The Dark Lady's Mask

by Mary Sharratt

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.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Shakespeare, Romance, British Literature, Historical, Italy

416 pages, ebook

First published April 19, 2016

About the author

Mary Sharratt is an American writer who lives with her Belgian husband in the Pendle region of Lancashire, England, the setting for her acclaimed 2010 novel, DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL, which recasts the Pendle Witches of 1612 in their historical context as cunning folk and healers.

Previously she lived for twelve years in Germany. This, along with her interest in sacred music and herbal medicine, inspired her to write her most recent novel, ILLUMINATIONS: A NOVEL OF HILDEGARD VON BINGEN, which explores the dramatic life of the 12th century Benedictine abbess, composer, polymath, and powerfrau.

Winner of the 2005 WILLA Literary Award and a Minnesota Book Award Finalist, Mary has also written the acclaimed novels SUMMIT AVENUE (Coffee House 2000), THE REAL MINERVA (Houghton Mifflin 2004), THE VANISHING POINT (Houghton Mifflin 2006), and co-edited the subversive fiction anthology BITCH LIT (Crocus Books 2006), which celebrates female anti-heroes--strong women who break all the rules. Her short fiction has been published in TWIN CITIES NOIR (Akashic Books 2006).

Mary writes regular articles for Historical Novels Review and Solander on the theme of writing women back into history. When she isn't writing, she's usually riding her spirited Welsh mare through the Lancashire countryside.

Reviews

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story of two talented poets, Aemilia Bassano Lanier and William Shakespeare. Set at the end of the 16th century.

A 7 year old Aemilia grows up listening to her father stories of his native country Italy. It sounds so enchanting to Aemilia, setting her on a dream to visit those lands. She receives “the identical grammar-school education that a boy would receive between the ages of 7 and 14…” She has passion for poetry and her first exposure of her talent is at the court of Elizabeth I.

As a young woman, when she meets Shakespeare, she hatches a plan of becoming collaborators. So she could write under his name and him becoming her mask. Her last relative in Italy is on a deathbed. She travels to Italy to claim the inheritance. She asks Shakespeare to join her.

On a boat heading for Venice, they collaborate on their first playwright. At the Venetian theater, she discovers not only playwright written by women, but also female actresses, which was unheard off in England. From Venice, they head towards the mountains and the villa of her relative outside Verona. There they write the famous tragedy Romeo and Juliet.

Soon after, tragedy strikes and sets them on separate paths. Back in London, their plays become huge success. Her Italian experience gives her courage to write under her name in London, which “earned her place in history (…) by becoming the first Englishwoman to aspire to earn her living as a professional, published poet…”

The story is brilliantly written including endearing relationship between father and daughter, glimpse of Jewish struggles of oppression, and great first encounter of Aemilia with Shakespeare.

This is the third book I’ve read by this author and I'm very impressed with this author's writing.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I greet a new Mary Sharratt novel like I would someone who brought me 5 lbs of See’s Candy and the news that I was no longer a diabetic. In this novel, Sharratt takes on the story of Aemilia Bassano Lanier, the woman who may have been Shakespeare’s Dark Lady; the story is definitely up to the author’s usual standard.

Lanier was the first Englishwoman to be a professional, paid, poet. This, and running a short lived school for girls, was how she made her living. The cost of publishing her writing was paid by female patrons. This secured her place in history, whether or not she was Shakespeare’s muse or lover. Sharratt takes Lanier from girlhood to midlife. Her life was not easy; she frequently faced poverty. The laws of the day left women totally at the mercy of the men in their lives, and, of course, everyone was at the mercy of disease.

Aemilia was luckier than most; after her father’s death, she was fostered with a rich woman who felt all girls should be well educated. That didn’t save her from becoming mistress to the Queen’s half-brother, or from an arranged marriage to a man who drank too much and lost money constantly, though, or from having her affair with Shakespeare end in an ugly way. She is a very strong woman, though, who tries to keep the reins of her life in her own hands and succeeds as much as any woman of the time could have. In her young days, she frequently dressed in male clothing, hiding her sex to gain the freedom to go where she wanted and do as she wished. As the daughter of a hidden Jew, she also had to hide her very dangerous heritage.

I thought this book was wonderful, even though it left me feeling that Shakespeare may have been a bit of a jerk. She gives life to Aemelia in her good times and her bad. Sadly, the other characters are not nearly so well fleshed out; the focus is all on Aemilia. But the people in the story, many of them historic personages, are still enjoyable. My favorites? The three Weir sisters who work for Aemilia- who are herbalists, and perhaps more.

[Wanda Pedersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a serviceable little historical fantasy. If you are into all things Shakespeare or Aemilia Lanier, this book will be better for you than for others with no interest in either writer. The author takes quite a lot of historical points and then, like one of those children’s connect-the-dots pictures, creates an imaginative narrative that paints a picture that we may not have expected.

The writing is solid, the connections are original, plenty of famous names appear in the pages, but I didn’t find it to be un-put-down-able, if you know what I mean. I appreciated the girl power messages throughout, as Amelia struggles to become mistress of her own life and forges important friendships that help her (and her friends) in this regard. And it’s true that many a talented woman has had to use the men in her life to get her work out into the world. Aemilia “just happens” to run into or be related to an extraordinary number of co-operative men in this regard. Will Shakespeare turns from charmer to jerk (an entirely possible scenario, but one that I really didn’t care for).

Two things annoyed me—occasionally, a character would start a sentence with “marry” as a signal I guess of the time period. However, the rest of the time, they spoke like 20th or 21st century people. Easier to read, yes, but then let’s dispense with the odd “marry” and stay in one vocabulary or the other. Plus, there is one scene where a horse is described as “pulling a face” when mounted by a corpulent rider. Horses can roll their eyes, snort, grunt, sigh, many reactions—but I don’t think that “pulling a face” is one of them. The author is a horsewoman and should know better (or her editor should).

A good book and I’d be open to reading more of this author once I’ve made a bigger dent in my TBR list.

[♥ Marlene♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

First book of this excellent author I am not enjoying. Perhaps it is because I hardly know a thing about Shakespeare and I am not very interested in him or perhaps because I do not care for the main character. I do not know why but I have read 42% and still not liking it. I just do not care for her I guess.

Update. Tried another time but just not my cup of tea but I am definitely going to read the next book by this author.

