A review by matmatmatty
The Emperor's Babe by Bernardine Evaristo

emotional funny sad medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This was a lovely story - as someone who studied Latin for a while and is Black, it is really nice to hear about people like me living in Roman Britain (because we've been here since then!)

This story is set in Roman Britain, but is not completely accurate - there are references to the modern day but I think it works well to put things in perspective for a modern audience (for example, some gladiators are referred to with the names of famous wrestlers, to compare how they were treated - being extremely famous for doing acts of violence). If you're looking for a truly historically accurate tale, maybe don't pick this one up.

A surprisingly emotional end -
I wish there had been a little more time spent on Zuleika's grief, but I really liked the last few chapters - it added to the tragedy of the story.
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