Wonderful characterisation and narrative. However it is very different from Picoult usual style of family drama. I found it very hard to connect with the story but I would still recommend that it is worth the read as you may feel differently. I did enjoy the flashbacks of Shakespeare.

Beautiful writing and characterisation. A little different to Ms Picoults usual style of moral dilemmas. However very readable.

Jodi Picoult is one of my favourite authors, her dedication to a topic and hours of research are evident in all of her books and I find her writing style enjoyable, while still tackling tough and thought provoking topics.

By Any Other Name was very different to her normal books. It was clear that Jodi had put hours of research into this book and it made for incredible reading. I adored the flashbacks to Emilia's life and thought it was captured beautifully, spanning her lifetime, achievements, and many, many struggles. The history was written about wonderfully, with lovely imagery and snippets of true historic events.

Melina's story was also told well, with her own struggles, insights into her personal life and background. I didn't warm to her in the same way I warmed to Emilia but I still found myself rooting for her.

Both tales, interwoven with each other showed strong female characters, hardship and the struggles of being a woman in any time period. I loved the writing, the stories, the theatre elements, the friendships and relationships and the courage of both women.

I thought the ending tied everything up nicely and Jodi has done well with the diversity of the characters. It is vastly different to her usual contemporary / hot topic / crime solving books but she has absolutely nailed it. Even readers who are not normally fans of historical dramas will enjoy this. An easy 5 stars from me and 5 wishes that Jodi will do more books like this.