[Davida Chazan · Rating 2 out of 5]

With all due respect for Sharratt's really nicely written prose, I was unable to finish reading this book. To find out why, please visit my blog post here. https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2021/05/1...

[A. J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well well well what a book. :P To say the least I hated it. But here's the longer version. So the book starts off pretty good. We have an interesting main character Aemilia, a young half Jew married to man she hates because she got pregnant out of wedlock. Now if that's not an interesting premise I don't know what is. But as the book goes on Aemilia gets less and less likable. She's annoying character and I never connected with her.

The plot is okay, we follow Aemilia around England to Italy and back again. I honestly like stories that tell about the entire life of a person, so that I didn't have a problem with. The prose too was good, descriptive and I had no problem imagining everything in my head. My biggest issue with the book was William Shakespeare himself. Not only was he an asshole pretty much the entire book but he was also a whiner, selfish and completely devoid of feeling. He was self-centered and spent so much time feeling bad about himself that I just honestly hated him. I hated his and Aemilia's relationship, I felt like they were both using each other. I hated it that they wrote plays together. Now I know that people speculate that Shakespeare collaborated with people on some of his plays. I have no problem with that. But that's not what happens in this book. In the book it made it seem like Aemilia does most or all of the writing, and coming up with ideas and backing them with passion. Shakespeare just seems like he's along for the ride. Then when he selfishly decides to leave pregnant Aemilia, she takes the plays as blackmail and tries to get them on the stage.

What even? Ugh, ugh. I wanted this to be a romantic book, an interesting story of the meeting of two brilliant minds that shared a love of each other and of the written word. I wanted it to break my heart with its bittersweetness.
The only thing that I wanted to happen that did, was this book did truly show how terrible life was for women back then. If you got married to a terrible abusive man too bad, you have to stay with him. Have a child out of wedlock, it's not the guys fault it's your for having sex in the first place! So that I guess was a good thing. This book takes you through the life of woman who had it bad from the start but tried to make things better, and well there were times where she was happy but then selfish men screwed her over again.

So to sum up...it was a trainwreck of a book. It got out of the station all right and then just went downhill from there. I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and I gave it 2 stars on Goodreads..

[Lauren Conrad · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was ridiculous amounts of melodrama at the end of this book. At a certain point, I stopped caring because no woman in this book could be happy. I stopped hoping for it. I get that you want to make a point that women had it hard. They did. But do you need so much melodrama to prove it?

The part where she got onto the boat and just left for Italy just like that in the 1500s seemed absurd. And while I’m not offended by the way she made William a jerk, I was kind of like, what’s the point? His jerkiness seemed like more ridiculous melodrama.

I do admire the writer for her courage to write historical FICTION. I much prefer historical novels about fictional characters or real people so unknown that the writer can make stuff up. Fictionalized biographies of people we know a lot about are enjoyable, but sometimes I just don't see the point of them. Shouldn't writers create their own plots and characters? But the melodrama killed it for me.

[Karen Laird · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE DARK LADY'S MASK
By
Mary Sharratt

SYNOPSIS:
THE DARK LADY’S MASK is the story of Aemilia Bassano Lanier (1569–1645), the first professional woman poet in Renaissance England, and her collaboration—and star-crossed love affair—with William Shakespeare, as his Dark Lady.
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 and begin to 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 he 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.

REVIEW:
I love reading the historical novels written by Mary Sharratt. The depth of research and care she takes to develop her real life characters, to fill in the gaps and blanks that history has not recorded. The line between hard fact and supposition becomes shades of gray as her stories grow and weave their way across time and through the pages. Even the most jaded of historical scholars I have met, who have had the opportunity to read a novel or two written by Mary, glow in praise about the stories she builds and the total believability of her tales.
With this said, I come to this, Mary’s latest work, The Dark Lady's Mask. As I was preparing to write the review for this interesting viewpoint on Shakespeare’s Muse, I chanced to have dinner with my parents. While we were visiting my dad, an amateur genealogist who has spent the last thirty-six years researching our family tree, told me he had discovered the newest link in our family tree. He had traced us to the court of Henry VIII of England. He told me that the ancestor was Edward Bessano, an Italian musician who served in the court, along with his brothers and their families. I took a deep breath and set back, for I had just finished The Dark Lady's Mask. What a coincidence. That evening and the following days since, this book has floated through my mind. Knowing what I know now, I want and need to reread the pages again.
I know the story is based on supposition. I know that research has said that there were rumors and possibilities that Amelia Bassano Lanier could have been the dark lady. But was she? Taking the facts that I now have laying before me and meshing them with the story that Mary wove about Amelia Bassano Lanier and William Shakespeare, I find the connection totally plausible. Her telling of Amelia’s story and life is wonderful.
Once again Mary took a woman of note, who opened a door for generations to come, and allowed us to have a glimpse into her life. Granted the hard facts on this gentle lady are few are far between, but Mary has a gift to take the pieces of a puzzle and lay them out, then masterfully paint in the missing areas. Her work is so brilliantly accomplished, that we are left wondering where fact and supposition meet.
Her interweaving of masterful character developments from a different viewpoint of the accepted norm for public historical figures such as William Shakespeare created cause for some raised eyebrows as the pages turned. With fingers going to the keyboard looking for new information on the famed master of English literature. I found even Snopes speaking out on the matter of Shakespeare’s Dark Lady. That was interesting.
The story itself was a well-told story. It was one that held the attention and I found myself, once again, losing sleep because I couldn’t find a place to put the book down. This was not because the plot was heart racing, but because the intrigue was different. This was a story about women seeking to find a voice in a world dominated by men. It was a place where they had no voice in where they lived or who they married. Amelia was brilliant. She had a brilliant mind. But she could not follow her heart and write or publish her work that she wrote. She was accomplished in music, writing, languages, math, and seemed to be able to learn most anything she attempted. But she was allotted to the world and role of “woman” and the woman’s role.
The idea that she utilized her creative genius to be able to get her work out there, even if it meant collaborating with a “second rate” playwright, was worth what it took to have her plays on the boards. It was pure genius on Mary’s part on how she took the facts of what was happening during the time, historically, the facts that were available about Amelia’s life, and the suppositions that have been put out about the Dark Lady and weave them into such a glorious, believable story. It is so believable, that I wonder how much is possible? Maybe not the places, necessarily, but what happened, possibly. It is all definitely meat on the bone to chew on. It makes me look at Shakespeare with new eyes and wonder.
It makes me proud to have had such a wonderful and accomplished woman in my family tree. Thank you, Mary, for writing about her and making her such a highlight in my life. If you hadn’t written about Amelia Bassano Lanier, then when I dad told me about Elizabeth Bassano (Lupo) Chandler, born to Edward Bassano (a musician in King Henry’s court) and Alice Austen (born 1596 East Greenwich, Kent, England); it would have just been another family tree fact. No big deal. You made it different. You made it real. Elizabeth Bassano Lupo migrated to Elizabeth City, Virginia Colony to accept a land grant from King Henry around 1619 from King Henry along with her husband Albiano Lupo. He died and she later married John Chandler (first Jamestown, Virginia Colony) in 1626.
I give this wonderful novel a full five stars for the in-depth creativity of spirit and writing, and the masterful spin Mary Sharratt used to take the given and provide us with a most believable story of two master literary giants from our past.

