Sisters & Courtesans

“The idea for the book came to me when I realized that before Anne Bradstreet, the only women writing poetry were outside of their prescribed societal role as wives and mothers,” explains Evans. “Typically they were nuns or women of easy virtue, because everyone else was too busy having babies and raising chickens. I thought it would be interesting to explore some of those outsiders’ lives. I made a conscious decision to challenge conventional morality, so don’t expect all the courtesans to be wicked sinners. Both groups also contain a mix of women happy and miserable with their lot. The idea is that as you read the sonnets the boundaries between the sisters and courtesans blur until ultimately you are only aware of their humanity.”