Review: By Any Other Name

Title: By Any Other Name

Author: Jodi Picoult

Publisher: 20th August 2024 by Allen & Unwin

Pages: 528 pages

Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Historical Fiction | Contemporary | Feminism

Rating: 5 crowns

Synopsis:

From the New York Times bestselling co-author of Mad Honey comes an “inspiring” (Elle) novel about two women, centuries apart—one of whom is the real author of Shakespeare’s plays—who are both forced to hide behind another name.

Young playwright Melina Green has just written a new work inspired by the life of her Elizabethan ancestor Emilia Bassano. But seeing it performed is unlikely, in a theater world where the playing field isn’t level for women. As Melina wonders if she dares risk failure again, her best friend takes the decision out of her hands and submits the play to a festival under a male pseudonym.

In 1581, young Emilia Bassano is a ward of English aristocrats. Her lessons on languages, history, and writing have endowed her with a sharp wit and a gift for storytelling, but like most women of her day, she is allowed no voice of her own. Forced to become a mistress to the Lord Chamberlain, who oversees all theatre productions in England, Emilia sees firsthand how the words of playwrights can move an audience. She begins to form a plan to secretly bring a play of her own to the stage—by paying an actor named William Shakespeare to front her work.

Told in intertwining timelines, By Any Other Name, a sweeping tale of ambition, courage, and desire centers two women who are determined to create something beautiful despite the prejudices they face. Should a writer do whatever it takes to see her story live on . . . no matter the cost? This remarkable novel, rooted in primary historical sources, ensures the name Emilia Bassano will no longer be forgotten.

My Thoughts

‘What do you say when you know your words will be your last? I was here. I mattered.’

I have long wanted to read a Jodi Picoult book and if By Any Other Name is an indication of her writing …. boy have I been missing out! What a read! This will easily be one of my top picks for 2024! Her blend of historical fiction and powerful feminism in both timelines was mind blowing. 

‘There was such magic in language. It could bring you to tears, pull you to the edge of your seat, make you sigh with relief. It could draw you out of the world when you needed to escape, and at other times hold up a looking glass to the world as it was.’

This is the story of two talented women from different eras but who face the same prejudices - they both hide behind someone else’s name in order for their work to be recognised. Yes, you read correctly, seemingly so little change from Elizabethan days to today - the same obstacles presenting themselves. The issues women face both then and now is front and centre in this amazing book. I admired both narratives. 

‘Emilia Bassano deserved to be more than a footnote in someone else’s history.’

Then there are the issues concerning William Shakespeare and whether he was capable (there is considerable evidence to suggest otherwise) of being the author of all his written works. The fact that in Jodi’s Endnotes, she predicts that she will receive much hate mail regarding this book is incredulous.  ‘For years we have been given a version of Shakespeare’s work through a patriarchal lens and it’s hard to unlearn that.’ “History,” she said, “is written by those in power … and when it came to history, absence of evidence was not evidence of absence.’

“I cannot write a play, Kit.” “You cannot put your name on a play. That is not the same thing.”

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It’s a great story, a long one but well worth the journey if you open both your heart and mind. It is so well constructed, it took my breath away. 

“Even the villains are the heroes of their own stories,” she said. “I do not know what that means,” Henry said, frowning. Emilia turned to him. “It means there is nothing either good or bad,” she said softly. “But thinking makes it so.”

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This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.