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By Any Other Name
A Novel
“You’ll fall in love with Emilia Bassano, the unforgettable heroine based on a real woman that Picoult brings vividly to life in her brilliantly researched new novel.”—Kristin Hannah, author of The Women
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.
This audiobook contains a bonus PDF with Shakespearean references, Sources and Resources, and an image from the book.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
August 20, 2024 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593948064
- File size: 530852 KB
- Duration: 18:25:55
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Publisher's Weekly
June 3, 2024
Picoult (Wish You Were Here) offers a stimulating if muddled parallel narrative of two women writers, each of whose work is credited to a man. In 1582, poet Emilia Bassano becomes consort to Lord Hunsdon, Queen Elizabeth’s Lord Chamberlain. At the time, women were forbidden to have anything to do with the theater, but when Emilia crosses paths with William Shakespeare, he’s impressed with her work and agrees to pay for the sonnets and plays she’s secretly written if he can take credit for them. Thus begins a working relationship that spans decades. In the present day, Emilia’s descendant Melina Green writes a play about Emilia and Shakespeare, but fears she won’t be able to get it produced after being told that people only relate to plays by men. Unbeknownst to Melina, her roommate, Andre, submits the play to a fringe festival under the pseudonym Mel Green, leading the artistic director to assume the writer is a man. After the play is accepted, Andre poses as Mel during the production, with Melina pretending to be his assistant. The Elizabethan sections, which follow Emilia through an unhappy marriage as the work she wrote for Shakespeare receives acclaim, are the strongest. In comparison, Picoult’s depictions of racism and sexism in the contemporary theater world are a bit simplistic. It’s a mixed bag. Agent: Laura Gross, Laura Gross Literary. -
AudioFile Magazine
Billie Fulford-Brown and Laura Benanti narrate alternating chapters in this dual-timeline novel about two playwrights: one history's most famous writer, the other a contemporary unknown. In 1581, Emilia Bassano is the actual author of the great plays now attributed to the Stratford glove-maker's son, William Shakespeare. In the present, Melina Green is a playwright who is having difficulty getting her work produced. The frustrated Melina is portrayed by Benanti in a strident voice that reflects her anger. Benanti's performance contrasts with Fulford-Brown's soft-spoken, melodic portrayal of Emilia. Rehearsal skits echoing Emilia's life, performed by talented voice actors, are interspersed between the two timelines. In this production listeners are treated to a contemporary play and multiple selections from Shakespeare's plays and poems. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine -
Library Journal
December 6, 2024
Melina Green is writing a play about her ancestor Emilia Bassano. In the 1580s, Emilia was raised and schooled by English aristocrats. At age 13, she is forced to become mistress to the Lord Chamberlain. She writes plays and poetry, but, as a woman, she cannot get her writing published. Instead, she collaborates with William Shakespeare, an aspiring writer who lacks talent; he buys her plays and poems, takes credit for them, and rises to fame. Emilia finally finds a publisher for her poetry and becomes the first woman to be published. Or is she? In the present day, Melina's male friend submits her play to a contest, and Melina convinces him to temporarily take credit for writing the drama. That fiction takes on a life of its own until the truth is revealed. The storyline alternates between Melina and Emilia, who encounter parallel problems while striving for recognition, underlining the long struggle for equality in a male-dominated world. Unfortunately, Picoult's novel, which is accompanied by an author's note on her inspiration and research process, is over-long, can be repetitive, and lacks the surprise ending that tends to characterize her novel. Still, the full cast expertly breathes life into the tale. VERDICT Despite the issues mentioned, this is still a story worth hearing.--Joanna M. Burkhardt
Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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