QUESTIONS WITH MARY
Who was Aemilia Bassano Lanier?
Born in 1569, Aemilia Bassano Lanier (also spelled Lanyer) was the highly cultured daughter of an Italian court musician—a man thought to have been a Marrano, a secret Jew living under the guise of a Christian convert.
After her father’s death, the young Aemilia Bassano was educated by high-minded Puritans. Later she became the mistress of Henry Carey, Lord Chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth. As Carey’s paramour, she enjoyed a few years of glory in the royal court—an idyll that came to an abrupt and inglorious end when she found herself pregnant with Carey’s child. She was then shunted off into an unhappy arranged marriage with Alfonso Lanier, a court musician and scheming adventurer who wasted her money. So began her long decline into obscurity and genteel poverty, yet she triumphed to become a ground-breaking woman of letters.
Lanier was the first English woman to aspire to a career as a professional poet by actively seeking a circle of eminent female patrons to support her. She praises these women in the dedicatory verses to her epic poem, Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum, a vindication of the rights of women couched in religious verse and published in 1611. Her elegiac poem “The Description of Cookham” might be the first country house poem in the English language. Committed to women’s advancement and education, she served as tutor to the young Lady Anne Clifford, and she went on to found her own school for girls in 1617, a very progressive innovation in an era when girls were barred from most formal education.

What inspired you to write about this imagined star-crossed love affair between Lanier and Shakespeare?
My intention was to write a novel that married the playful comedy of Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard’s Shakespeare in Love to the unflinching feminism of Virginia Woolf’s meditations on Shakespeare’s sister in her essay A Room of One’s Own. How many more obstacles would an educated and gifted Renaissance woman poet face compared with her ambitious male counterpart?
In The Dark Lady’s Mask, I explore what happens when a struggling young Shakespeare meets a struggling young woman poet of equal genius and passion. If Lanier and Shakespeare were, in fact, lovers, would this explain how Shakespeare made the leap from his history plays to his Italian comedies and romances—the turning point of his career? Lanier, after all, was an Anglo-Italian trapped in a miserable arranged marriage. The names Aemilia, Emilia, Emelia, and Bassanio all appear in Shakespeare’s plays. His Italian comedies are set in Veneto, Lanier’s ancestral homeland. What if Shakespeare’s early comedies were the fruit of an active collaboration between him and Lanier?
These two poets had such radically different character arcs. We all know about Shakespeare’s rise to the glory that would enshrine him as a cultural icon. But there was no meteoric rise for Lanier. Though she eventually triumphed to become a published poet, she died in obscurity and has only recently been rediscovered by scholars.
I find it fascinating how the strong, outspoken women of Shakespeare’s early Italian comedies, such as the crossdressing Rosalind in As You Like It and the spirited Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, gave way to much weaker heroines and misogynistic portraits of women in Shakespeare’s great tragedies, such as frail, mad Ophelia in Hamlet. This change in tack leads me to wonder if the historical Shakespeare actually did have a bittersweet affair with a mysterious, unknown woman that cast a shadow over his later life and work.
In this novel I wanted to redress the balance by writing Renaissance women poets and playwrights back into history. In addition to Lanier, the novel reveals the work of her contemporary poet-dramatists Mary Sidney and Isabella Andreini.

