Let me be the first to admit that my knowledge of theatre is almost non-existent. My knowledge of Shakespeare, apart from a few well-known phrases from plays, is limited to that which I recall from my matric prescribed work, Romeo and Juliet, that being more than 50 years ago. That being said, the striking cover and the title sparked my interest. I was somewhat intimidated by the volume of the novel by Jodi Picoult, but when I plucked up the courage, I was soon captivated by the story, set in two time frames, more than four hundred years apart.
The common demoninator is the prejudice against female playwrights, of which Emilia Bassano was a victim. Although documentation of that time is limited, it is speculated that Emilia was indeed the author of numerous plays published under the name of William Shakespeare. “You wish for everyone to know your name; I wish for no one to know mine.” (p.198) The modern story, that of playwright, Melina Green, is crafted to reflect the gender bias in theatre, which according to internet searches, is still very much ongoing.
In the extensive Author’s note, the author confesses to “embellished history” and interesting facts that she uncovered after writing the manuscript. The plot is convincing, the reference to plays as ascribed to the writing of Emilia, makes perfect sense within the context. It also sparked a wish that I was more familiar with Shakespearian plays, but to that point I could refer to page by page Shakespearian references provided by the author. In the process of working through the 500+ pages of this novel, I have also encountered jargon associated with theatre and playwriting, thus quite an enlightening reading experience.
Because I have not read a book by Jodi Picoult for the longest time, I will not even attempt a comparison to her other work. Suffices to say that By any other name should appeal to readers who enjoy historical fiction, and can stomach a very lengthy read.
The edition that I was priviledged to receive, is made available by Penguin Random House South Africa.
