By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult – a Review

By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult – a Review

 

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Description:
Two women, centuries apart—one of whom is the real author of Shakespeare’s plays—are both forced to hide behind another name to make their voices heard.

In 1581, Emilia Bassano—like most young women of her day—is allowed no voice of her own. But as the Lord Chamberlain’s mistress, she has access to all theater in England, and finds a way to bring her work to the stage secretly. And yet, creating some of the world’s greatest dramatic masterpieces comes at great cost: by paying a man for the use of his name, she will write her own out of history.

In the present, playwright Melina Green has just written a new work inspired by the life of her Elizabethan ancestor Emilia Bassano. Although the challenges are different four hundred years later, the playing field is still not level for women in theater. Would Melina—like Emilia—be willing to forfeit her credit as author, just for a chance to see her work performed?

Told in intertwining narratives, this sweeping tale of ambition, courage, and desire asks what price each woman is willing to pay to see their work live on—even if it means they will be forgotten.

 

 

Review:

By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult is a standalone novel about two woman’s POV that take place in present time and in a different era, 1581.   The two heroines are Melina Green in the present, who is a talented writer; and Emilia Bassano, who also is a writer, but her talent is not recognized openly, as women were not accepted.  Both women hide their names behind a man, as women were not acknowledged.

Emilia Bassano, at a very young age, is forced to become Lord Chamberlain’s mistress, and for years he treated her well. He takes her to the theatre in London, and she secretly writes her own poems and plays. Working secretly, Emilia has to sell her play to male playwrights, in order to get her work on the stage. She makes an agreement with a young actor, William Shakespeare to be the playwright of her work. Later on in life, when Emilia became pregnant, she was forced again to a marriage, since she had no money, and her husband treated her badly, always beating her up.  That was a very sad part of the story.

In the present, Melina Green is inspired by her ancestor Emilia Bassano to write her story, and make her voice heard, though she needs to get Andre (her roommate and gay friend) to present the play, and pretend to be his assistant. Her play actually wins the contest, with Andre entering her play into a competition, which she wins.  Jasper, a former critic of her work, begins to become attracted to Melina, and slowly she reveals that Emilia Bassano’s book was her work.  Though there are five centuries between the timelines, it seems that male privilege is still in power.  

I will say that I thought the book was a bit slow in the first half, though it did pick up later on.  I read that Picoult did a lot of research and stands by her feeling that Emilia Bassano’s work was the true playwright for William Shakespeare.  Melinda in the present time, manages to finally have a chance to show her play, with help from Jasper.  The historical part of the past, will have Emilia, as she gets older, begin to write her own books; with Bassano actually being a real person.

By Any Other Name was an interesting story, with historical fiction, feminism, passion, heartache, and love.  It was a different kind of story by Jodi Picoult, which was very well written. If you are interested in possible real-life changes from the past, I suggest you read By Any Other Name.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

 

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Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult – a Review

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult – a Review

 

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Description:
Diana O’Toole is perfectly on track. She will be married by thirty, done having kids by thirty-five, and move out to the New York City suburbs, all while climbing the professional ladder in the cutthroat art auction world. She’s an associate specialist at Sotheby’s now, but her boss has hinted at a promotion if she can close a deal with a high-profile client. She’s not engaged just yet, but she knows her boyfriend, Finn, a surgical resident, is about to propose on their romantic getaway to the Gal�pagos–days before her thirtieth birthday. Right on time.

But then a virus that felt worlds away has appeared in the city, and on the eve of their departure, Finn breaks the news: It’s all hands on deck at the hospital. He has to stay behind. You should still go, he assures her, since it would be a shame for all of their nonrefundable trip to go to waste. And so, reluctantly, she goes.

Almost immediately, Diana’s dream vacation goes awry. Her luggage is lost, the Wi-Fi is nearly nonexistent, and the hotel they’d booked is shut down due to the pandemic. In fact, the whole island is now under quarantine, and she is stranded until the borders reopen. Completely isolated, she must venture beyond her comfort zone. Slowly, she carves out a connection with a local family when a teenager with a secret opens up to Diana, despite her father’s suspicion of outsiders.

In the Galapagos Islands, where Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was formed, Diana finds herself examining her relationships, her choices, and herself–and wondering if when she goes home, she too will have evolved into someone completely different.

 

 

Review:

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult is a standalone novel.  We meet our heroine, Diana O’Toole, who is an associate assistant at Sotheby’s, being an art specialist; who is hoping for a promotion if she can convince a legendary artist, to sell her masterpiece at Sotheby’s auction.  When the artist decides to hold off, Diana is set to go on a vacation to Galapagos with her doctor boyfriend, Finn.  The day before they leave, the hospital has declared an emergency, with all employees to be available, as the Covid virus is beginning to wreak havoc.  Finn tells Diana to go anyway, since they cannot get their money back.

Reluctantly, Diana agrees to go, and when she arrives in Galapagos, everything starts to go bad, as she learns the country is going into a quarantine lockdown, and her baggage is missing.  Things go from bad to worse, as the hotel she had reservations closes, a language barrier causes problems understanding those she goes to get help, leaving her isolated, and the internet/wifi is spotty.  Finally, a local woman offers her a place to stay, and she meets some new people (Beatriz & Gabriel) who in a short time befriend her, and show her the island, and the wonderful sights and animals; she begins to enjoy as much as she can of the island, allowing her to see a different kind of life. Diana manages to send letters to Finn, since they had no other way of communication, and she reads about the heartbreak going on in the early stages of Covid.

Half way through the book, Picoult gives us a twist, bringing in the terrifying details of Covid. We get to see doctors and nurses doing all they can to try and save people’s lives, the suffering and loss of life. The heartbreaking losses, grief, pain, isolation, which shuts down most of the world.  To say too much more would be spoilers, and ruin the book for you.  You really need to read it all.

Wish You Were Here is an emotional story line that will pull on your emotions.  Diana was a fantastic heroine, as we couldn’t help but care about her. Wish You Were Here was so very well written by Jodi Picoult, who takes us on a journey of life, changes, a beautiful island and horrible pandemic.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

 

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