Dark Lady

My historical novel, DARK LADY: A NOVEL OF EMILIA BASSANO LANYER, tells the story of Emilia Lanyer, a spirited, beautiful, and intelligent woman who was Shakespeare’s “Dark Lady,” a poet in her own right, and one of the first women in England to publish a book.

Daughter of a Court musician and secret Jew, Emilia at a young age becomes the mistress of a much older nobleman, Lord Hunsdon. Through Hunsdon, she meets the brilliant, witty player and poet Will Shakespeare, and they fall in love. Dressed as a boy, Emilia goes on adventures around the city and countryside with Will. But the poet from Stratford has his own secrets, and their liaison ends unhappily.

Emilia, being pregnant, marries her cousin, Alfi Lanyer, and has a son, Henry. She learns from Alfi’s mother, Lucretia, what she has long suspected: that her family are secret Jews. Although she was raised in the English Church, she is drawn by the beauty and spiritual strength of her family’s religion. To help her husband on a sea voyage, she visits the unscrupulous astrologer and magician Simon Forman and through him learns about the secret world of dark magic. She becomes addicted to a potion he gives her. When Emilia breaks her addiction and begins to write poetry, she is encouraged by two friends, very different from one another: Margaret Clifford, Countess of Cumberland and the cross-dressing underworld character, Moll Frith. Emilia publishes her book, Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum, in 1611, becoming one of the first women in England to publish a book.

Unfortunately, we don’t have a definitive portrait of Emilia. The people pictured above appear as characters in DARK LADY. Left to right: Margaret, Countess of Cumberland, Emilia’s mentor; Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, Will Shakespeare’s patron and friend; Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke; and Emilia’s lover, William Shakespeare.

DARK LADY: A NOVEL OF EMILIA BASSANO LANYER was published by She Writes Press on June 27, 2017.

More on Dark Lady

Audio review from New Books Network:

My guest blog post on Nicole Evelina’s blog:

What Inspired Me to Write Dark Lady? A Guest Post By Charlene Ball

“…this isn’t a book about court intrigue so much as the simpler human desire for self-expression, and the limits placed upon that. Accompanied by an engaging cast of secondary characters, Emilia is brought to appealingly vivid life and the book teems with the sights, sounds and scents of Tudor England….it’s a well-written, engaging read and some of the prose is so beautifully crafted that you get a truly sensory appreciation for the setting.”

—The Idle Woman

“…this isn’t a book about court intrigue so much as the simpler human desire for self-expression, and the limits placed upon that. Accompanied by an engaging cast of secondary characters, Emilia is brought to appealingly vivid life and the book teems with the sights, sounds and scents of Tudor England….it’s a well-written, engaging read and some of the prose is so beautifully crafted that you get a truly sensory appreciation for the setting.”

—The Idle Woman

“A glimpse of Shakespeare’s world thru those that knew him best and before his fame. Charlene Ball brings Emilia to life and our attention.”

— Nikbooklover’s blog

“Ball has done painstaking research but has also presented us with a pleasantly readable book. Her characters are vividly painted and leave us wishing to spend more time in the remarkable Emilia’s company.”

— Tamara Benson, Manhattan Book Review.

Purchase Dark Lady Here

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