Enough about Shakespeare. Tell us about the relevance of Lanier’s poetry. Given her possible Jewish ancestry, why did she write Christian religious verse?
As an Englishwoman aspiring to make her career as a poet, Lanier effectively had only one option—to write devotional Protestant verse. Her literary predecessors, Anne Locke and Mary Sidney, wrote poetic meditations on the Psalms.
But Lanier’s religious poetry is a radical tour de force. Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (Hail God, King of the Jews) describes the passion of Christ from the viewpoint of the women in the Gospels. Lanier recasts this grand narrative into a vindication of the rights of women—and of Lanier as a woman poet. In comparing the sufferings of women in male-dominated culture to the sufferings of Christ, she upholds virtuous women, such as her great patron Margaret Clifford, as Christ’s true imitators.
Most significantly, Salve Deus is dedicated and addressed exclusively to women, and is prefaced by nine praise poems dedicated to the royal and aristocratic women whose patronage Lanier sought. She also included a dedication in praise of all virtuous women.
Having established her female audience, Lanier attacks the theological roots of male domination, namely the blame attached to Eve—and by extension all women—for humanity’s fall from grace. In “Eve’s Apology in Defence of Women,” Lanier argues that the original sin was actually Adam’s for accepting the forbidden fruit. For he, unlike Eve, was fully aware of the consequences. Out of selfishness and desire for power, Adam let Eve take the fall.
If Eve did err, it was for knowledge sake,
The fruit being fair persuaded him to fall:
No subtle serpent’s falsehood did betray him,
If he would eat it, who had the power to stay him?
Not Eve, whose fault was only too much love.
Lanier contends that male culpability in crucifying Christ far exceeds Eve’s tragic misunderstanding. Therefore there is no moral or divine cause to justify women’s subjugation. Here Lanier explicitly champions gender equality:
Let us have our Liberty again,
And challenge to yourselves no Sovereignty,
You came not into the world without our pain,
Make that a bar against your cruelty;
Your fault being greater, why should you disdain
Our being your equals, free from tyranny?
If one weak woman simply did offend,
This sin of yours hath no excuse, nor end.
Lanier’s poetry lays claim to women’s God-given call to rise up against male arrogance, just as the strong women of the Old Testament rose up against their oppressors. While wooing her highborn female patrons, Lanier uses the scriptures to assert a sense of social egalitarianism that foreshadows the Levellers and the Quaker religious movement that emerged a few decades after her poetry’s publication. “God makes both even, the cottage with the throne,” Lanier writes in her dedicatory poem to Lady Anne Clifford, her former pupil.
Lanier’s book ends with “A Description of Cookham,” an elegiac ode to the country house where she lived for a time with Margaret and Anne Clifford, that blessed refuge where Lanier received both her spiritual epiphany and the confirmation of her vocation as a poet.
Farewell (sweet Cookham) where I first obtained
Grace from the Grace where perfect Grace remained,
And where the Muses gave their full consent,
I should have the power the virtuous to content.
Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum is a corpus of poetry celebrating female and divine goodness, penned by a poet who found her own sense of salvation in a community of women who supported her and believed in her talent.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mary Sharratt’s explorations into the hidden histories of Renaissance women compelled her to write her most recent work, THE DARK LADY’S MASK (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2016), based on the dramatic life of the ground-breaking poet, Aemilia Bassano Lanier.
Born in Minnesota, Mary now lives with her Belgian husband in the Pendle region of Lancashire, England, the setting for her acclaimed novel, DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL, which recasts the Pendle Witches of 1612 in their historical context as cunning folk and healers.
Previously she lived for twelve years in Germany. This, along with her interest in sacred music and herbal medicine, inspired her to write her award-winning ILLUMINATIONS: A NOVEL OF HILDEGARD VON BINGEN, which explores the dramatic life of the 12th century Benedictine abbess, composer, polymath, and powerfrau.
Winner of the 2013 Nautilus Gold Award, the 2005 WILLA Literary Award, and a Minnesota Book Award Finalist, Mary has also written the novels SUMMIT AVENUE, THE REAL MINERVA, THE VANISHING POINT, and co-edited the subversive fiction anthology BITCH LIT, which celebrates female anti-heroes–strong women who break all the rules. Her short fiction has been published in Twin Cities Noir and elsewhere.
She is currently at work on ECSTASY: A NOVEL OF ALMA MAHLER, exploring the life of one of the most intriguing women of turn-of-the-century Vienna.
Mary’s articles and essays have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, Publisher’s Weekly, Minnesota Magazine, and Historical Novels Review. When she isn’t writing, she’s usually riding her spirited Welsh mare through the Lancashire countryside.

[Daniella Bernett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fluid, elegant prose woven into the captivating and moving story of Amelia Bassano Lanier. Mary Sharrat draws a vibrant portrait of women during the Renaissance, who were restrained by their sex and yearned for more from life. Their struggles mirror many of the same issues women face today. "The Dark Lady's Mask" is as much about Amelia's doomed love affairs as it is a celebration of language and poetry, and the perseverance of the human spirit to never give up on one's dreams. A delightful read from beginning to end.

[Julianne Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, Mary Sharratt captivates readers with a compelling tale of an extraordinary woman carving a place for herself in a man's world. THE DARK LADY'S MASK fictionalizes the life of Aemilia Bassano Lanier, the first Englishwoman to claim the title of professional poet. Lanier was also, according to many scholars, the "Dark Lady" of Shakespeare's sonnets. Sharratt's Aemilia is, however, no mute object of the male poet's desire, but a full-fledged collaborator in the writing of his comedies. In fact, it is Aemilia's education, talent, and connections that secure Shakespeare the break that leads him to fame and literary immortality, even as he serves as her "mask," the cover conventions of the time require her to adopt in order to shepherd her work to stage without scandal.

Masks are a constant theme in this novel of self-discovery. Aemilia's relationship with Shakespeare, important as it is, occupies only half the book's pages. The novel's early sections dramatize Aemilia's childhood, the revelation of her Jewish roots, her humanist education, and her years at court as mistress to one of England's most powerful noblemen. Once she meets Shakespeare and begins writing in earnest, Aemilia realizes that she has only ever been "a mask with nothing behind it. An empty shell. A player in a tragicomedy uttering lines written by someone else." Her creative collaboration with Shakespeare moves her ever closer to her core, but inconvenient facts about her personal situation, her family background, and her gender still require disguise. It is only in the last quarter of the book, after her relationship with Shakespeare ends and she takes refuge in the company of learned women, that Aemelia discards her masks and reveals to the world her true self.

That self is, despite years of cross-dressing in search of freedom, wholly and unapologetically female. The theme of sisterhood, a favorite of Sharratt's, finds full expression in this novel. No matter their station, the female characters all suffer at the hands of men, and only by banding together in friendship do they overcome their oppression. It is through the affection and support of like-minded women that Aemilia achieves her dream of publication, and she uses that dream to advance women's cause. Spurred by the advice she received as a child from the humanist Anne Locke--"Remember this, my dear, you must cherish your own sex"--and by the experience of deep female friendships, Aemilia pens a poetic apology in defense of women, a proto-feminist religious poem that establishes her place in the cannon of English letters.

Drawing on her meticulous research, keen psychological insight, and deep familiarity with Shakespearean drama, Sharratt crafts an immensely readable and deeply satisfying portrait of an early modern woman who challenged boundaries and expanded the spectrum of acceptable female roles. Ironically, in Sharratt's hands Shakespeare continues to serve as Aemilia's mask--the Shakespearean angle of the story not only broadens the novel's appeal but provides some of its cleverest and most moving pages. Yet Sharratt never makes Aemilia's success dependent on her involvement with the Bard; Aemilia succeeds in spite of it. In its imaginative and emotionally convincing interweaving of the two poets' lives, THE DARK LADY'S MASK serves as an exquisite tribute to Aemilia Bassano Lanier and her courageous contribution to the world of letters.

[Elise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amelia Bassano Lanier was an exceptional woman of Elizabethan times. Her father was an Italian musician in Elizabeth's court, who arranged in his will for her to be educated. She could read and write not only English but Latin, Greek, Italian and French, as well as being an accomplished musician.
At the age of 16 she became the mistress of the Lord Chamberlain (45 years her senior) for six years until she became pregnant and was married off to her cousin. But that is just the beginning of the tale...

