Chiswell Book Club May Meeting

Every other month, Chiswell’s avid readers and wine enthusiasts are getting together to deep dive on a new and exciting book! Join us for cozy times, compelling discussion, and (naturally) just the right wine to pair with our book.

May’s Book: By Any Other Name by Jodi Pocoult

2024 | Historical Fiction

From the publisher:
Young playwright Melina Green has just written a new work inspired by the life of her Elizabethan ancestor Emilia Bassano. But seeing it performed is unlikely, in a theater world where the playing field isn’t level for women. As Melina wonders if she dares risk failure again, her best friend takes the decision out of her hands and submits the play to a festival under a male pseudonym.

In 1581, young Emilia Bassano is a ward of English aristocrats. Her lessons on languages, history, and writing have endowed her with a sharp wit and a gift for storytelling, but like most women of her day, she is allowed no voice of her own. 

Forced to become a mistress to the Lord Chamberlain, who oversees all theatre productions in England, Emilia sees firsthand how the words of playwrights can move an audience. She begins to form a plan to secretly bring a play of her own to the stage—by paying an actor named William Shakespeare to front her work.

Told in intertwining timelines, By Any Other Name, a sweeping tale of ambition, courage, and desire centers two women who are determined to create something beautiful despite the prejudices they face. Should a writer do whatever it takes to see her story live on . . . no matter the cost? This remarkable novel, rooted in primary historical sources, ensures the name Emilia Bassano will no longer be forgotten.

At the March meeting of the Chiswell Book Club, attendees will decide what the next book we’ll read and discuss will be. Come to each meeting to stay in the loop!

The Chiswell Book Club

The Chiswell Book Club meets every other month, with each book chosen by the previous meeting’s attendees. Our 2026 meetings:

Sunday, Jan. 25 Sunday, February 1 | 1–3 PM | Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera
Sunday, March 22 | 1–3 PM | The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
Sunday, May 24 | 1–3 PM | By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult
Sunday, July 26 | 1–3 PM | Book TBA
Sunday, September 27 | 1–3 PM | Book TBA
Sunday, November 22 | 1–3 PM | Book TBA

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