Jodi Picoult - By Any Other Name

Young playwright Melina Green has just written a new work inspired by the life of her Elizabethan ancestor Emilia Bassano. But seeing it performed is unlikely, in a theater world where the playing field isn’t level for women. As Melina wonders if she dares risk failure again, her best friend takes the decision out of her hands and submits the play to a festival under a male pseudonym.
In 1581, young Emilia Bassano is a ward of English aristocrats. Her lessons on languages, history, and writing have endowed her with a sharp wit and a gift for storytelling, but like most women of her day, she is allowed no voice of her own. Forced to become a mistress to the Lord Chamberlain, who oversees all theatre productions in England, Emilia sees firsthand how the words of playwrights can move an audience. She begins to form a plan to secretly bring a play of her own to the stage—by paying an actor named William Shakespeare to front her work.
Told in intertwining timelines, By Any Other Name, a sweeping tale of ambition, courage, and desire centers two women who are determined to create something beautiful despite the prejudices they face. Should a writer do whatever it takes to see her story live on . . . no matter the cost? This remarkable novel, rooted in primary historical sources, ensures the name Emilia Bassano will no longer be forgotten.

Comment: I brought this book from the library. No specific reason, only it seemed interesting and I did like other books by the author...

In this tale of two women who live in different times but who are connected both in blood and in their love for the theater, the important thing is to be certain their voice can be heard.

In 2012 Melina Green, a descendant of Emilia, is also dreaming o being a writer but just like Emilia, her worth as woman isn't taken seriously among those who make the rules. She has a bad experience while in college and that is why, years later, she is reluctant to submit a play based on her ancestor. Everything changes when her best friend submits it for her... and just like Emilia did in her day, he does it using a male pseudonym... but will Melina be able to come clean about her identity?

In 1581, Emilia Bassano sees her life change when her guardian leaves and cannot take her, and this is how Emilia has to become the courtesan of Lord Chamberlain, a patron of the arts. Emilia does love writing and the theater and her passion for both is developed as the becomes used to her new status, but so does her feelings for the count of Southampton, a man she can not have. Emilia feels she needs to do what she loves, but she is aware a woman could never come out to the public as a playwright.

This book was engrossing and I went through the more than 400 pages of it very quickly, and only didn't finish sooner because of work. How our perception changes because ten years ago or more, when I read Keeping Faith, my first attempt with this author, I wasn't too impressed. Now, her writing just seems very appealing and I feel compelled to keep reading...

This book is divided into two parts. We alternatively follow the life of Emilia while she goes from a 12 year old until she is an old woman, and we follow Melina from her college years on, while we see how they both struggle to see themselves as play writers in a world still dominated by men and still oriented for men. I liked both sections, although Emilia's were harder to read at times, because we know she had no option but to become what the male members of her family wanted, and Melina at least has rights.

For a while I was preferring Melina's sections, because those are easier to go through, and they are obviously easier to relate to as well. There is also a slight hint at romance and I can be honest by saying that if this had been only a romance novel about Melina and her love interest, in this world of play writing, I'd be happy enough. I actually think this section was underdeveloped... it does touch way more themes than I imagined, and I think the personal relationships kind of suffered for it, due to the fact her sections seem to be more about a message than Melina's development.

Emilia's sections are way more complex, not only because of her life and what it means to be a woman at a time there were no rights nor way for women to have a voice in their lives, but because of who she is in the plot. I confess I wasn't too keen on her for a while, I had a hard time going through the passages in which she is powerless to avoid her fate of becoming a courtesan  but once she is established as such and even has some fondness for her lover, I started to be more and more in syn with her emotions and even though my commiseration for her never ended, I could appreciate her efforts more.

The point of this novel, I'd say, is to highlight how unfair women are treated and have been so, when it comes to acknowledging their intelligence, their skill and their right to be as successful as men in the play writing world. The author certainly studied the subject and to base this plot on, she picked up the theory which claims Shakespeare didn't actually write his plays (there are historical facts at the end of the book and notes on the author's research as well) and had deals with others who could not publish them on their own, including Emilia.

I mean, I won't say I think this is likely or not because I have no real academic knowledge of the issue, but the way the information is specifically presented for this book makes it seem possible, at least. Of course the philosophical and social debate about it makes for an interesting conflict in certain moments of the story,both in Emilia and Melina's sections. There are several details the author used that give come sense of credibility to the role of women in theater and even assuming it wasn't as described, it still gave me food for thought.

The end was kind of predictable, with some slight personal development there, mostly for Melina. I was still happy with how her section ended, and what went into it, but... again, it could have been so much better. As for Emilia's, well, I've cried and that is all I'll say...

All in all, a very compelling read... I'll keep on reading more by this author...

Grade: 8/10