The Purple Shroud: A Novel of Empress Theodora

Praise for
Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore

“
Theodora
is a best-of-all-worlds book—entertaining, gripping, thought-ful, and dangerously enlightening. Stella Duffy, a versatile and gifted novelist, is uniquely suited to bringing Theodora to life. She clearly has great affection for her subject, but does not allow that to undercut her keen eye and pitch-perfect ear. An achievement that many writers will envy and few will equal.”

—Laura Lippman, author of
I’d Know You Anywhere

“Duffy’s passion for her heroine, the charismatic Theodora, is evident on every page. The result is a novel that remains true to its historical sources, while managing to reinvent its subject matter with great freshness and verve. A vivid and affectionate portrait of one of the most fascinating personalities of the ancient world.”

—Sarah Waters, author of
The Little Stranger

“If ever there was a woman whose power, reputation, and stature in history demand the same fascination as Cleopatra, it’s Theodora.”

—
The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Lively and dramatic. Duffy explores themes of sexuality, theater, religious conversion, female oppression, and the struggle for power and recognition in a sixth-century historical setting with a surprisingly contemporary attitude.”

—
Library Journal

“Duffy’s seductive retelling of the story of the legendary empress Theodora will delight historical fiction fans…. A portrait of a woman who rose from misfortune and poverty to build an empire alongside a devoted husband.”

—Publishers Weekly

“In
Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore
, Stella Duffy’s brilliantly organized imagination has reimagined one of the most resourceful, smart, and emotionally complex women in history, creating a woman remarkably relevant to the twenty-first century: a rags-to-riches story of survival and achievement—a feminist reality tale we can all relate to. Read this book. It is a gift from Stella Duffy we should not refuse.”

—
Lambda Literary Review

“A bravura performance: a witty, moving, sexy book that bursts with as much color and excitement as the city of Constantinople itself… This is a book that engages with big ideas and yet it is also a joyous and energetic read…. On the strength of this book, a sequel can hardly come quickly enough.”

—
Financial Times

“Not only is Theodora herself engagingly brought to life as a sassy, wise-cracking tart with a heart, but Constantinople, the great im-perial capital whose crowds she woos and seduces, is also a pulsingly vivid presence. All is set for the sequel, then. I look forward to it.”

—Tom Holland,
The
Guardian
(London)

“Compelling… Duffy succeeds brilliantly in breathing life into her heroine.”

—
Mail on Sunday
(London)

“Colourful, compelling.”

—
The Independent
(London; “Summer’s Best of the Best”)

“Duffy has carefully followed the history of Theodora, but has achieved something much more: the creation for her heroine of a real inner life, which is the most affecting achievement of a his-torical novel.”

—
The Independent
(London)

“A splendid subject, traced with energy and much juicy detail.”

—
The Sunday Times
(London)

“Theodora is exquisitely summoned by Duffy…. A story rich in colour, texture, and taste, told in a fleet-footed narrative.”

—
Daily Telegraph
(London)

PENGUIN BOOKS

THE PURPLE SHROUD

Stella Duffy has written thirteen novels, ten plays, and forty-five short stories, including several for BBC Radio. Her novels have twice been longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction, she is a recipient of the Crime Writers’ Association Short Story Dagger Award, and she has twice won Stonewall Writer of the Year. In addition to her writing work, she is an actor and theater director.

THE PURPLE SHROUD

STELLA DUFFY

PENGUIN BOOKS

ALWAYS LEARNING

PEARSON

In memory of my sister-in-law Leah Silas

1957–2011

A
s ever, thanks are due to my agents Stephanie Cabot and Lucinda Prain, and to the triumvirate of editors – Antonia Hodgson, Emily Murdock Baker and Stephen Morrison, all of whom were enormously generous in their work on this book. Zoe Gullen, Zoe Hood, Rebecca Lang and many others at Virago, Little, Brown, and Penguin (US) have been hugely enthusiastic about these two novels and have made the work of creating and selling them much less like work. I am indebted to the Ravennese of the Giallo Luna Nero Notte who first showed me the mosaics in the Church of San Vitale, Ravenna. Gratitude, as always, to my wife Shelley Silas and to the Board who understand precisely what ‘being a writer’ is like. Finally, I’m grateful to Theodora herself, with whom I have worked, dreamed and played for the past six years.

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Forty-One

Theodora

B
orn in
AD
500, Theodora began life in Constantinople as a dancer, an acrobat, and – as with many who earned their living on stage and off – a sometime courtesan. By the time she was eighteen this daughter of a bear-keeper was the star of the Hippodrome stage, and horrified her loved ones when she deserted her fame to become mistress of the Governor of the Pentapolis, in North Africa. Following the painful breakdown of that relationship, she underwent a religious conversion in the desert outside Alexandria, later making a new life in Antioch.

When she was twenty-one, her mentor Timothy, Patriarch of Alexandria, sent Theodora back to Constantinople to meet the new Consul, the studious and serious Justinian, nephew of the Emperor Justin. The ex-whore ordered by a leader of the Church to make herself amenable to a potential Emperor. No one working behind the scenes to bring Theodora to prominence – including the eunuch Narses, already a vital figure in Justinian’s political life – expected their relationship to be anything more than a useful alliance. Everyone, including Theodora and Justinian, was surprised when the strategic coalition became a marriage of love. On the death of his
uncle, Justinian was named Emperor and Theodora was anointed Empress beside him, ruling together from the seat of government in Constantinople.