By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult

Melina Green is a young playwright who has just written a new work that was inspired by her ancestor Emilia Bassano,who lived in the Elizabethan period. Seeing it performed is unlikely, however, because in the theater world the playing field is not level for women. Melina is wondering if she dares to risk failing again.

In 1581, Emilia Bassano is a ward of English aristocrats. Her lessons in languages, history and writing have given her a sharp wit and a gift for storytelling, but like most of the women of her time, she is allowed no voice of her own. Later forced to become the lord Chamberlain’s mistress, she sees first hand how playwrights can move an audience since lord Chamberlaine oversees all theater productions in England. So she secretly writes a play of her own for the stage, with an actor and aspiring male playwright fronting her work.

Emilia has very little to say for her life, she is shipped away to be a courtesan at 13 after her mistress marries. She struggles with the unfavorable position being a courtesan puts her in. Although the man she was bought by is kind to her and is head of theater and values her input as a writer despite her being a woman.

By Any Other Name is told in intertwining timelines and is a tale of ambition, courage and desire and it brings together two ancestors who are both determined to create something beautiful despite the prejudices that they face. This book occurs in dual timelines. Emilia is in 1581 and Melina is in 2023, showing how even though many years have passed, some things have not changed even though they are in different countries and time periods. There are varying degrees of limited views on women, in Emilia’s case, there are some very misogynist views, in Melina’s time patriarchal views as it pertains to the stage in the theater community women are more likely to get criticized then men especially if they are white men that is of course if they even read the play that fact is partly why Melina’s friend shortens her name to the more male sounding Mel when he enters her into the contest.

She won the contest Andre entered her in, but now, because of the name Mel Green, everyone is expecting a man. She has Andre pose as Mel Green and she poses as his assistant Andrea. This will have consequences neither of them could have imagined. As for Emilia, she discovers someone she met long ago and falls in love, eventually becoming pregnant, which has lifelong consequences.

This is my favorite book by Jodi Picoult and I have read many. The historical fiction elements and the story itself are fantastic. I recommend this book to anyone who likes books about writers and historical fiction and speculation about the events the book explores. It also looks at society and what still needs to improve.

I thank Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for providing an e-arc of this book and NetGalley for its book review platform.