Author: Jodi Picoult
Publisher: BallentineBooks
ISBN: 9780593497210
A failed playwrightdiscovers she’s related to the 16th-century woman rumored to be thereal talent behind Shakespeare’s work. The playwright decides topay homage to the woman to work out her insecurities about her placein modern theater. Author Jodi Picoult turns out a surprisinglydisappointing novel in her newest book, By Any Other Name.
Playwright Melina Greenhas spent a decade trying to rise above her most humiliating episode.When she was in college, Melina’s mentor encouraged her to enter amajor competition. Winning the competition would have opened the mostimportant doors for Melina in the theater world, a notoriouslydifficult place for women. A scathing review of her play by one ofthe harshest critics at The New York Times, though, takes her workout of the running for any kind of recognition.
Now, ten years later,Melina is living in New York City and pursuing her dreams the hardway. When she learns that she’s related to about Emilia Bassano,Melina knows at last here’s someone who would understand how shefeels. Emilia Bassano was one of the ghostwriters who madeShakespeare famous.
Melina writes a scriptbased on Emilia’s life to expose Shakespeare for the phony he was,but she can’t work up the nerve to submit her play to an upcomingfestival. On a drunken night her best friend, Andre, submits thescript under a male pseudonym, and the play is accepted into thefestival. Except people think Andre wrote the play. Now, Melina isliving Emilia’s experiences on the page as well as in real life.
In England in 1581, EmiliaBassano goes from being the ward of a courtier to the mistress of thepowerful Lord Chamberlain who is in charge of all British theaterproductions. Through him, Emilia learns about the world of plays andplaywrights, strikes up a close friendship with author ChristopherMarlowe, and learns of an upstart named William Shakespeare who wantsto earn a living from writing but can’t string a sensible scenetogether. She also begins working on her own writing in earnest.
Emilia strikes a deal withShakespeare: she’ll write and let him use his name on the plays fora cut of the profits. Shakespeare agrees, and Emilia’s work risesto prominence even as she herself experiences some of the greatesthardships a woman can undergo.
Author Jodi Picoult’sattention to detail through the extensive research she does is secondto none in every book she writes, and the same is true for EmiliaBassano’s story. The author shares in a note how she herself firstheard about Emilia and then began digging into the woman’s life.Based on a careful review of Emilia and the events and people aroundher, Picoult builds a strong case for the courtesan being one of thepeople ghostwriting for Shakespeare.
The disappointment in thebook comes in other areas, namely the writing itself. Informationshared through the narrative is shared a second time in dialogue afew pages later without any additional information added. Emilia andother 16th-century characters speak in modern-day English in somescenes but then in more archaic speech in others. Melina’s entirestory arc, given equal weight and importance on the page, feelsseverely underdeveloped and could have been dispensed withcompletely.
The shock comes inPicoult’s anger that sparks on every page. Given the author’spersonal beliefs and publicized recent experiences, her frustrationis understandable and justified. In fact, she’s used these feelingsin the past to take on other hot-button issues like abortion andracism.
Picoult’s carefulthoughtfulness in her research and development of characters shinesin previous novels, offering a balanced, fair view of all sides. Hereher characters are stereotypical, sometimes cardboard cutouts, thatfeel more like stand-ins on a fourth or fifth draft. The point shemakes, often bluntly, is clear: Shakespeare was a cheat and a hackwho doesn’t deserve recognition for anything other than being athief.
Proving the veracity ofany text that’s nearly 430 years old is an immense challenge, and,again, Picoult’s logic is sound. Her arguments, through Melina andEmilia, are heated enough to draw attention away from those soundarguments, however, leaving a hollow sense of vindication. Emiliagets her due through Melina, but Melina’s self-suppression feels inpoor taste.
Those looking for a strongalternative to the idea that Shakespeare alone penned his work maywant to check this out. Anyone wanting a book that is able to presentthe idea with Picoult’s famous even-handedness may want to checkout some of her previous works instead. By Any Other Name by JodiPicoult Borders on Bypassing it.