Melina Green is a playwright struggling to gain purchase in an industry dominated by men. Similarly, her distant relative from the Elizabethan era, Emilia Bassano, is a struggling writer unable to have her work taken seriously by the men who dominate the theater industry. Two women with similar problems, separated by almost four hundred fifty years.
Jodi Picoult is at her best in this fascinating novel that cleverly intertwines two predicaments separated by so many years. She switches from one timeline to the other, back and forth, as she weaves a tale of how both of these women made ill-advised choices regarding how to get their “foot in the door” of a male-dominated industry.
No spoiler alert, but for any of you who are Shakespeare lovers, some interesting questions are raised about his career as he interacts with Emilia.
I highly recommend this book, but be advised it is a work for mature audiences!
reviewed January 2025
Melina Green is a playwright struggling to gain purchase in an industry dominated by men. Similarly, her distant relative from the Elizabethan era, Emilia Bassano, is a struggling writer unable to have her work taken seriously by the men who dominate the theater industry. Two women with similar problems, separated by almost four hundred fifty years.
Jodi Picoult is at her best in this fascinating novel that cleverly intertwines two predicaments separated by so many years. She switches from one timeline to the other, back and forth, as she weaves a tale of how both of these women made ill-advised choices regarding how to get their “foot in the door” of a male-dominated industry.
No spoiler alert, but for any of you who are Shakespeare lovers, some interesting questions are raised about his career as he interacts with Emilia.
I highly recommend this book, but be advised it is a work for mature audiences!
reviewed January 2025