“By Any Other Name” by Jodi Picoult is a really well-written novel dealing with women who are denied a voice in their lives, in their published works and in history. The novel is part historical fiction and part contemporary drama as it has a dual timeline. I loved this quote from the book-“There once was a girl, who became invisible so that her words might not be.” The works of Shakespeare take a featured role in Picoult’s novel, which I found really interesting!
Emelia Bassano lives in 16th century England and writing plays is her passion – even though she cannot legally write in Elizabethan England. She is forced to become the mistress to a rich lord, but still follows her dreams of writing plays, eventually crossing paths with a young William Shakespeare. Emelia’s life is heartbreaking, but she is a strong woman and her story is amazing. In the 2nd timeline, Melina Green is struggling to get noticed as a playwright and to have her work performed on-stage in 2020 America. Men seem to control all aspects of the theater world and Melina fears she will never be given a fair chance to share her talent. I was invested in both stories – Emelia’s and Melina’s – although Emelia had to suffer much more abuse and suffering.
“By Any Other Name” is a long novel with REALLY long chapters. It does take concentration to read it, because of the many Shakespearean quotes and terminology. If you love historical fiction, give it a chance though – the beginning is a little slow, but the story became fascinating to me after a few chapters. I found myself looking up quite a few Elizabethan/Shakespearean topics and terms while reading. I never realized that so many references point to the doubt of Shakespeare actually writing his famous works!