Jodi Picoult typically presents interesting topics combined with real world issues, intertwining them into a compelling stories that give me perspective on points of view I’d otherwise not consider. Her research is unparalleled, but more importantly, her ability to weave a story has made me love her books.  

I’m sad to say that I’m disappointed by this book. I loved the author’s note at the end and I enjoyed the sections of the book when Melina was passionate about her research on the topic of Shakespeare perhaps not writing his own plays.

I did not like Melina at all as a character otherwise. To me, she lacked any sort of depth other than her outrage. I think she struggled with rejection just as much as discrimination. The theater politics and misogyny did not surprise me, but I thought that issue was what the book was supposed to be addressing, yet everything about that issue felt like cardboard with characters who weren’t multifaceted. It felt very heavy handed, but didn’t actually explore any of it. 

The only character I felt I began to understand and respect along the way was Jasper, ironically. 

I enjoyed the concept of Emilia’s life as the woman behind Shakespeare’s plays, but I found that her day to day felt dull and her chapters felt too long as a result. 

The book itself felt way too long, honestly. 

I was a bit confused by the point of the book in the end. Was it to argue that Emilia was probably the writer of a majority of Shakespeare’s works or are was it about misogyny in the theater industry that used Emilia as but one example, fictionalizing it to help bring the issue to light? I don’t think the book really did either one well enough, spending too much time on Emilia’s life and not enough on the theater issues past or present. I feel like I could have just read the authors note at the end and skipped the rest. Overall, the topic was engrossing, but I didn’t love the execution.