By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult

 

I admire Jodi Picoult's work.  She takes hard topics and weaves a human story around it with care and with truth.  Often a Picoult book is hard to read; always a Picoult book makes you think.

Sometimes a Picoult book can change your mind.

There have been several theories about the work of Shakespeare.  Some people believe he didn't actually write the plays with his name on them.  Picoult takes this theory into two timelines and explores this idea, cleverly lining up why a woman in the 1590's would not be able to claim authorship on a play with a more current story of prejudice against female playwrights today.

First, the cover is beautiful.  Second, the name of this book is PERFECTION.  Third, the first few chapters of this book are hard to read.  But I am glad I did not let that stop me from reading.  Our two main characters, Emilia in 1590 and Melina in 2023, face what many women face - very little choice.  Emilia is raised with education and in wealth but then is pretty much sold into being a "courtesan" - a mistress to a titled man.  She is treated very well there, but yearns for more after being educated.  She turns to writing but has no opportunities to do anything with her words.  Then she meets Kit Marlowe and he makes a proposition that will change her life.

Melina is a struggling playwright herself and has faced discrimination due to her gender.  When she learns of a connection to Emilia, she knows the story she wants to tell.  And she ropes her best (male) friend into helping her.  

See where we are going here?

Picoult sprinkles lots of references to Shakespearean phrases throughout the Emilia chapters.  It was fun to catch a few of them!!  And to wonder - how DID Shakespeare know a woman's thoughts and emotions so well?  If he was so educated and sympathetic to a woman's plight, why weren't his own daughters educated?  How could he have described the palace in Denmark or weddings in Italy if he had never been there?  And why weren't there more manuscripts left when he died?

I admit I enjoyed the Emilia chapters the best.  The love interest in Melina's story seemed trite.  But the struggles are real for both women.  And of course, Picoult's writing is simply masterful.  She gives us lots of info in her Author's Note, and even lists out the Shakespeare references at the end.  She only leaves one question for us, which she herself has most definitely answered in her own mind:

What do YOU think???