By Any Other Name

Jodi Picoult is one of my favourite authors, her dedication to a topic and hours of research are evident in all of her books and I find her writing style enjoyable, while still tackling tough and thought provoking topics.

By Any Other Name was very different to her normal books. It was clear that Jodi had put hours of research into this book and it made for incredible reading. I adored the flashbacks to Emilia's life and thought it was captured beautifully, spanning her lifetime, achievements, and many, many struggles. The history was written about wonderfully, with lovely imagery and snippets of true historic events.

Melina's story was also told well, with her own struggles, insights into her personal life and background. I didn't warm to her in the same way I warmed to Emilia but I still found myself rooting for her.

Both tales, interwoven with each other showed strong female characters, hardship and the struggles of being a woman in any time period. I loved the writing, the stories, the theatre elements, the friendships and relationships and the courage of both women.

I thought the ending tied everything up nicely and Jodi has done well with the diversity of the characters. It is vastly different to her usual contemporary / hot topic / crime solving books but she has absolutely nailed it. Even readers who are not normally fans of historical dramas will enjoy this. An easy 5 stars from me and 5 wishes that Jodi will do more books like this.

This is something of a departure for Picoult – although I haven’t read all of her novels, to my knowledge this is her first historical fiction. It contains a lot of her signature motifs: strong female characters, life-changing dilemmas, and seemingly small decisions that turn out to have huge impacts. I think many of her existing readers will enjoy this, and it may win her some new ones.

The novel follows two distinct stories in two timelines. One, in the late 1500s, follows Emilia Bassano. Emilia is a woman who yearns to write, in a time when that’s all but unheard of for a woman. In the end she takes what seems to be the only option open to her: she asks a male playwright to buy her plays and claim them as his own.

Centuries later, in the early 2000s, Melina Green is also a woman who wants to write. At first she seems headed for success as a playwright. However, sexism and a vicious and biased review derail her. Years later, she wants passionately to tell the story of her ancestor, Emilia – the writer who may have written some of “Shakespeare’s” most acclaimed plays. She’s having no luck, until her roommate enters one of her plays in a competition… under a male name.

This story is peppered with many references not just to Shakespeare’s plays, but to the scholarship that suggests some or all of them were written by other people. Frankly, I found it convincing and fascinating. Picoult has obviously had to make some considerable guesses about Emilia’s life as the historical record is pretty scant. However, it’s convincing and vivid. Picoult tells her story with empathy and understanding.

This novel has similarities with Karen Brooks’ “The Escapades of Tribulation Johnson”, in which Aphra Behn, the first acknowledged and published female playwright in English history, appears. I enjoyed that one too, and many readers may find it a good companion to “By Any Other Name”.

I often find stories set in this period which aim for historical accuracy to be somewhat frustrating. Women at that time were so hemmed in, and had so few choices, that I chafe for them. I know it’s realistic, but I really wanted Emilia to be able to do things differently. In this case, I found that frustration somewhat diluted by the modern storyline.

Yes, sexism and other people’s choices, and the perceptions they impose on Melina all force her life onto paths she wouldn’t have chosen for herself (much like Emilia, if I need to spell it out). However, in this period she has more options and more agency, and is ultimately able to reclaim her narrative, both literally and figuratively.

I really enjoyed this novel. I appreciated the shades of grey in some characters’ behaviour and motivations. I was moved by the stories of two strong women. And I really valued the genuine historical research woven into this story.

I will publish this review closer to publication date and will return to add review links then. Thank you.