A few scholars have proposed that she is the Dark Lady of Shakespeare's sonnets, and Ms Sharratt uses that for the core of her tale. Amelia meets Will when he is a penniless actor/poet and encourages him to travel to Italy with her, since she needs a male to accompany them. He becomes entranced with her and Italy and together they write several comedies in the Italian style, all with strong vibrant women at the center (Rosalind, Beatrice, Kate, and even poor Juliet).
The idyll ends, and both return to England, estranged from each other. But in later years, Amelia published a book of poems, dedicated to learned women of the court, an unprecedented achievement.

The novel is at its most sparkling when Amelia and Will are together, a la Shakespeare in Love. In fact, I hadn't really noticed that once he began writing tragedies (after the purported failure of their relationship) that the women characters became much darker: faithless Gertrude, manipulative Lady MacBeth, poor doomed Desdemona and the grasping daughters of Lear. That may be the strongest argument in my mind for the idea that his feelings about women in general had shifted.

This was an interesting story about an interesting woman.

[Samreen Ahsan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a literary delight. I thoroughly enjoyed the world of Shakespeare's world from his Muse's point of view. London, 1593. Aemilia Bassano Lanier is beautiful and accomplished, but her societal conformity ends there. Once, being mistress of Lord Chamberlain, she is banished from Court after carrying his bastard child and forced to marry a man she doesn't love.
Secretly, 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. Amanda, clad in breeches and doublet feels empowered and meets the poet to offer him to write plays in collaboration.
When London breaks into the plague, Amanda offers Shakespeare to join her on a journey to Verona, where she is supposed to meet her bedridden uncle. During their journey, they write comedies in Venice, watch plays together, and realize their hidden feelings for each other.
A beautifully written fiction, with sonnets and poems, this literary delight takes you back to the early seventeenth century with its English charms, portraying romance, betrayals and vengeance.

[Alayna Morales · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Sharratt, why am I crying?!?! This book was a true tragedy. An old time in England when women were victims to circumstance and lack of opinion in the kingdom. Amelia was a woman determined to never be like her sister who was taken from the world too soon due to the wrongdoings of a man. Amelia wanted to make her mark in this world with her words and music. She was in the hands of Lord Hunsdon (a man whom I can't decipher who gave her love and protection while keeping her as his young mistress or if he was grooming her), tossed away to Mr. Lanier (a fumbling man who perpetually had many star crossed ideas that never came to his fruition) once she was with a bastard child of Lord Hunsdon, and then as time sometimes places the ill fated heartbreak of true lovers, William Shakespeare.
Oh how I wish Master Shakespeare did not treat her so. She wanted to be loved (truly loved), and not just held because of her allowance to her husband from Lord Hunsdon, but because of her and her mind. So the sad departure of their seemingly quick love affair truly made me sad. Then even more sad when their daughter passed.
Her life's journey upon coming back from Italy was full of tragedy and also triumph. God bless her friendship with Margaret. Margaret truly recognized her for her talent as a poet and cherished her in so many ways. I will always hold that glimpse into their friendship in my soul.
I do know that this was a work of historical fiction with liberties taken on dates and places, but it was such a powerful book that gave you glimpses into the life of women trapped in England's societal standards of women and the roles they play.
Ye be warned that not all stories of life are comedies or romance...they are sometimes tragedy.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this! I’m an English major/Shakespeare geek/women’s lit lover and this book hit all my buttons. Reminded me of Phillipa Gregory’s novels - fun, historical fiction. Really glad I finally read it.

[Erin Al-Mehairi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Dark Lady's Mask: A Novel of Shakespeare's Muse, by Mary Sharratt, is historical fiction which explores the influence and relationship of Aemilia Bassano Lanier, a woman who would become the first female to publish a book of poetry. Sharratt takes one of the proposed theories which states that Aemilia had a love affair with Shakespeare, helped write/or wrote his plays, and is the inspiration for his dark lady sonnets. Though not much is known on this proposal, and many ward off the theory, Sharratt embraces the possibility and writes a story as only she can hypothesize, while also illuminating Aemilia and her contributions to society.

Mary Sharratt is the type of author that writes with a gift. Her descriptions paint a scene and her characters are deeply dimensional, layered, and authentic. Once you start reading The Dark Lady's Mask, the cultivated and elegant prose ebbs you smoothly along and absorbs you into the novel.

This is no romp romance novel. This is a highly intelligent look at the life of Aemilia from her childhood to womanhood, with all she had to overcome, with a part of that possibly being a relationship to Shakespeare. However, Sharratt doesn't present it as a tryst for the sake of creating romance or drama. That would have done an injustice to Aemilia and I am pleased she didn't take that route, but instead, focused more on their collaboration and their deep emotions for each other. Sharratt presents Aemilia as more his equal, his inspiration, and as the highly educated and strong woman that she seemed. Sharratt truly has accomplished writing Aemilia back into history in a most fervent manner, showcasing the efforts of women from a time when women still weren't appreciated for their brains or artistic talents (even though Elizabeth I herself wrote poetry).

We see through Sharratt how the relationship with Aemilia and Shakespeare might have worked. Perhaps, with minds equally matched, they wrote them together, or she wrote them and used him as a mask (since women could not sell plays at the time), or he wrote some of them interspersing her into them as various characters. All of them seem plausible scenarios, but even though there isn't proof to point at, I adhere to there being some truth buried with his writings of their relationship. It just seems to make sense. I love the thought process that Sharratt has placed into the novel, weaving their tale and giving Aemilia a voice.

Our main focus within this book is Aemilia, with a supporting role by Shakespeare and a few others. As a reader, I was perfectly content to have Aemilia take center stage. I enjoyed being able to tune into her and not be distracted by too many side stories or characters. From allowing us to view Aemilia's beautiful mind and creative spirit to giving us a glimpse into her hardships, her emotions, her grief, and her strength, Sharratt does Aemilia's memory service. I wholly enjoyed immersing myself into this novel, letting it percolate, and taking thoughtful pauses to ponder of Aemilia, her writing, and her relationship with Shakespeare, as well as to herself.

Sharratt has given us a lovely, refined, astute novel that is well-researched and yet seeped in emotion and lively in dialogue. Her writing grace is hard to match as she writes beautifully and with purpose. The Dark Lady's Mask is a keepsake for my shelf of books of amazing women in history by amazing historical writers. Highly recommended for the book collector.

I was given a copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to laugh at the irony that I finished this book on the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, and the book ended with his death. Made me chuckle. This book was an intriguing look at the world of Elizabethan England in all its finery and squalor. The plight of women and artists in the time frame came to vivid life in Sharratt’s hands.

