A captivating novel about two women, centuries apart, fighting to be heard—one of whom may be the real author of Shakespeare's plays—from the New York Times #1 bestselling author of Wish You Were Here.

This is an amazing novel that does a deep-dive into the validity of Shakespeare's works and who the true author might be.
It also sheds a spotlight onto the ongoing bias within the theater industry.
Emelia's character and story was the most compelling to me honestly and I found myself wanting to go back and read more about her. She was so beautifully crafted and complex and seems to have been born centuries earlier than she should have been. Melina's story was great as well and did a good job intertwining with Emelia’s showing how things can constantly change and yet in the ways of bias, stay the same.
Thank you for NetGalley for this Arc.

🌹 Jodi Picoult's latest novel, By Any Other Name, is tremendously well-written, with lyrical prose that at times mimics a Shakespearean style, adding a unique and engaging touch to a story that includes The Bard. Picoult's trademark twist is present, making readers see things from a different perspective than they were. Honestly, even the title works so well with the storyline! ✨

🌹By Any Other Name investigates the themes of marginalized voices in history, such as women and other races, women's poverty, and self-sacrifice. Shakespeare as a brand rather than a person is also explored and adds a fascinating piece to the story. It is clear that Picoult's depth of research and understanding of the subject matter is phenomenal. 🎭
📜While the story may not show as many sides to the topic as Picoult's other works typically have, it still offers a thought-provoking and immersive reading experience. The novel will lead you to ponder the authenticity of Shakespeare as a writer, sparking further curiosity and reflection. 🤔
📖 Would I recommend this book? Yes! It is a captivating and provocative read that will leave you questioning the authenticity of Shakespeare as a writer. If you read it with your book club and want some discussion guidance please let me know as I did a lot of work preparing for my book club.

🌟Note🌟: The idea of Shakespeare as a brand came up in my IRL Book Club discussion. It was not my idea but that of @donna.shortt100 and our club’s members all took to the idea, including me. 🌟🌟

By Any Other Name is a thought provoking fascinating story that combines historical fiction and strong determined women that is extremely well researched.

The story is told in dual time lines.

Its 1581 and Emilia Bassano becomes and not by choice the mistress of Lord Chamberlain . She knows that she has a lot to offer the world but its not a woman's world in that era.

She secretly writes poems and plays and eventually has William Shakespeare broker them for her with his name as the author.

Emilia has all sorts of set backs , tragedy but she has found the one true love that is never meant to be.

She is strong, she is determined which had me cheering for her and crying for her.

In 2020 we meet Melina Green who writes plays as well but is convinced after one bad review that if a man had written it she would have won the competition.

Time passes for both ladies and many changes have ensued.

Jodi Picoult has written a well researched book that will have you questioning what you thought you knew. She always leads the reader done a path that has you wanting more so the lights stay on for just one more chapter.

I hated the book to end and I will think about it for a long time to come.

Please take time to read the historical notes they are so educational and are the icing on the cake.

I don't reread many books but By Any Other Name is certainly one I will.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada/Random House for the privilege of reading and reviewing By Any Other Name.

I was excited to receive a complimentary copy of By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult from NetGalley. She is one of my autobuy authors so I was stoked to get to read it before it comes out. The opinions in this review are my own.

This novel gave me a lot to think about. I have not even heard about the possibility of Shakespeare not writing his own work and I even took a Shakespeare class during university. I found it fascinating to read this perspective and I am convinced this is exactly how it happened!

This book wasn't as fast paced as some of her other novels, but I really enjoyed the plot and how it tied in history and Shakespearean prose. I found Melina Green to be a bit selfish and I did not like her character for parts of her storyline. However, I thought that the idea of it being harder to break into the theatre industry if you're not a white male, was an important topic to bring to light. I did however, prefer Emilia Bassano's storyline and actually ended up looking up information up about her after the novel was over.

If you are reading this book, I definitely suggest reading the Author's Notes as this part was super interesting. I would recommend this novel to anyone how likes historical fiction and has read a Shakespeare play before.

Thoroughly enjoyed this read! I'm a fan of Jodi Picoult's but needed to take a break a few years ago as I was finding her writing a bit formulaic so I haven't read everything she's written. This read was a pleasant surprise and anything BUT formulaic! Would not have thought Ms. Picoult would tackle and be so successful in historical fiction. I loved how she challenged Shakespeare's legacy and reminds us that we continue to have ALOT of work to do for women and diverse groups in theatre and beyond TODAY! I really enjoyed both POVs and appreciated the character development and depth in the storyline. YES! More like this please and thank you! 4.5 stars!! Such a good summer read!

This was such an interesting read, and first of all, I am ABSOLUTELY on board with the overall premise that Emilia Bassano wrote most of Shakespeare's plays. I will be doing no further research, I trust Jodi. LOL

Aside from that, this ARC did have some major formatting issues, a few scenes were repeated, and one was in the total wrong place. If that is fixed, the flow would be much better. At the beginning I was more invested in Melina's timeline, but by the end it was absolutely Emilia's.

Fascinating and disturbing!

I have been reading Jodi's books for a very long time, she always surprises us with plot twists and turns. Loved this!

As a big fan of Jodi Picoult unfortunately this one fell very flat for me.
I love that she puts her whole being in the books she writes. She does so much research that the stories usually jump off the page and stick with you.
Unfortunately for me this one didn’t hit anything for me. I’m not a fan of broadway, or historical fiction. If you are a fan of them this should definitely be on your must read list.
I will still always reach for another Jodi Picoult story again tho.