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Lady Romeo: The Radical and Revolutionary Life of Charlotte Cushman, America’s First Celebrity
Maybe someday
36
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
28/100Critics
44/100Scholars
Author:
Tana Wojczuk
Publisher:
Avid Reader Press / Simon Schuster
Date:
July 7, 2020
A look behind the curtains at the life of the celebrated 19th century American actress whom Walt Whitman called a "genius" and who played female and male roles to equal acclaim. She was a radical on and off the stage, making an independent income, supporting her family, creating one of the first bohemian artistsâ colonies abroad, and living publicly as a queer woman.
What The Reviewers Say
Lady Romeo by Tana Wojczuk will keep you up at night. Turning the page—hungering for more.
The story is riveting, but unfortunately it is related in the bland manner of a young-adult novel, and the author’s flat, declarative style is ornamented with dubious novelistic touches describing things she can’t possibly have known. Ms. Wojczuk plods through events step by step when she might have skimmed over the duller episodes and dwelt more lovingly on the fun and fascinating material, of which there is a great deal. The book is also poorly edited and fact-checked, with quite a few misstatements.
... a brisk and vivid biography.
The author...respectfully discusses elements of Cushman’s private life, including her sexuality and the people with whom she spent much of her time.
