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• Theodora was a 7th century Byzantine empress who began life as an actress and prostitute, and Stella Duffy has woven a story around what we know of her life. There's always a danger with this type of book that it contains far too much historical exposition and not enough plot, but in this case I'd say the balance is spot on. The descriptions of Byzantium are vivid and engrossing, but the characters are really well drawn too. In particular, you're always rooting for Theodora, even if you don't like her sometimes. I really loved this book, and raced through it, wanting to see how the ending would resolve, and I wasn't disappointed. In fact, the only thing I didn't like was the tagline: 'Actress, Empress, Whore'. It sounds a bit silly to me, like it's trying to shock you, whereas I felt the point of the novel was that Theordora was never ashamed of who she was, but I suppose it's designed to intrigue someone enough so that they'd pick it up in a shop. The book has inspired me to read more about this setting and time period, which is under-represented in fiction, and which I found fascinating, and more about Theodora herself, who was very much ahead of her time.

  5.00 out of 5

  Yarrow

• Theodora had to earn a living on the stage since she was five, after her father was killed by his own bear. In her teens she also becomes a prostitute. Yet she ended up as Empress. Not surprisingly, she remains one of the more controversial and colourful figures of the Roman Empire.In Theodora: Empress, Actress, Whore, Stella Duffy takes some of what is known about Theodora of 6th century Constantinople and turns it into a lively, rollicking historical novel. Theodora is an intelligent young woman who learns and takes on several different roles successfully. This is Duffy’s 12th novel but her first foray into historical fiction.The story is told as a third person narrative, but it is often so vivid I think I must have been reading Theodora herself telling me it in the first person. Duffy also uses a lot of dialogue, often shown in quotation marks but without using “she said” or “he said” – this technique of writing bits like scenes from a play seems very appropriate for a story about a performer and actress and gives the story more immediacy. At the same time, using the third person, Duffy can report her heroine’s feelings and emotions in a way which would seem unrealistic in the first person. The dialogue includes quite a lot of swear words – they are not there to shock, but seem appropriate to the way in which the writer imagines her characters speaking and to the discussions they are having.I was shocked by some scenes, particularly at the beginning where 11 year old Theodora is being brutally trained for theatre work – her teacher sounds like a thug and a bully yet she loves him (not in a sexual way) and continues to remember him with affection.The author's forthright opinions on women's rights, sexuality and everything else are apparent here. I really enjoyed this, although others may object to the imagining of this real historical woman as a feminist icon. Various scenes show how the system is set up to oppress women and how Theodora resists this.Despite the novel’s provocative title, Theodora's days as a performer and sex worker are mostly over at the start of the story in this book, and it is not another prostitute’s memoir turned into a novel and given a historical setting for flavour. There are quite a few sex scenes - sometimes the sex is recreational or romantic, sometimes it is for other purposes.Between her life as a child actress and prostitute (or courtesan) and becoming Empress, Theodora travelled to Africa as the mistress of a man who had been sent there as governor. After this relationship ends messily, she had a series of adventures including religious conversion and a friendship/relationship with another woman before returning to Constantinople. I particularly enjoyed the part of the story involving a woman called Macedonia. The religious part of the story is interesting and important, as it was part of what happened next, but I am not sure I fully understood it. There is more to come before the end of the novel as there is the extraordinary story of how a woman from a lowly social class and of a questionable background became Empress.I found the story of Stella Duffy’s Theodora compelling and entertaining and I would love to spend more time with her if there is a sequel.

  4.50 out of 5

  elkiedee

• A few weeks prior to reading this novel, I came across a short chapter in a history book about Theodora. She was a larger than life character that knew how to command an audience. Theodora lived during a tumultuous time. There is not a lot of documentation about this period and a lot of what we know is speculation. I was really interested in reading Stella Duffy's take on the Empress Theodora. Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore by Stella Duffy depicts Theodora from a young child until her marriage to Justinian I. Theodora's life was not an easy one. As a young girl she was taught to dance, to learn how to turn off her emotions and most of all to survive. Her punishment for misbehaving in her dance lessons sounded torturous. At a young age she was sold to a theater where she began her career as an actress. The title actress was also exchangeable with the title of whore. However life's circumstances did not hinder Theodora from getting what she wanted out of life. In fact some might say she made life play by her rules. I enjoyed the details that Stella Duffy gave to Theodora's life. The author dives into the head of one of the most influential women of ancient Rome and makes her come to life. I appreciated the fact that the author did not hold back from the grittiness and brash life of Constantinople and Theodora. Although there is not explicit sex scenes in this novel, it is spoken of very often. Theodora used her body in what ever way suited her best. Duffy doesn't gloss this issue over.Overall I really like this book. It is an engaging read that will have you wanting to know more about this brazen woman.

  4.00 out of 5

  mt256

• In choosing Theodora of Byzantium for her subject, Stella Duffy picked a definite case of truth trumping fiction. Duffy fills her novel with richly depictive discourse, transporting the reader into a world of political intrigue and religious turmoil, a world where the worth and potential of an individual was most often pre-determined by birth. Born into poverty in a time (mid first century) and place (Byzantium) in which women had very few options, Theodora, daughter of a deceased bear trainer, followed a path considered fortunate for one in her situation. She gained renown on stage as an actress, which sounds innocuous enough to our modern sentiments, but in her day actresses, along with singers and dancers, became prostitutes to their audiences after their onstage work was concluded. Ms. Duffy uses this early portion of the novel to display for us the strength of Theodora’s resolve to rise above her current status, the culture and chaos of Constantinople, and the squalor from which our heroine succeeds in rising. To understand why Theodora is such an anomaly, and thus why she is to be so greatly admired, one must understand the situation from whence she came. Disclosing too much of the plot would, I feel, rob readers of some of the narrative pull with which the amazing sequence of events of Theodora’s life endows this novel. Once immersed in her tale, it is a difficult book to put down. The story concludes with Theodora’s marriage to the emperor Justinian I and her coronation as empress of Byzantium. Initially I was very annoyed by the ending. In order to fully appreciate the transformative nature of this woman and understand the complete measure of her intelligence you must explore her role as Justinian’s consort. I am happy to report that Stella Duffy announces on the book’s Penguin page that she is working on a sequel, to be titled The Purple Shroud.There is one single element that kept this from being a five star book for me. The book made liberal use of the “F word”. It made me approach the first sex scene with some trepidation, as it seemed to indicate that Ms. Duffy’s writing in that area might be a bit raunchy for my taste. That ended up being not at all the case. Which left me wondering: who is the intended audience for this book? It lacks the explicit sex which the more profane reader might expect, and its copious research would lead one to believe it is aimed at serious readers of historical fiction, who generally, in my experience, appreciate better verb selection. Yes, some might argue that the word is used to show a certain degeneracy of Theodora’s character. I feel it degraded Stella Duffy’s literary gifts. Through wonderful, descriptive prose Ms. Duffy makes clear to the reader the gritty nature of Theodora and her unfortunate origins. If an author does such an admirable job of “showing”, why stoop to the baseness of not only “telling” but doing so with the crassest of four letter words?Overall, I enjoyed this look at one of history’s oft ignored women of substance. If the one element mentioned above is not one to put you off, I think that lovers of historical fiction, as well as those who enjoy tales of personal transformation and triumph will find this a satisfying read.

  4.00 out of 5

  careburpee

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