The Emperor's Babe

This work begins with an apposite quote from Oscar Wilde, namely that: The one duty we owe to history is to rewrite it. Evaristo writes in her afterword/acknowledgement that she only learned prior to writing this book that Africans had lived in Britain during the Roman occupation. This segment of history from nearly 1,800 years ago is broadly neglected and forgotten, yet Evaristo's mandate throughout her works is to give voices to the unheard. This is revisionist history (per Gladwell) from a different angle. The Emperor's Babe is joyful reading of a rags-to-riches story; like Evaristo, an ‘outsider’ upsetting the establishment, told in verse fiction. Think of this work as an unashamed experiment — to do something new and different and to tell a neglected account of history through a well-balanced mix of fact and fiction, Latin and 21st century bling/youth argot. Evaristo is both witty and knowing. She succeeds here, and while not as complete as Girl, Woman, Other, this work is a clear success. 8 and a half out of 10.

By Bernardine Evaristo