Dark Aemilia (38 page)

We do know that Wriothesley was involved in the rebellion led by the Earl of Essex in 1601, for which he was sentenced to death. Essex was beheaded – which Elizabeth apparently regretted – but after her death Wriothesley’s sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in the Tower of London. He was released on the accession of James I.

Hunsdon was the son of Mary Boleyn, Anne Boleyn’s sister. He was a blunt, outspoken man, a professional soldier rather than a courtier. As Lord Chamberlain, he was the patron of William Shakespeare’s company from 1594.

Simon Forman’s case-books record that Aemilia Bassano was his mistress for around six years (1586–92).

Hunsdon died in 1596 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. His tomb is indeed bizarre and ornate.

Very little is known about Ann Hathaway beyond a few references in legal documents, but her personality and marriage to Shakespeare have been the subject of a great deal of speculation.

Pregnant when she married William Shakespeare in 1582, Ann was seven years older than he was. Much has been made of this, and it has been suggested that Shakespeare was coerced into marrying her. We have no proof of this. Although Shakespeare worked in London, there is also no evidence that he disliked his wife.

Shakespeare famously bequeathed his ‘second-best bed’ to Ann. In my novel, he leaves his best bed to Aemilia. I feel that Ann has been poorly treated both by popular myth and (most) other fiction writers. Germaine Greer robustly challenges the idea that Ann was unintelligent or illiterate in
Shakespeare’s Wife
; my version of Ann is inspired by Greer’s book. Ann is as formidable as Aemilia in her own way. If you are interested in a ribald and witty fictional account of her life, read
Mrs Shakespeare: the Complete Works
by Robert Nye.

Throughout his life, dramatist and pamphleteer Thomas Dekker had severe financial problems, and was imprisoned for debt several times. He is thought to have written about sixty plays, but only twenty have survived. Dekker wrote the city comedy
The Roaring Girle
(1610) in collaboration with Middleton. The heroine of this play, Moll Cutpurse, was based on the notorious London thief Mary Frith, who dressed as a man. His pamphlet
The Wonderful Year
(1603) describes London ravaged by the effects of the plague. 

Mary Frith (also known as Moll Cutpurse) was a cross-dressing fence and thief. She was mythologised even in her lifetime, and at least two plays were written about her. She smoked a pipe, played her lute on the stage, and swore. She lived into the time of Oliver Cromwell’s Protectorate and is alleged to have fired a musket at one of his men. Her remarkable life story does indeed indicate that she enjoyed a level of personal freedom that was almost unknown among women at that time.

Although Richard Burbage was a member of an acting family, his early career is poorly documented. Later he became one of London’s best-known actors.

He was the lead actor with the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, and a sharer in the company. Burbage played the title role in the first performances of many of Shakespeare’s plays, including
Hamlet, Othello, Richard III,
and
King Lear.

If this story has made you want to find out more about the period, here are some suggestions for further reading:

This book has been a joy to write, and many people have helped it along the way.

First of all, my heartfelt thanks to everyone at Myriad Editions, especially Candida Lacey, Linda McQueen, Holly Ainley and Vicky Blunden. It is inspiring and exciting to work with people who love books and writing so much, and are so meticulous about the publishing process.

I’m also indebted to the writers and historians who gave me the benefit of their considerable wisdom while I drafted and re-drafted the novel. Fay Weldon, Celia Brayfield, Elizabeth Evenden, Sarah Penny, Matt Thorne and Linda Anderson – thank you so much. Sincere thanks also to Ronald Hutton, Professor of History at the University of Bristol. The ideas, themes and characters in the novel came together after many fascinating meetings and discussions. Any mistakes or inaccuracies are mine alone.

There were times when my energy and determination flagged – the friendship and support of Martin Cox, Susanna Jones, Alison Macleod, Lisa Seabourne and Kate Wade have kept me going.

A special mention too, for Julie Burchill. After a long and boozy lunch party during a rather gloomy hiatus in my career, Julie gave me three books by Patrick Hamilton and said, ‘I don’t know why you don’t write something darker and more historical.’ I think this book fulfils the brief.

I am also grateful to Brunel University. The university’s Isambard Scholarship gave me the means to study for a PhD in English and Creative Writing, and this novel is the main component of that research.

(Nearly there now.) I couldn’t function without my children and (extremely patient) husband. Georgia and Declan, you are probably the funniest teenagers on the planet, and definitely the messiest. I don’t know what I have taught you, but you have taught me what motherhood feels like. Noel, you are the best reader I could hope for, and please carry on telling me when my writing isn’t good enough – even when you would rather have a quiet life. And thank you, Mum, the only person I know who is as forceful and unstoppable as Aemilia Bassano Lanyer.

Last of all – thank you, Aemilia. This book was meant to be about Lady Macbeth. Then I found you, threw away 30,000 words – and never looked back.