By Any Other Name cover art

By Any Other Name

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

By Any Other Name

By: Jodi Picoult
Narrated by: Billie Fulford-Brown, Jodi Picoult, Jayne Entwistle, Andrew Fallaize, Joe Jameson, John Lee, Nicholas Guy Smith, Simon Vance, Steve West, Laura Benanti
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

About this listen

In Elizabethan London, young Emilia Bassano is a ward of English aristocrats. Her education has endowed her with a sharp wit and a gift for storytelling, but still she is allowed no voice of her own.

Forced to become a mistress to the Lord Chamberlain, who oversees the theatre, Emilia discovers the power of stories to beguile audiences. Secretly, she forms a plan to bring a play of her own to the stage – by paying an actor named William Shakespeare to front her work.

In modern-day Manhattan, playwright Melina Green finds a woman's voice is still worth less than a man's. But, inspired by the life of her ancestor Emilia Bassano, Melina takes a lesson from history and submits a play under a male pseudonym ...

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2024 Jodi Picoult (P)2024 Penguin Random House LLC Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Shakespeare

Critic Reviews

'Her best one yet. Jodi Picoult has combined her trademark research with an astonishing and heart-rending story, embedded in truth, and turned it into a gripping novel.' (JoJo Moyes, author of Me Before You)
'Had me absolutely captivated ... I loved all the questions this novel raised about who gets to tell which stories and how complex that can become. Jodi Picoult is a genius.' (Jennifer Saint, Sunday Times bestselling author of Ariadne)
'Timely and affecting ... Picoult’s many, many fans will pounce on her latest incisive, pot-stirring tale.' (Booklist, starred)
'You’ll fall in love with Emilia Bassano, the unforgettable heroine based on a real woman that Picoult brings vividly to life. Book clubs will embrace this rich, inspiring story.' (Kristin Hannah, author of The Nightingale)
All stars
Most relevant  
I bought the audio after listening to an interview with Jodie Picoult on Penguin podcasts and i loved every minute of it. Brilliantly told in audio. inspiring, ‘truth telling’ and sense making. It brought to life the times, the theatre, the drama of living in Elizabethan times. And the epilogue at the end with Jodie detailing the research is fascinating. Will be listening to this again.

Historical fiction rewritten with herstory

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Different to many Picoult books and a fascinating look at the theory that Shakespeare didn’t write everything attributed to him. Jodi provides an insightful overview of her thoughts at the end which is well worth listening to. Regardless of your own views, there’s a lot to be learned here and good to see some historical recognition of women’s contributions to the arts, and the challenges they often face.

Interesting take on Shakespeare

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Interesting history of Shakespeare's times and the women playwrights and powts who were not recognised at the tims

great story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I’m a huge fan of Jodi Picoult, and have ALL of her books. I bought this book in paperback, and then, life got busy, so ended up buying it again in audio form, so that I could listen to the remainder of the book while doing other things.
I found that the overly dramatic narration really spoiled the whole thing for me. The story was good, but the narrators made it feel somewhat ridiculous.

Over-the-top narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is not your usual Jodi Picoult. This is an adventure into challenging everything you have ever been told about Shakespeare’s work, and seeing it through much more credible lens. Is it perfect? Nope. Are there clunky bits? Yep. But as a novel that is founded on high quality historical research that rocks our modern day assumptions of culture? One that challenged everything I’ve thought about literature my whole life? It can’t be anything less than 5 stars. Well done JP. Thank you for giving voice to our sisters or the past. Anyone who trolls you about this book just doesn’t get it. You’re a genius.

Challenge your patriarchal view of history

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
people have complained it was patchy i cannot understand that it was a beautifully crafted book that really did make me reevaluate how insane it is that we’ve accepted the Shakespeare narrative without greater critical assessment

LOVED this book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved the history and challenge presented on Shakespeare and woman over 400 years ago, thank you

Emilia Shakespeare

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Whatever your opinion or thoughts on the theory that behind the works of Shakespeare were a collection of writers including a woman, one cannot but admire and respect the tenacious research and literary craftsmanship displayed in this work by Jodi Picault. I was thoroughly intrigued and moved by Amelia’s story. Thought provoking indeed.

A masterpiece

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Another captivating and in depth story by Jodi. I enjoyed the different characters and multiple readers. Loved the then and now cross over

A beautiful and meaniful story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I am a big Jodi Picoult fan, however I feel this story should have been much shorter

Good story but too long

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.