By Any Other Name
Jodi Picoult

Over the course of nearly 30 novels, Jodi Picoult has crafted a host of memorable dilemmas and explored a great many themes. But there are two that she returns to… because they will never stop being both significant and emotive: who gets to tell a story? and what must women do to be truly seen?

It’s these two themes that take centre stage in By Any Other Name, and they do so by spanning four hundred years and digging into what might continue to be the most intriguing question of authorship in the Anglophone world.

In Elizabethan England, at the end of the 16th century, a young woman, however talented, has little chance of realising her artistic aspirations. Unless, of course, she can hit upon an ingenious scheme and somehow achieve the social mobility to set it in motion.

Emilia Bassano has a considerable gift for storytelling, and a wit that ought rightly to be celebrated. She’s educated, talented and determined. She knows that she could, that she should, be a literary luminary… but she knows too that nobody will let her in knowingly. However, circumstances have landed her among the aristocracy, and have compelled her to become the mistress of the man in charge of all theatre in London. She sees how the stage captivates, she sees what it is to hold the audience in thrall. And she decides, however it is to be done, that she will get her work onto the stage, that she will be the one to command the crowds – even if they don’t know it is she who’s doing it. She will write the plays. She just needs a man’s name to borrow, a man’s face. Fortunately there is an actor named William who may be persuaded, for a price, to provide her with both.

Years later, in Manhattan, though centuries have passed and epochs have shifted, playwright Melina Green finds that she is faced with a similar barrier. Still, her voice, somehow, is worth less than a man’s. The playing field is still uneven. But the life, and work, of her ancestor, Emilia Bassano, might prove just the inspiration she needs to break through this arbitrary ceiling – even if it means she must give up the credit, just as Emilia did before her. But Will the forfeit be worth it? And, in the present day, should anyone sacrifice their identity to gain an audience?

If you’ve ever wondered how certain we can really be about the works of historic authors, about the sacrifices women of the past have had to make to bring their vision to the world – and why that’s still so difficult – then By Any Other Name is a book you’ll want to get hold of. Bound to be a major favourite for book clubs, it’s a book brimming with discussable complexities: a book as certain to enthral as it is to break hearts and pique curiosities. After all, what if the greatest artists the world has ever known were actually just women fighting to make themselves heard? What if the most celebrated man ever to have held a pen was actually no-one at all?

Based in biographic truth, By Any Other Name boasts all the richness of detail, the characterful emotion and intelligent development that Picoult has spent her career mastering. … and it might just prompt you to play historical detective – and who doesn’t need a dose of that now and then?

Happy Reading!