By Some Other Author?

Imagine you are a female blogger.  Because you are a woman, you aren't allowed to blog.  So, if you want to, you have to have a man publish your blog posts - and he gets all the credit.  All the fame. Chances are, you would be forgotten by history.

By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult takes a controversy that has been raging for hundreds of years - were Shakespeare's plays written by William Shakespeare, or by other persons (perhaps more than one) under his name - and bases a historical novel on this question.  

Most of the people suggested as the possible true authors of Shakespeare's plays are men, perhaps more than one man, but what if one or more were women?  Perhaps it was women, knowledgeable of the theater, who could not publish plays under their own name because that just wasn't done, but had to have them published by a man? The man, of course, got the credit, the fame, most of the money, and would be known forever as their author.  Or, maybe just one woman wrote some of those plays?

Now, what if one of this woman's descendants struggles here in modern day America as she tries to get her play, based on the life of her ancestor, performed?

That is the basic plot of By Any Other Name, the second novel by Jodi Picoult I've read.

First, a confession (please hold the hate mail and comments).  I had to read Shakespeare's plays in junior high and high school English.  I hated them. I dreaded them.  I couldn't understand the language.  I couldn't visualize the action.  As an adult, I've never sought them out, either to read or to watch a play, or to see a movie based on one of them.

It didn't matter which plays they were.  I remember I had to read The Taming of the Shrew,  Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, and probably one of the historical plays like Richard III.  I remember none of them fondly.  It was a joyless slog for this person who loves to read and always has.

So, why would I even want to read this book? 

I took the chance because I absolutely loved the other Jodi Picoult book I read, Wish You Were Here.  Plus, I enjoy an occasional historical fiction book.

I was instantly absorbed into the book, but I also had some disappointments along the way.  Nevertheless, I gave it four stars out of five on Goodreads.

My observations:

1.  It was obvious Jodi Picoult put in many hours of research on Elizabethan England and modern theater.  I should note that Emilia Bassano Lanier, who Picoult posits as the woman who may have written several of Shakespeare's plays, was a real person who led a hard but fascinating life.  She has modern day descendants, some of whom may be living in Tennessee.  

I love extensively researched writing and Jodi Picoult put hours and hours of research into this book.  It shows, and perhaps that's why I was more drawn to the Emilia Bassano

2.  I loved the Emilia Bassano portions of the story, although I also thought the plot dragged with too much explanation occasionally. I was much less enthusiastic about the story of her descendant, Melina Green.  I especially felt that Green's dialogs discussing the sexism and racism of the modern theater did not flow naturally from context, but were just words put into the characters' mouths to express the author's opinions.  

I could not feel Green's personal struggles the same way as I did Bassano's, which included Bassano becoming, not by choice, the mistress of a much older man when she was 13.  In her 20's, after she became pregnant, a cousin forced into a marriage to a abusive man.  And then, there was the Plague that ended up killing about 25% of the population of London.

3.  I thought the modern day Melina Green's story ending was a bit too-good-to-be-true fairy tale-ish.  I would have been happier, in general, if the book had been shorter.

Despite the flaws, I would highly recommend this book, and I could see it being discussed in a high school English (or even history) class. 

So, am I now going to run out and read any Shakespeare? (Or, better yet, see one of his plays.  These were, after all, plays to be experienced live, not read?).  Right now, it's still ano, but one never knows.

Have you read this Picoult book?