THEODORA: ACTRESS. EMPRESS. WHORE BY STELLA DUFFY, VIRAGO, $29.99.
When her father dies, Theodora survives by performing for men on the stage of Constantinople’s Hippodrome and in bed. Yet she will rise from the backstage brothels of the Byzantine Empire to become one of the most powerful women in the world.
Stella Duffy digs up the bones of this true story and gives them flesh. Ancient Constantinople comes to life, from the streets to the grounds and power plays of the palace. Theodora grows into a wild adolescent, a Christian convert, a wife and ruler. In the wrong hands, her story could become overblown, but Duffy keeps her life grounded in the context of the political and religious turmoil of the time and tells the story with intelligence.
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