as suggested by the title. The straight characters are implied rather than explicitly mentioned, blending into the broader tapestry of lower social ranks.
One scene that really stands out is with Maria, the chambermaid. The author's attention to detail here is something else – it's quite a vivid and immersive description and will most likely titillate some groups of readers moreso than than others.
Overall, "Twelve Nights With Viola & Olivia" might resonate more with readers who are into Shakespearean language and lesbian narratives. However, the exploration of historical linguistics adds an interesting dimension that could appeal to a wider audience. Worth a read if you're looking for something different!
April 16, 2023
Whether you know the play "Twelfth Night" or not, you will love the amazing new Sapphic novel of "Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia," the first installment in a literary fiction series based on Shakespeare's classic play "Twelfth Night." Being largely written in Shakespeare-style prose and verse, "Twelve Nights" deserves the maximum rating solely for its uniqueness and literary value.
The story of Twelfth Night, in which a beautiful Countess falls in love with a boy who is really a girl in disguise, has troubles opponents of homoeroticism since at least Dr. Johnson in the 18th century. English aristocrat Lady Vanessa takes the story all the way, starting with an explicit sex scene between Countess Olivia and her bed-chambermaid Maria, that establishes that Olivia is so attracted to girls, but also afraid of being executed for her lesbianism, that of course she falls in love with a boy that looks like a girl.
Another unique element of "Twelve Nights" is the replacement of Olivia's steward Malvolio -- often the starring role in theatrical productions -- with a young intersexed man who works as Olivia's messenger. The scene where Adriano, the man that looks like a girl, meets Viola, a girl dressed as a boy, sets up an important relationship between the two, because Adriano thinks that Viola is a feminine young man like him. The friendly relationship between Adriano and his employer Olivia also helps explain why she thinks Viola is a boy, and not a girl, and thus the answer to her desire for a husband that is as feminine as a woman.
No longer than "Twelfth Night" the play, "Twelve Nights" is a quick read that you will not forget. I can't wait for the next installment in this series, "If I Should Tell my History", to see how Lady Vanessa wrote her extended sequel to Shakespeare's story in "Twelfth Night."
The story of Twelfth Night, in which a beautiful Countess falls in love with a boy who is really a girl in disguise, has troubles opponents of homoeroticism since at least Dr. Johnson in the 18th century. English aristocrat Lady Vanessa takes the story all the way, starting with an explicit sex scene between Countess Olivia and her bed-chambermaid Maria, that establishes that Olivia is so attracted to girls, but also afraid of being executed for her lesbianism, that of course she falls in love with a boy that looks like a girl.
Another unique element of "Twelve Nights" is the replacement of Olivia's steward Malvolio -- often the starring role in theatrical productions -- with a young intersexed man who works as Olivia's messenger. The scene where Adriano, the man that looks like a girl, meets Viola, a girl dressed as a boy, sets up an important relationship between the two, because Adriano thinks that Viola is a feminine young man like him. The friendly relationship between Adriano and his employer Olivia also helps explain why she thinks Viola is a boy, and not a girl, and thus the answer to her desire for a husband that is as feminine as a woman.
No longer than "Twelfth Night" the play, "Twelve Nights" is a quick read that you will not forget. I can't wait for the next installment in this series, "If I Should Tell my History", to see how Lady Vanessa wrote her extended sequel to Shakespeare's story in "Twelfth Night."
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews