If your book club enjoys a story rooted in historical sources then By Any Other Name is has been great choice for an in-depth conversation. By Any Other Name is a story entwined with two female playwrights, five centuries apart, who struggle for recognition of their work. By Any Other Name explores themes of the struggle for female autonomy, the invisibility of women’s work and accomplishments, and the power of authorship and voice.
Be prepared for a engrossing conversation while engaging with these book club questions for By Any Other Name. This discussion guide also features a book synopsis and some selected reviews from various readers, which you can use to add to the conversation.
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By Any Other Name Synopsis
(We always chose to provide the publisher synopsis because we feel that it’s worthwhile to discuss whether the official book description actually squared with your experience of the book.)
By Any Other Name, Jodi Picoult
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.
10 Book Club Questions for By Any Other Name
These questions have been tailored to this book’s specific reading experience, but if you want more ideas, we also have an article with 101 generic book club questions.
- “She thought of the little dark pawn on the chessboard, being moved around at the whims of whoever was playing the game.”
The game of chess symbolizes a person’s agency or lack thereof. How do games like chess mirror life’s challenges and choices? What does it say about people’s control over their own lives? - In the novel, Shakespeare is depicted as the antagonist who benefits from a female playwright’s work. How did this portrayal alter your original understanding of Shakespeare? Was it necessary to even have much understanding of Shakespeare to enjoy the story?
- Between Emilia and Melina, who do you think showed more agency in their life decisions? What actions and characteristics lead you to this conclusion?
- The novel’s title is an allusion to a passage from Romeo and Juliet. Why might the author have chosen this for her novel’s title?
- Both Andre and Kit are paralleled in the novel, with them acting as confidantes to their respective heroines. In what ways are they similar, and in what ways are they different?
- Throughout the novel, Emilia and Melina mirror one another, even having names that are almost anagrams of one another. In what ways are the two women similar despite the vast differences in their upbringing and the time periods in which they each live?
- When considering the theme of the invisibility of women’s work, how might Emilia’s use of a male pseudonym challenge societal norms?
- This novel is a fictionalized answer to the real literary puzzle of whether Shakespeare wrote all the works attributed to him. What parts of the story were actually rooted in historical record?
- Falcons are used to represent aspects of a woman’s life during the Elizabethan era. When looking at Emilia’s journey towards freedom, do you think the falcon accurately symbolizes her potential for independence during that time period? Why or why not?
- “There were tangible proof that, once, she had been beloved. That she had loved. She liked to think that Southampton, wherever he was now, was watching, that he knew, too, they were finally together.”
At the end of her life, Emilia sees the miniatures as “tangible proof” of her love with Southampton. In what ways might these objects capture both the joy and tragedy of their love in a society that limits personal freedom?
Selected Reviews for By Any Other Name
(Use these selected Goodreads reviews to compare with your own experience of the book. Do you agree or disagree with the reviews?)
“Jodi Picoult did it again! She created an inspiring, sentimental women’s fiction blended with historical fiction, powerful feminism, and diverse vibes, intercepting the stories of two women who are not connected by DNA but share the same fate. As two storytellers/aspiring writers try to make their voices heard in a man’s competitive universe, they are forced to write under male pseudonyms to have their works produced. Even though there are five centuries between the timelines, it seems nothing has changed with the power of white male privilege…”
“I wasn’t sure I was going to like this latest novel by Jodi Picoult mainly because I don’t typically enjoy the time period portrayed in the historical narrative. But I love this author so of course I was going to read By “Any Other Name” regardless and I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed both the modern day and the historical narratives, which doesn’t often happen with novels that use a dual timeline to tell the story.”
“I’ve considered myself a Jodi Picoult fan, but I really struggled to get through this one. I appreciate the research that went into the book’s argument (the author’s note at the end of the novel was my favorite part!) but each of the Shakespeare references felt contrived within the narrative and took me out of the story. The feminist messaging felt stale and un-nuanced. I’m glad to be done with the book.”
“Definitely one of my least favourite of the Jodi Picoult books I’ve read so far. I got the impression that the author would have liked to write a non-fiction book / essay about the topic of the Shakespeare authorship but, as that’s not what she does, she instead tries to work her argument into a fictional story that was not quite interesting enough to support it. To be fair, the case for Emilia Bassano/Lanier as the true writer of Shakespeare’s plays is the strongest I’ve read yet. Picoult uses her characters to make an impassioned argument that Emilia hid behind the identity of an actor called William Shakespeare…”
More Book Club Ideas
Jodi Picoult excels at writing heart-felt, female-centric novels. If that’s right up your reading group’s alley, then peruse our whole list of Picoult’s books and find your next great read.
I’ve also got an article featuring books for fans of By Any Other Name, which may help you fill up your TBR.
The following links go to a reading guide for that particular book. There’s a non-spoiler synopsis on the top of the article with a link to Amazon if you want to check pricing or reviews.
If you’re keen on more books with women taking on unconventional roles, try Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Amy Tan.
If you want more women bucking the prevailing patriarchy, try Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.
And for more alternative versions of Shakespeare, try Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell.
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