Virtual Book Group; or ‘The Taming of the Zoom’ – ‘The Emperor’s Babe’ by Bernardine Evaristo

So we thought we’d got away with just 3 months of virtual book groups, but it seems we’re heading for a few more months without meeting in-person, and we just can’t wait until our doors are open again to start up our book groups!

We’ve planned 3 more months of virtual bookish chat, with each month focusing on an early title from a major prize-winning author.

We’re kicking off in March with ‘The Emperor’s Babe’, the first novel by Man Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo.

‘Wildly entertaining, deeply affecting’ Ali Smith

Londinium, AD 211. Zuleika is a modern girl living in an ancient world. She’s a back-alley firecracker, a scruffy Nubian babe with tangled hair and bare feet – and she’s just been married off a fat old Roman. Life as a teenage bride is no joke but Zeeks is a born survivor. She knows this city like the back of her hand: its slave girls and drag queens, its shining villas and rotting slums. She knows how to get by. Until one day she catches the eye of the most powerful man on earth, the Roman Emperor, and her trouble really starts…

Silver-tongued and merry-eyed, this is a story in song and verse, a joyful mash-up of today and yesterday. Kaleidoscoping distant past and vivid present, The Emperor’s Babe asks what it means to be a woman and to survive in this thrilling, brutal, breathless world.

Attending our book group is completely free – just register above to reserve your space in the group, and we will drop you an email just before the event with the link to the group chat.