She'd always imagined her song for Emilia would quietly develop, and one day she would sit at her piano or the desk, take a blank music sheet, and begin the first sweet bars. It did not begin like that... It's 1964 and Sandra turns 19. She is studying at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and playing piano with fellow student Billy at a jazz club. She wonders if she's still in love with Nick but he is far away, having left university to help his father on the family property during the drought. A letter comes from best friend Emilia that shatters their bond, and Sandra's long-promised 'Song for Emilia' becomes a storm of hatred and love for her oldest friend.

She'd always imagined her song for Emilia would quietly develop, and one day she would sit at her piano or the desk, take a blank music sheet, and begin the first sweet bars. It did not begin like that... It's 1964 and Sandra turns 19. She is studying at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and playing piano with fellow student Billy at a jazz club. She wonders if she's still in love with Nick but he is far away, having left university to help his father on the family property during the drought. A letter comes from best friend Emilia that shatters their bond, and Sandra's long-promised 'Song for Emilia' becomes a storm of hatred and love for her oldest friend.

Reproduction of the original.

This could be a charming little story of Peter and Katy growing up out in the country with their children, Emilia, Addison (Addy), and various animals. It could be that, but it isn’t for several reasons. Emilia is actually a fairy princess that has been given to Peter and Katy to raise for her first twenty-five years by the fairy queen and fairy king. They want her to learn all about humans because, in reality, fairies do live among us and need to understand all things human. Peter and Katy are sworn to secrecy and asked not to reveal Emilia’s true nature to her until later. Emilia discovers her powers and abilities somewhat haphazardly as she needs them. Her parents tell her that her abilities must remain a secret. Alas, not everyone has wings. She must be cautious because there are those who hunt fairies for sinister purposes. She is provided with a massive enchanted elk named Hercules for protection. Hercules’s only weakness is Baby Ruth candy bars! He is later joined by a Belgian Malinois named Max as Emilia goes to college and discovers her destiny and a legendary secret. This book has kindness, love, friendship, adversity, faith, danger, perseverance, and excitement woven through it. I hope you enjoy Emilia and her family’s story!

'A spicy work of biographical conjecture ... It's also a rousing reminder of the countless creative women who have been written out of history or have had to fight relentlessly to make themselves heard.' EVENING STANDARD 'The great virtue of Lloyd Malcolm's speculative history lies in its passion and anger: it ends with a blazing address to the audience that is virtually a call to arms. It is throughout, however, a highly theatrical piece ... In rescuing Emilia from the shades, [the play] gives her dramatic life and polemical potency.' GUARDIAN The little we know of Emilia Bassano Lanier (1569 - 1645) is that she may have been the Dark Lady of Shakespeare's Sonnets, mistress of Lord Chamberlain, one of the first English female poets to be published, a mother, teacher who founded a school for women, and radical feminist with North African ancestry. Living at a time when women had such limited opportunities, Emilia Lanier is therefore a fascinating subject for this speculative history. In telling her story, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm represents the stories of women everywhere whose narratives have been written out of history. Originally commissioned for Shakespeare's Globe with an all-female cast, Emilia is published here as a Methuen Drama Student Edition with commentary and notes by Elizabeth Schafer, Professor of Drama at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK.