17 Mar Review: By Any Other Name
By Any Other Name
Written by Erin Cotter
Simon & Schuster, 2023
ISBN: 9781665940719 (hardcover)
$24.99 CAD
460 pages
Ages: 14 years and up
Review by K. Joan Harrison
By Any Other Name is a fictional romance set in the time of Shakespeare. This harrowing tale will keep you reading right until its breathtaking conclusion. Murder, class disparity, forbidden love, and the bonds of family and friendship all play a role. 16th century vocabulary peppers the text, but it is almost always clear from context. The story centres around a resourceful sixteen-year-old orphan, Will Hughes, who has tenuously escaped the streets of London by working as a young actor. His situation becomes desperate when the theatres are closed because of the plague, and his close friend is murdered. Will crosses paths with a sympathetic nobleman, James Bloomsbury, and they work together to solve the mysterious death, while uncovering a dangerous plot to murder Queen Elizabeth. Recommended for mature teen to adult readers.