The Emperor's Babe is a verse novel written by British author Bernardine Evaristo. Published by Penguin in 2001,[1] it is Evaristo's second work of fiction. Based in London around 1800 years ago, it follows the story of black Nubian teenage girl, Zuleika, who comes of age in the Roman period. The Emperor's Babe won the Arts Council Writers Award in 2000, a NESTA[2] Fellowship Award in 2003 and was chosen by The Times as one of the 100 Best Books of the Decade in 2010.[3] In 2013, it was also adapted into a BBC Radio 4 play.[4]
Reception
Reviews
Upon release, The Emperor's Babe was generally well-received among the British press. The Daily Telegraph reported on reviews from several publications with a rating scale for the novel out of "Love It", "Pretty Good", "Ok", and "Rubbish": Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Sunday Times, and Independent On Sunday reviews under "Love It" and Times and TLS reviews under "Pretty Good" and Sunday Telegraph review under "Rubbish".[5]
The Bookseller described The Emperor's Babe as "something completely different: a fresh and original historical novel, narrated in verse". The Guardian also praised the form of the verse-novel and called it "adventurous, compelling and utterly original. You won’t read another book like it this year."[6]