The author definitely didn’t hold back in her descriptions of Elizabethan England, urban, court life, and sedate country estate. Late 1500s life in Renaissance Venice also was vividly described. I loved all the little details she put in: how life was like in the Jewish ghetto in Venice, different aspects of the alchemical world, the glitter of life in court vs the semi-squalor of its lower class denizens, and the intricacies of patronage for artists and poets of the era.

Yet, what really drew me in was how the author explored the plight of women during the times. Given that the book was about the first published female English poet, the story of women in the times isn’t that far-fetched. But by exploring more than just Aemilia’s story, Sharratt brings to light the story of all the women of Elizabethan England. The dependency of one’s place in the world being determined by the men in your life, having a reputation that could be ruined by just a whisper and how life-threatening it was to have no man in your life are all explored in detail. I cringed and wept more than once for the various fates of these women.

Sharratt’s amazing talent at characterization is what really carries this story. Aemilia is amazingly human, strong against adversity and thinking on her feet to adapt to ever changing situations. Yet, she can also be carried away in the grand sweep of romance and poetry, losing sight of the real world for the glitter of fantasy. I loved how despite the many falls she experiences in life, she still has the guts to pick herself back up and forge a new path for herself. She’s strong and flawed, just like every woman on the planet.

Sharratt also carries over the great characterization skills to her minor characters as well. Shakespeare is both likeable in his poetic glory and hateful in his douche bag misogyny. Alfonse makes you cringe with how pitiful he was, and yet he loved Aemilia with all his heart through all the trials they experienced together. Those are just two great examples of her Sharratt’s secondary characters were as vibrant and life-like as her lead.

In a book I enjoyed more than I expected to, I found a great author to delve more into. She tells a great story, makes her characters come to life, and delves into the historical intricacies like few other authors can. This was a great introduction to Aemilia Bassano, Shakespeare’s possible Dark Lady, and to Mary Sharratt as an author. Recommended for lovers of historical fiction and stories of historical women everywhere!

Note: Book received for free from publisher via GR giveaway in exchange for an honest review.

[Gaele · Rating 4 out of 5]

AudioBook Review:
Stars: Overall: 4 Narration: 5 Story: 4

A fortuitous upbringing for a young woman, daughter of a court musician, was innovative and interesting in and of itself, as women, particularly those of less than noble birth, were commodities. But the young Aemilia was fortunate enough to be blessed with brains and determination, allowing her to make the most of her education and entrée into society her guardians provided. While still being constrained by the laws and customs of the time, she was obligated to, or reliant upon the men in her life, even as she was the first female paid poet in England.

Sharratt takes us from the obvious loving and caring relationship with her father, her warm and nurturing time with the noblewomen who would foster her after her father’s death, seeing to her education and deportment. Here is where Aemilia’s life takes flight, reveling in all she could learn, manipulating words, developing her own sense of herself and her place. Never deterred (although often sorely tested) by low points, she even started a school for girls to keep herself from abject poverty. But a chance meeting with a “name on the rise” in the form of William Shakespeare, find these two in a collaboration as two poets at heart writing on the human condition, finding and poking at the issues of the day, enlightening and educating with the power of literature.

Conversations with Shakespeare, as well as rather intriguing secondary characters (the Weir Sisters: 3 women herbalists) as well as many others pepper the text and add familiarity to a story that could have easily been focused only on the purported relationship. Aemilia’s resilience and struggles, not to mention the closely guarded secrets she keeps of her past. The story moves from tragedy to light-hearted moments clearly, with depth that intrigues rather than overwhelms. My only issue with the story as a whole is the modern feel to conversations, I felt the need to bring those conversations closer to the era, not just when sharing bits of poems and plays as the collaboration (and its dissolution) came to pass. While seeming to be a minor one, I couldn’t help but notice that discrepancy, and that made for a large disconnect for me.

Narration for this story is provided by Jilly Bond, and she presented the story cleanly and clearly, with pauses, hesitations and tone changes that suited both the text and the emotional impact a moment would convey. Precise enunciation, clear diction and no over-reach for voices or moments, her narration moved the story forward that matched the pace of the text and provided a wonderful listen.

I received an AudioBook copy of the title from the publisher via AudioBook Jukebox for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.
This review was originally posted on I am, Indeed

[Stephanie Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

'The Dark Lady's Mask: A Novel of Shakespeare's Muse' is a fascinating historical fiction novel that tells the story of Aemilia Bassano Lanier - the little known collaborator and lover of William Shakespeare. Not only does the book talk about Aemilia's writing, her love and then rejection by Shakespeare - it draws a vivid portrait of all women during the Renaissance era.

I'm not a regular reader of historical fiction, but I do read some especially if the subjects are some of my favorites - Shakespeare being one of them. Being an English major throughout both my undergraduate and graduate studies, I took several courses focused solely on Shakespeare and his works. When I read the description for this novel, I was immediately intrigued because I had never heard of Aemilia Bassano Lanier or her relationship with Shakespeare - business or romantic. I was mesmerized from the opening words of the novel and didn't come out of my bubble until I had completely finished the book. The author's writing is nothing short of amazing - the vivid imagery and detailed descriptions brought the sixteenth century to life right before my eyes in a way I didn't think was possible. I felt as if I was transported back in time and got to experience everything right alongside Aemilia herself. This type of experience doesn't happen very often when I'm reading something I don't know much about - and it rarely occurs when the book isn't written in the first person. Surprisingly, the author's masterful storytelling skills allowed me to really connect with Aemilia and the rest of her world - despite being written in the third person point of view. Everything about the writing and the novel seemed to glide effortlessly together and flowed along so easily and naturally that I didn't get distracted once (another unusual occurrence). The plot itself was intriguing - I loved learning everything I could about Aemilia, her life, her dreams, writing, inspirations, and especially her connections to Shakespeare. I'm not sure if my English degree background or love for the Bard and his works had much impact on my reading experience - but I'm sure it did on some level. I can't think of anything negative to say about the book - every single aspect was incredibly well done and nearly perfect. I don't come across many novels that meet those criteria, so when I do - I know that I've stumbled across an amazingly talented author. That's definitely the case here and I fully intend to read all of the author's other books. I recommend this novel very highly to fans of the genre, along with readers who enjoy stories about famous historical figures, the Renaissance era, or those looking for an amazing book to get lost inside of for a while.

