Dark Aemilia: A Novel of Shakespeare's Dark Lady
O’Reilly’s American debut is an imaginative take on the life of poet Aemilia Layner, a contemporary of William Shakespeare. O’Reilly posits a lifelong love between the striking Aemilia and the famous bard, a relationship that inspired some of Shakespeare’s more passionate sonnets. Aemilia meets Will in 1592, when she is the mistress of the much older but kindly Lord Hunsdon. Taken by her beauty and wit, Will pursues her, and the two begin an affair that lasts until Aemilia becomes pregnant. Hunsdon thinks the child is his and arranges for her to marry her charming but feckless cousin Alonso. Will is devastated, but when he walks in on his patron, Wriothesley, raping Aemilia, he misinterprets the situation and believes she has been unfaithful to him. They part ways bitterly, but as the years go on, their paths cross again repeatedly, igniting the ever-present spark between them. Though some of O’Reilly’s suppositions feel like reaches—particularly Aemilia’s involvement with Macbeth—this is a lively, vividly rendered novel about the dramatic life of an extraordinary woman. --Kristine Huntley