Breakaway Books

Authored by Jodi Picoult; Published August 2024; Historical Fiction

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️

I don’t cry a lot when I’m reading—but By Any Other Name had me quietly sobbing over the last few chapters. The sheer unfairness of the way women were treated in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is not a surprise, but it can be devastating to read. By Any Other Name managed to sprinkle bits of hope in between the devastation, even if I still felt relatively depressed about the status of women when I finished it.

The book hops between Emilia, a writer living in Shakespeare’s time, and her descendent Melina, trying to make her way as a playwright in post-COVID New York. I was glad for the contrast: It would have been tough to take all of the horrible turns thrown at Emilia in her life without a break, even if Melina’s life isn’t exactly full of sunshine and rainbows either.

The hardest element for me to get over in this book for me was the way that Melina was treated, not just in the twenty-first century but in the past several years. It felt like a caricature, a little too exaggerated—but I don’t know how female playwrights are treated now. I want to believe that they are more respected than they appear to be in this novel. We do not live in a post-sexism era by any means, but I was shocked at just how blatant the depicted sexism was. When I have encountered the slight in my own career, it has been much more insidious, constantly causing me to ask myself: is this because I am a woman…? And never quite knowing for sure.

Regardless, the novel made me appreciate the choices that I am allowed to make in my own 2024 life for myself. I thought Emilia’s story shined through as the stronger of the two, but I am glad to have read them both. As I read through the two stories, I was heartened by the strength of the ladies depicted in both eras, and I found the modern male romantic interest intriguingly quirky—an enemies to lovers tale that I enjoyed more than most.

Incidentally, the lampooning of Shakespeare that is casually strewn throughout the book made me chuckle and added some needed levity.

Unless you’re a die-hard Shakespeare Stan, you should pick this one up. You’ll love it.