Disclosure: I received a copy of the book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

[Deborah Swift · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a brave writer that sets out to tackle anything about William Shakespeare and how he wrote his plays. Even more so when the author posits the idea that Shakespeare relied on a female poet as his collaborator. I dare say the novel will have its detractors, particularly those who find the portrait of Shakespeare doesn’t live up to their expectations of him as a romantic hero. But this is a superb novel that immerses the reader firmly into the seamy world of the Elizabethan Court, viewed through the eyes of court musicians and courtesans, and then into the olive groves and vineyards of Renaissance Verona.

Aemilia Bassano Lanier, the Dark Lady of the book’s title, is a strong and engaging protagonist. Well-educated, musical, and with an ear for poetry ‘that intoxicated her like wine’ she teams up with the not-yet-famous Shakespeare to bring sparkle to his plays. A long sojourn in Italy consolidates their romantic relationship, where together they write some of the most well-known of his plays, such as Twelfth Night. The relationship is filled with artistic and sexual tension, and undercurrents of themes which appear in the plays. The idea of turning Aemilia into a Viola – a cross-dressing disguise – works very well in this Elizabethan context. Mary Sharratt has incorporated many references to Shakespeare’s plays, and these add enjoyment to the narrative as the reader spots the allusion. The passionate liaison between Aemilia and Will lasts until Will hears of the death of his son, when, filled with guilt, he decides to return to his wife.

After this episode the book becomes more Aemilia’s own, and we come to appreciate what a remarkable talent she had, and how hard it was for a female poet to find an audience in those times. Filled with extracts of Lanier’s own poetry, which is seamlessly integrated into the narrative, this is a literary tour de force. Aemilia’s situation forces us to examine what role women had (and have) in the role of poetry as a means of expressing deeper engagement with the human condition, and how religious views about woman’s ‘fall from grace’ affected Lanier’s life, and by reflection, female poets of today. Anyone interested in the cultural climate of Elizabethan England will find much to engage them, and I learnt a lot about both Shakespeare and about Aemilia Lanier from this novel. Highly recommended.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will admit to not being one who has strong feelings for Shakespeare one way or another. My knowledge of him is really limited but he lived in a time period I find fascinating. I went into this novel with no knowledge of this Dark Lady but a healthy curiosity of what she was all about. I did know that there were rumours about the possibility that Shakespeare had a collaborator or that he didn’t even write the plays attributed to him. I don’t know if this helped or hurt me going into this book.

Aemilia Bassano Lanier is remembered because she was the first woman who produced a printed book and proudly called herself poet in a time when many women could not even read. She was the child of a court musician and her family history is a bit muddled. Her father died when she was very young and she was fostered with a wealthy, noble woman and given a very diverse and extensive education.

The novel takes the reader through her life and purports that she meets Shakespeare and has an affair with him. They form a writing partnership and even with a limited knowledge of the great man’s works anyone reading will recognize the plays that the two supposedly work on together. Their relationship does not end well and Aemilia goes back to her husband but Shakespeare’s rancor comes back to haunt her life when his Dark Lady Sonnets are published and all who know of their relationship assume they are about her.

Aemilia’s life was never dull and Ms. Sharratt takes the tidbits left here and there to craft a fascinating tale about a rare woman. Other than her printed works there is not much else in the historical record but snippets and so much of the book is her supposition of what might have been. The author has a magical way with descriptions and I found myself feeling like I was existing within the story. I love when an author can do that with words. I have only one small complaint about the book and that involves the very beginning. It starts when Aemilia is 7 years old. This is something I see now and again in historical fiction and to me it is very jarring. The 7 year old Aemilia acts more like a teenager than a child. She is far too adult for her age. And it’s far more than the “times.” Once she left her childhood it was fine but a child is a child – not some deep thinking mini adult.

[Meg - A Bookish Affair · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Dark Lady's Mask" is the story of Aemilia who is mostly known to history as William Shakespeare's mistress. This has been oft questioned and disputed but this books drives forward under the premise that she was his mistress. This book breathes life into a woman's story who has mostly been lost to history.

I loved the character of Aemilia and I loved that Sharatt lets her truly stand on her own and out of Mr. Shakespeare's shadow. So much of the detail of her life seems to be lost to history and she is only remembered often for her dealings with Will. Aemilia is a fascinating person in her own right. She was incredibly educated, which was so unusual for women of her time. The story goes through a good chunk of her life so we the readers really get to know her well. I loved following her life.

The writing of the book was good! There is so much detail that the characters really come to life! The author did a great job of evoking the time period. I loved imagining all of the places that Aemilia goes throughout the book. One of the fantastic things about historical fiction is that it can help tell the story of people forgotten to history. The details of Aemilia's life are too often forgotten. Overall, this is a great pick about a fascinating woman!

[Mirella · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dark Lady’s Mask is intriguing, especially because it is based on a true historical person who knew Shakespeare. Aemilia was a writer herself, a poet who could read Greek and Latin. Most fascinating of all is that she often wore male clothing and was well traveled. In Mary Sharratt's novel, the premise is that she was not only Shakespeare's lover, but also his muse. Although no one will ever know the secrets of their relationship. this book was a great imagining of a possible love story between the two writers. Mary Sharratt writes lovely, easy to enjoy, luscious prose which truly brought this period to life as I read along. I truly enjoyed the novel and highly recommend it to anyone who loves historical biographies or who are followers of the great Shakespeare!

Thank you to the author and publisher. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for visiting my blog, http://greathistoricals.blogspot.ca, where the greatest historical fiction is reviewed! For fascinating women of history bios and women's fiction please visit http://www.historyandwomen.com.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Sharratt is a relatively new author to me. I loved her book Illuminations and eagerly looked forward to this one. I was not disappointed at all.

What I loved about The Dark Lady's Mask is that even though Shakespeare is a big part of this story he doesn't take center stage. As you can read above Aemilia is an interesting character and the author made this an interesting and unique story. Mary Skarratt breathed life to a little known historical character. Though there isn't much actual details about her life the author made this one authentic reflecting the location and time period nicely.

The authors writing style made it easy to get lost here, I could feel Aemilia's frustrations, struggles as well as visualize so much. Definitely a story I highly recommend.

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect novel for both historical fiction and Shakespearean enthusiasts, Mary Sharratt offers us a view into the world of Shakespearean England through young Aemillia Lanier, a female poet of these times. She has struggles with gender and class as she was born the daughter of a musician. She has access to the Elizabethan court as a child, but is not included due to her common birth.

