Rapper Akala releases debut novel, ‘The Dark Lady’

nme.com:

Akala has today (April 26) released his debut novel, The Dark Lady.His first literary release since Natives: Race And Class In The Ruins Of Empire, the novel is aimed at teenagers and young adults.

Set in 16th century London, the novel has been inspired by Shakespeare’s ‘Dark Lady’ sonnets.Opening up about the project on Instagram, Akala said:”My new novel [The Dark Lady] is inspired by Shakespeare’s series of Dark Lady sonnets.A post shared by Akala (@akalamusic)“Most period stories tend to focus on elites and so I wanted to write something from the perspective of poor people from the streets back then and was pleasantly surprised by how much research was available into life in the slums of sixteenth century London and also on the presence.