Bernadine Evaristo – The Emperor’s Babe
Set in Roman London, the story’s protagonist is Zuleika, the rebellious only-daughter of immigrants from the Sudan. At a young age, she is married off to a wealthy merchant old enough to be her father, and then left to her own devices in her ‘gilded cage’ when he goes away on business. Life seems hollow for the young woman, until the Emperor himself decides to pay a visit to the city, and Zuleika realises exactly how she can have her fun…although it comes at a price.
It isn’t a common occurrence for me these days to sit down and read a book in one or two sittings. On this occasion however, this particular novel only took me about five hours to read, which I managed to spend over two days. Obviously from the point of view of a University student, where time equals…well…when most of the reading takes a week or more to digest, it was a rather welcome breath of fresh air. However, in other ways, it seems like a shame that I finished the book so quickly.
Having gone back over certain sections for a second time (courtesy of the seminar group I attend as part of my course) it seems to be one of those rare novels that gets more interesting the next time you peruse it. Certain links and themes which were not readily apparent the first time around jumped out at me when I re-read the novel. The ease of reading wasn’t because the language was particularly simple, or that the characters were necessarily two-dimensional. Rather, it seemed easier to read due to the fact that it’s written in verse. Yes, that’s right. A modern novel written in verse.
And surprisingly, this style works rather well. Not only for ease of reading, but the almost lyrical nature of the book is a clever tip-of-the-hat to the old style of story oration that was around when this book is set. Although this verse-prose doesn’t come across at all as pretentious, it could be argued that it instead lulls the reader into a false sense of the novel being…well…simple. And it is, on the surface…but to stick with that view and relegate it to the genre of ‘summer reading’ would be shamefully reductive of such a clever piece.
There were a couple of times when I felt as though I didn’t know whether what I was reading was set in Roman times or modern day, the two seeming to merge into one another on occasion. Not that that’s a bad thing of course…indeed, it shows an inventive author, as well as being a method for keeping my brain switched on. The characters are feisty and lively, although all but the main character did seemed to be caricatures rather than actual people. I wouldn’t put it past Evaristo to have done this on purpose, but I thought it was a bit of a shame. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel particularly sympathetic to Zuleika either, until right at the very end of the novel, whereupon the protagonist’s age and the way in which she went about what could quite easily be called her journey to self-discovery crashed over me.
The historical, social and political overtones of the book mesh together brilliantly, creating a vibrant atmosphere for the equally animated characters to inhabit. This isn’t an in-your-face story with undertones as subtle as a brick wrapped in a piece of silk. Indeed, the nuances of the text only come out into bright daylight when the reader begins to make connections for themselves. The novel has a message that doesn’t need to be garishly shouted from the rooftops, which is a refreshing change, and one that I certainly appreciated, although in some respects it is a shame that all the tricks and subtleties aren’t a little more forthcoming. I’d bet that the majority of readers won’t go back to the book after having read it through once, and the richness of the text viewed in hindsight makes that a real shame.
All in all, it’s a very cleverly written piece, full of things that it’s impossible to fully appreciate the first time you read it, and I daresay, even the second time. The Emperor’s Babe is definitely something to keep on your bookshelf in order to go back to. Spirited, witty and surprisingly immersive, this book lends itself to a wide audience, with everyone able to get something different out of the piece of literature.
