The more things change the more they stay the same. Melina Green is a playwright who believes she can’t get anything seen on stage due to a scathing comment from a renowned critic during a contest when she was still in college.
When she wins a contest to put on a play after her best friend submits her manuscript under a male pseudonym, art and life become similar. The play is about a distant relative Emilia Bassano, who lived in the late 1500s. A ward of English aristocrats taught the arts and a gift for storytelling, she was forced to be the mistress to Lord Chamberlain. The tale that unfolds portrays her as Shakespear’s Dark Lady. Her story, intertwined with Melina’s, is about a writer needing to hide behind a male face/name to be considered as talented.
Interesting premise. I preferred Emilia’s story to Melina’s, which seemed very self-centered and whiny. The truth is still here, as there are still so many women publishing under her first initials only (example: JK Rowlings)
