The Dark Lady

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I received a free arc of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. O'Connor, Desmond (3 January 2008). "Florio, John (1553–1625)". ODNB. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (onlineed.). Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/ref:odnb/9758. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) public Wi-Fi - this extends to the majority of our public spaces including the Reading Rooms, as well as our study desks and galleries at St Pancras (you won't require a login) The duke realised that Henry has a gift. So now Henry is a prisoner with extraordinary gifts. He’s been tested on how his gift works, then he is brought to a room with men and they get him to show everyone his gift, Henry’s gift is that he can write out any book that is handed to him.

To me, I felt that the storyline itself wasn't greatly developed in the long run, and that there was no real motive to this plot whatsoever. The side characters had no real purpose to this story as a whole, and despite the fact that this is a fantasy, it's clear early on that the magic of this world - but more so, of Henry and his foster aunts, Agnes and Joan - are not a main focus nor a top priority for this story at all. It takes quite a while for anything interesting to happen but it does get going with a burglary. There is the continual mystery of his mother, the role of the 'witches' in his upbringing and of course, this magical gift which isn't really clarified. I guess that Akala was trying to suggest something about the magic of writing... but I'm only guessing. Personally I would have loved to see more of the dramatic magic of the witches. But maybe that would have changed the genre. Lol The plot was…. Two plots? There were story lines that didn’t mesh well and seemed to be throwing Shakespeare shade at each other throughout the whole book. They didn’t work well together and kinda ruined it. Henry tried to fend for himself and his family by stealing, but when he tried to buy bread with the money he stole he got shut out. It's real magic, which is at complete odds with the rest of the setting. No one seems to be too alarmed by Henry's ability, and he isn't particularly shy about hiding it either - Joan and Agnes' abilities are also treated as witchcraft, yes, but...standard witchcraft.

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Agnes finds out that Henry has punched mathew and tries to punish him but when Joan steps him, she’s told him to write 10.000 words for punishment, without his powers.

I expected a full fantasy going on here but instead found a magical historical tale that was realistic and other-worldy at the same time. Metaphor: a comparison between two unlike things using like or as. For example, Shakespeare compares his mistress’s eyes to the dark feathers of a raven. All of our upcoming public events and our St Pancras building tours are going ahead. Read our latest blog post about planned events for more information. I also thought the poems were very iffy, but then again they are just meant to be the musings of a 15 year old? I was a bit disappointed the reader didn't get to see the protagonist's mother properly. Didn't really clarify the role of Agnes and Joan and I'm not a fan of the ending but I still enjoyed it in places. I especially enjoyed what it was trying to do.

Alliteration: the repetition of words with the same consonant sound. For example, “bore” and “beauty” in line two and “beauty” and “bastard” in line four. Living in a quasi-elizabethan London, Henry lives with his cousins Mary and Matthew in the slums after being abandoned by his Mother who could be anywhere. Haunted by the dreams of a mysterious dark lady, Henry has to navigate his newfound gifts, his power over words and language while still trying to navigate the racial and societal prejudices threatening to erase him. I wanted to read this book as I admire Akala as a musical artist and an activist, and was confident in his ability to be a good fiction author. I was not disappointed! Holland, Peter (23 September 2004). "Shakespeare, William (1564–1616)". ODNB. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (onlineed.). Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/ref:odnb/25200. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) Aubrey Burl, a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and commentator on prehistoric monuments, takes up the case that the Dark Lady is the wife of John Florio, whom he names as "Aline Florio". He arrives at his theory via a play on words he either discovered or re-discovered: the name of the dark-haired character Rosaline in Love's Labours Lost being suggested to Shakespeare by combining "rose" from the Earl's family name of "Wriothesley", and "Aline" from a popular contemporary given name. Burl lists eight possible contenders for the Dark Lady's true identity, and finally asserts that Florio's wife is the real one, using some clues which were mentioned in Shakespeare's work: she was dark-haired, self-centred, and enjoyed sex. According to him, Mrs. Florio loved "for her own gratification", indulged in "temptation and callously self-satisfied betrayal of her husband", which coincides with features of the Dark Lady. He also suggests that the fact that she was born of low degree in Somerset explains the darkness of her complexion. Burl reasons that Florio probably first met Shakespeare at Titchfield, the Wriothesley family seat in Hampshire, and met him again in London at Florio's home. [16]