Florence Knapp: The Names

This was one of the book club choices for my neighborhood book club. We called it historical fiction, but I didn't really feel like it was actually historical fiction, but I did enjoy it.

The Names follows the storyline of a woman Cora and her abusive husband. Cora is in a terrible marriage. The story starts with Cora on her way to the registrars office to fill out the birth certificate for her newest child. Her oldest child, Maia, thinks the boy's name should be Bear. Cora wants to name him Julian. Her husband, Gordon, wants to name him after himself as it's a family name. The story follows all the way through what would happen depending on which name the baby is given.

The concept of this book was really fascinating. I highly enjoyed the way this book was written and told, though it was a little confusing at the start. I also had a hard time with the time jumps that happen in between each chapter.

Really though, I loved the characters in the book. Bear, Julian, and Gordon are all vastly different characters despite technically being the same person. I loved that some things were immutable. Maia was gay in each storyline, and the characters like Lilly appeared in each of the timelines. The characters were well developed, and I think Knapp also did a great job of showing domestic abuse and how controlling an abusive partner can be.

I really liked the book as a whole, and enjoyed the whole concept. It was heartbreaking, beautifully written.

I rated the book ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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