Aemillia is first shown as a young girl and we follow her into middle age. We travel England and into Italy with her. She has several love affairs and many hurts.

A vibrant and well researched novel for all interested in this time and place.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, Mary Sharratt gives us a provocative female protagonist from history in her portrayal of Amelia Bassano Lanier, an Italian poet and playwright who lived in London and who might have inspired Shakespeare's Dark Lady of the sonnets. Mary paints a vivid picture of the seamy side of London in the 16th century as well as the sun-kissed countryside of the Veneto. A very plausible theory on how Shakespeare came to use so many Italian themes and locations in his plays. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Jo-Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel of Shakespeare's muse weaves in some of the history surrounding Shakespeare and the time he lived in. It is first and foremost the story of a female poet who navigates a world where women's lives are defined and often circumscribed by the mores, customs and laws of the times. Aemilia Lanyer, the protagonist, refuses to be limited by these and finds a way to live her life in a manner consistent with her own beliefs and voice. I am now curious to learn more about Mrs. Lanyer and will certainly read other historical novels by Mary Sharratt.

[Christie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't remember exactly what made me pick this book up, it was probably a list, but I am glad to have read it. I didn't know anything about Aemilia Lanyer before picking this up and it was great to learn about this accomplished woman from the Tudor era. I feel like some of the Shakespeare stuff was a bit fantastical, but it was an interesting theory to explore. The story was written beautifully and it definitely brought the era to life. It also gave me a hankering to read more Shakespeare and to learn more about Lanyer's life.

[Mary Jensen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story was a fiction based on a never proved hypothesis that Shakespeare had a female muse that inspired/co-authored a number of his plays, specifically the comedies based in Italy. It was well enough written that I continued to read, but it seemed a little long and of course, was written from a feminist point of view. Not entirely agenda driven, but a bit heavy handed.

[OLT · Rating 4 out of 5]

What we don't know about historical figures could fill many more books than the ones existing that contain what we actually do know. So it's no wonder that so much historical fiction and speculation abounds. Here we have Mary Sharratt filling in some blanks about Aemilia Bassano Lanier and her relationship to William Shakespeare in Sharratt's own version of what might have been and who might have been the Dark Lady of Shakespeare's sonnets and even perhaps the playwright behind Shakespeare's play-writing.

If equality for women is still a work in progress in the 21st century, imagine what an uphill battle a woman in the 1500s would have faced to be recognized in her own right, not just as the wife or mother of some man. Knowing this makes the fact that Aemilia Lanier gained recognition in her own time and was England's first published woman poet something of a wonder.

Aemilia was the English-born illegitimate daughter of an Jewish-Italian refugee from the Venetian Ghetto, who fled with his brothers to England where they became musicians at court. Since they were forced to hide their religion, Aemilia was unaware of her Jewish heritage until just a short time before her father died. Educated but of moderate means, after her father's death, she had no recourse but to become the courtesan of Lord Hunsdon, Lord Chamberlain and illegitimate half brother of Elizabeth I. Then when she becomes pregnant by him, Hunsdon marries her off to Alphonse Lanier, a court musician who does not seem to respect her and uses her dower money for his own purposes.

But Sharratt's Aemilia is bright and restless and talented artistically, both as a musician and a wordsmith. In her restlessness, she takes to the freedom of movement that crossdressing allows her and in one of her sorties meets up with impoverished, struggling (and married with children) William Shakespeare. Sharratt's story has the two beginning a relationship, with Shakespeare accompanying Aemilia to Italy, where she travels to meet some of her deceased father's family. Their relationship begins more as a writing collaboration, with the two sharing ideas and script-writing, but soon leads to a romance.

But, of course, all will not go well for the lovers and when they are back in England, Aemilia's life will not proceed as she had planned. Where is the credit due to her for her part in Shakespeare's work? Why does Shakespeare show such animosity towards her? So this book is not primarily a romance, in spite of the momentary romantic relationship portrayed here. It's more a look at the challenges for women, especially bright and gifted women, in Elizabethan England and at their struggles to be recognized as talented, intelligent people, not just women. In addition to Aemilia, Sharratt introduces us to several more such woman, such as Anne Locke, Mary Sidney Herbert, Margaret and Anne Gifford, all bright woman living in a time of limitations and boundaries for the female gender.

Although a work of fiction, Sharratt's book is well-researched and is a credible could-have-been story. Lots of food for thought here. And a great starting-off point for going online to do more research about Aemilia Bassano Lanier, a fascinating woman of the Elizabethan era.
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[kathleen r. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dark Lady's Mask was a different type of approach to the life and times of William Shakespeare 's body of works. Set in the fading years of Elizabethan England the author explores how a possible collaboration with a literate, educated woman might have changed or even improved the plays many a student has struggled to read and understand from a modern perspective. We often take our liberties and freedoms for granted, but I know the women of today's modern and developed nations can't afford to forget how in previous generations certain privileges would have been forbidden or even punishable by horrendous consequences as evidence of either witchcraft or satanic influence. Just to be allowed to learn how to read and write could be a death sentence for some. This novel never loses sight of that plain fact of life. Amelia Lanyer today enjoys the accolade of being perhaps the first English female poet. Published by generous patrons, her work is clearly fluid, thoughtful and filled with references to her experiences as a woman and quite possibly one whose romantic connection to Shakespeare is undeniable. I loved this story. But at times I struggled to stay with the story because I kept finding references to some recent films, stories and songs made popular by various artists and writers. Reading some of the poetry I found myself forgetting that poetry of the age was rarely written as rhyme such as we experience in current culture. Still. It was those same references which made me sad to reach the end. I'm a sucker for a good love story and this book was that and more. If you find the poetic nature and truth hard to follow don't forget the overall story is also a story of a proud and talented woman striving to create a special place for herself and all women in a time when women were only property much as a farmer might own a pig or cow. Women who were determined to overcome the obstacles enforced by men who were considered the only reasonable individuals of any consideration in their society. The story takes place during a time of abject chaos for women, and demonstrates how, with risky behavior and determined inner strength and confidence, some women were able to achieve not only personal dreams and desires but also led their less fortunate sisters to claim their own places and accomplishments in, of, and for society as a whole. The end was beautifully crafted and left me feeling more familiar with and grateful for the life changing fight of those who have come before. Well written and poignant.