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There are currently 24 member reviews
for The Dark Lady's Mask
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Ginny B. (Lansdale, PA)
Historical Fiction, Feminism, Romance, Cross-dressing, Renaissance,Inquisition
As my title suggests, this book has everything! As a one-time, middle-aged college student of English literature, I looked forward to reading Sharratt's novel, set in the Renaissance. I had occasionally come across references to Shakespeare's "dark lady," believed to be his muse, the inspiration for his sonnets. Sharratt fully acknowledges that "there is no historical evidence" to prove that her heroine was in fact Will's "dark lady" and while Sharratt references numerous Shakespeare scholars, she clearly enjoyed letting her imagination soar and we are the beneficiaries. The novel covers the fictional life of Amelia Bassano Lanier, a real-life, published Renaissance poet in an age when women supposedly knew their place, a place that did not include such public acclaim. The plot takes us from Aemilia's lovingly nurtured childhood in which her beloved father is established as her gold standard, so to speak, through her very unusual liberal education as a young woman in the home of a wealthy female guardian and mentor. Upon leaving the manor house, Aemilia seeks and wins the affections and protection of a powerful nobleman in the court of Queen Elizabeth, Lord Hunsdon. Alas, an unexpected pregnancy (some things never change!) results in Aemilia being cast out of the royal court into a loveless marriage. During this period, Aemilia meets the "ragged" poet, Mr. Shakespeare, with whom her life eventually takes on a happier note, for a time, at least. In an effort to avoid spoilers, I'll leave the ending to the reader. The novel is chock-full of characters and changes in fortune for our heroine, which keeps the plot moving along pretty well. However, with only a few exceptions, I never felt very invested in the characters or, for that matter, the events in which they find themselves, which is why I didn't give it a higher rating.
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Bobbie D. (Boca Raton, FL)
Masks and Muses
The Dark Lady's Mask is historical fiction, suggesting who might have been the muse of William Shakespeare. Masks and muses play a big part in the book. There are many references to both.
If you like reading Philippa Gregory and CW Gortner, you will surely like this novel. It is however a bit long.
Aemilia is the central muse of this story and her life is what keeps you reading. She was a very talented and educated woman who came from a family of musicians. Plays of this time period, especially in England, were only written and acted by men. The author, Mary Sharratt, makes a good case for Aemilia Bassano Lanier to have been Shakespeare's muse. She convinced me! Unfortunately, part of the not knowing, always leaves questions that we will probably never know the real answer. His sexuality is also in question.
Read the book, do some reference work on Aemilia Lanyer (her last name change was probably a printing error) and Anne Hathaway! Read the author's Historical Afterword at the end of the book! And then you decide!
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Phyllis R. (Rochester Hills, MI)
Aemilia Bassano Lanier, Renaissance Woman Poet
Somehow I never got to read Mary Sharratt's Illunimations, so I was thrilled to win an advance reading copy of The Dark Lady's Mask. The author has researched the life and Elizabethan times of Amelia Bassano Lanier, first Renaissance woman poet. The author takes liberties to connect her poetry with Shakespeare's plays, even has them travelling to Italy and marrying each other. I have attended several lectures by Shakespeare Scholars who do not mention this connection. It is interesting that Shakespeare wrote several plays set in Italy and even used her name or its derivative in some of his works. I recommend this for anyone wanting to know more about her poetry or life of this gifted lady, whose life was a tapestry of joys and sorrows and the complexities of being a woman and an artist, but beware the myth of her and Shakespeare.
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Sherilyn R. (St George, UT)
Shakespeare's Feminist Muse
Aemilia Bassano Lanier also spelled Lanyer was the first Englishwoman to assert herself as a professional poet.
In The Dark Lady's Mask she is portrayed as a young woman deeply resentful of the restrictions put on women. As a result, she delights in the freedoms and liberties she experiences when cross dressing as a young man. She has little means but is well educated and wants to prove herself as a woman poet.
When Aemilia is given the opportunity for adventure and collaboration with Will Shakespeare a very talented poet, the two lives quickly become linked and Sharratt's novel really takes off.
The Shakespeare/Lanyer story line was fascinating and clearly well researched. Sharratt did an excellent job interweaving these two stories making there collaboration a very believable and interesting hypothesis. I immediately started doing my own research.
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Shirley L. (Norco, LA)
Heart vs. Brain
My heart loved this book. The characters were very developed; the settings were described beautifully. The plot was entertaining and the pages turned quickly. The problem my brain had with this story is contained in the first paragraph of the author's afterward. Most academics have dismissed the theory that Aemilia Lanier was Shakespeare's Dark Lady. I like my historical fiction to be more securely based on history with the fiction added to provide detail and color. Heart says 5; Brain 3.
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Leslie G. (Peabody, MA)
Imaginative Account
Sharratt bases her story on the premise that Aemilia Bassano Lanier, an actual Renaissance poet, could have been Shakespeare's collaborator and muse. Using this concept as a starting point, the novelist creates a fanciful depiction of Aemilia's life and connections to Shakespeare and other Renaissance figures of her day. Sharratt cleverly interweaves quotations and situations from Shakespeare's plays to form parallels to events in her narrative. Some of the connections, however, seem to be a bit of a stretch, even for a fictionalized account. Also, coincidence is used too often to bail out Aemilia from difficult straits. All in all, the novel still remains engrossing in that it does shed light on the social and literary restrictions placed upon even the most educated women of Shakespeare's day.
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Harriette K. (Weston, FL)
The Dark Lady's Mask
Aemilia, whose family originates in Italy, is orphaned at an early age when her father is discovered to be a secret Jew and executed. She is taken to the estate and educated in the classics by a noblewoman. At age sixteen, she is presented at the court of Queen Elizabeth, becomes the mistress of a titled member of the court, becomes pregnant with his child and forced into a "suitable" marriage. From this, she enters a life filled with many adventures including dressing as a man to make her way around 16th century London. She meets William Shakespeare, a minor actor and playwright, they travel to Italy to claim her inheritance and while there she collaborates with him on "the Italian plays". There is much more as they return to England separately and Shakespeare becomes more celebrated. The tale of a woman of the 16th century, based on a real person, and the picture of England and theatre at that time kept me going. I found it a reasonably good read, but would ask for the tale to be told in a few less pages.
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