Pale Mistress: LOVER. COURTESAN. SURVIVOR.

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“Let heaven and men and devils, let them all, all, cry shame against me, yet I’ll speak…” Cyprus, 16th century. Murder, lies and vengeance has left lovers dead, promises broken and no one to trust. Only one woman survives, Bianca.The slain? History knows their names: Emilia, Desdemona, Othello.But why do we not know Bianca? Who was the pale mistress? Liar or lied to? Instigator or victim? In telling one woman’s story, Naomi Kelsey dazzlingly recasts a Shakespearean tragedy as a psychological thriller of jealousy and gaslighting, ambition and envy, and the making and breaking of one of Shakespeare’s most notorious villains, Iago.For fans of Douglas Stuart (Young Mungo), Stephen King (The Life of Chuck), Elodie Harper (The Temple of Fortuna), Helen Steadman (God of Fire), and Susanna Clarke (The Wood at Midwinter). Show more