Emilia Bassano has four strikes against her: she is poor, beautiful, female, and intelligent in Elizabethan England.
But ultimately, despite the disadvantaged position she was born to, she succeeds in pursuing her dreams of becoming a writer--and even publishes a book of poetry in 1611 that makes a surprisingly modern argument for women\'s equality..
In the years that follow, Emilia is forced to make a number of difficult decisions in her efforts to survive, and not all of them turn out well for her.
During this time she falls in love with poet/player William Shakespeare, and they have a brief, passionate relationship--but when the plague comes to England, the nobleman abandons her, leaving her pregnant and without financial security.
When she is raped as a teenager, she knows she probably will not be able to make a good marriage, so she becomes the mistress of a much older nobleman.
To make matters worse, she comes from a family of secret Jews.
Emilia Bassano has four strikes against her: she is poor, beautiful, female, and intelligent in Elizabethan England
