The Emperor's Babe

The smart, sassy coming-of-age story from the Booker prize-winning author of Girl, Woman, Other - now a Penguin EssentialMeet Zuleika- sassy girl about town, former child bride, A-list Roman babe, black immigrant in ancient Londinium. She knows this city like the back of her hand - its squalor and bustle, its slum tenements and sumptuous villas. But she doesn't know how it feels to fall in love.Sold in marriage to a rich, fat Roman, stranded in luxurious neglect with only slaves and sex workers for company, it's not long before Zuleika is up to no good. And one day, when the Roman Emperor himself strolls into town and catches her eye, the trouble really starts...Irresistibly funny and whip-smart, this is a deeply relatable coming-of-age tale with a surprising historical twist.

?Smart, imaginative, and readable . . . A rich farrago of historical fact and outrageous fancy.? ("The New York Times Book Review") A heroine of ancient times for the modern age... a glittering fiction... brilliant.? ("The Times," London) A riotous, racy whirl through Roman Londinium... Bernardine Evaristo has spun a captivating tale in verse.? (Robert Fagles)
Smart, imaginative, and readable . . . A rich farrago of historical fact and outrageous fancy. ("The New York Times Book Review") A heroine of ancient times for the modern age... a glittering fiction... brilliant. ("The Times," London) A riotous, racy whirl through Roman Londinium... Bernardine Evaristo has spun a captivating tale in verse. (Robert Fagles)
"Smart, imaginative, and readable . . . A rich farrago of historical fact and outrageous fancy." ("The New York Times Book Review") "A heroine of ancient times for the modern age... a glittering fiction... brilliant." ("The Times," London) "A riotous, racy whirl through Roman Londinium... Bernardine Evaristo has spun a captivating tale in verse." (Robert Fagles)
"A riotous, racy whirl through Roman Londinium . . . Bernardine Evaristo has spun a captivating tale in verse."

Bernardine Evaristo, MBE, is the award-winning author of eight books of fiction and verse fiction that explore aspects of the African diaspora. Her novel Girl, Woman, Other made her the first black woman to win the Booker Prize in 2019, as well winning the Fiction Book of the Year Award at the British Book Awards in 2020, where she also won Author of the Year, and the Indie Book Award. She also became the first woman of colour and black British writer to reach No.1 in the UK paperback fiction chart in 2020. Her writing spans reviews, essays, drama and radio, and she has edited and guest-edited national publications, including The Sunday Time's Style magazine. Her other awards and honours include an MBE in 2009. Bernardine is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University, London, and President of the Royal Society of Literature. She lives in London with her husband.

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