Thank you @prhaudio for a copy of this book. I have been a fan of Picoult's books for many years and this one is so different to her usual books. Perhaps because the majority of the book focuses on Emilia set in 1581 and her life as a mistress and becomes the ghost writer for William Shakespeare. There is so much heartache for Emilia with her life as a mistress and her lack of rights as a woman. 

There is also a current timeline with Melina who is struggling with the same issues as Emilia did with not being able to have opportunities as a woman in playwright. I really wanted more in this timeline because it felt like a love story. 

You can see how much research was done for the story and it really makes you question how did Shakespeare write about so many far away places that he had never been. 

The wide cast of narrators (Billie Fulford-Brown, Laura Benanti, Jayne Entwistle, Andrew Fallaize, Joe Jameson, John Lee, Nicholas Guy Smith, Simon Vance, Steve West) made for an entertaining audiobook.