The Emperor's Babe

I’m embarrassed that I only read this book recently because it’s a wonderful engagement with ancient evidence to create a vision of Roman Britain. Evaristo uses the burial of the so-called Spitalfields Lady – a woman buried in a sarcophagus with scallop shell decorations and a rich range of grave goods – to create Zuleika, a lively girl who lives with her Nubian parents in Roman London; in blank verse, the story follows her life from being married off as a child bride to catching the eye of the emperor Septimius Severus. Evaristo mixes historical detail with contemporary slang and… show more.

This novel is a wild and dizzying trip through Roman London in the Third Century by the winner of the 2020 Booker Prize. Written in verse full of Latin puns and joyful wordplay, it follows Zuleika, a Sudanese-British girl who ends up having an affair with the emperor Septimius Severus. It might not be the most historically accurate in its depiction of the emperor, but as a depiction of Roman London as a thrilling and multi-cultural city–and as a gripping read—it’s one of a kind.