Jodi Picoult was studying English at Princeton when she first fell in love with Shakespeare. ‘I loved that he was writing all these brilliant, strong, three-dimensional women,’ she tells Grazia. ‘During the course, one professor mentioned that there is a question over Shakespeare’s authorship. But we all laughed it off because of course he wrote all his own plays, right?’
That question is explored in Picoult’s latest novel, By Any Other Name, about Emilia Bassano, a real person who lived in London at the same time as Shakespeare. She was the mistress of Lord Chamberlain, who was in charge of court entertainment and had the power to decide which plays would be performed. In the book Emilia, wants to be a writer but as a woman is unable to follow her dream and so sells her work to Shakespeare who passes it off as his own.
Meanwhile, in modern day Manhattan, we meet Melina, a playwright struggling to be heard in the male-dominated New York theatre industry, who submits a play in the name of her male flatmate. The topic? Her ancestor Emilia Bassano, who she believes is the true author of Shakespeare’s work.
I could have written this as a historical novel, but then people would have read it and thought, “How terrible it was for women back then, but look how far we’ve come,”’ says Picoult of the dual timeline. She was inspired by a magazine feature that speculated whether Shakespeare was a woman. ‘Shakespeare had two daughters who he never taught to read or write,’ she says. ‘I was like, “No! That man did not write those strong female characters.”’
Picoult had never heard of Emilia until this point. ‘I did a deep dive and found that every gap in Shakespeare’s knowledge, her life seamlessly fits into. He never left England but writes about Denmark, where she lived at one point. He never played an instrument, yet there are thousands of references to music in his plays, and Emilia came from a musical family... How could I not write this book? I know what it’s like to be judged as a woman, even after 35 years in the publishing industry.’
Picoult says that even though the question of Shakespeare authorship has been around for years, women have never been considered until now. ‘And boy does that piss off the English scholars, who are mostly white men who have created this mythology around Shakespeare. This is why you need the modern section of the book – to remind us that women are still fighting socially, emotionally and politically for their voices to be heard.’
By Jodi Picoult
Grazia Book Club gives its verdict...
‘The author has passionately researched the period, contrasting the historical aspect with a modern-day story.’ Tina
‘I was aware of the theory that Shakespeare never wrote his own plays, but this makes a compelling argument. How delicious a twist to think that a woman was responsible for some of our most iconic plays.’ Jesse
‘I loved the concept and the questions raised. The historical elements were so vivid I want to find out more about Emilia.’ Michaela