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

Confirm Purchase
Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.
Cancel

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 Historical Fiction Literary Fiction

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)

What listeners say about By Any Other Name

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    20
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    20
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    19
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.com.au reviews

Amazon Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Anonymous User

Challenge your patriarchal view of history

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.

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Charlie

LOVED this book

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

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Sally-ann

Emilia Shakespeare

Loved the history and challenge presented on Shakespeare and woman over 400 years ago, thank you

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for carol

A masterpiece

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.

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Jo-Anne Hoare

A beautiful and meaniful story

Another captivating and in depth story by Jodi. I enjoyed the different characters and multiple readers. Loved the then and now cross over

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Nora Rochow

Good story but too long

I am a big Jodi Picoult fan, however I feel this story should have been much shorter

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for tj

Wonderfully woven tale.

Actually I loved the story the detail and the lives lived. Enjoyed the reading and changing between timelines.

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Sonia A

Disappointingly patchy

Had me wondering if some parts we’re even written by Jodie P. At times this read like a trashy bodice- ripping novella that didn’t feel genuine.
Only halfway the author’s style and craft came through, showing good research and some depth.

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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.