Animals, vegetables, minerals. – Blog to review the book “The Chocolate Lady”
Review of the Book of “Names“By Florence Knap.
Summary: “As a result of a catastrophic storm, Cora leaves with her nine -year -old daughter, Maya, to register the birth of her son. Her husband Gordon, a local doctor, respects the community, but a terrifying and controlling presence at home, intends to name the baby after him. But when the secretary asks what she wants to call the child, Cora hesitation … covering thirty -five years, what follows are three alternative and alternating versions of the life of the bark and her young son, shaped by her choice of name. In a richly layered prose, Names It examines the painful pulsation effects of domestic violence, the disposed of family relationships and the possibilities for autonomy and healing. “
Age: Adult; Genres: Literary fiction; Settings: Era/s: Modern to modern – parallel terms; Location/s: Ireland and England; Other categories: Novel, debut, speculative, marital abuse.
Please bear for me for a moment, for something personal, but important for this review. In July 1974, I legally changed a name. In 1980, I got married and started using my husband’s last name. The person I was before these two changes is not the person I am today. In fact, when I look at her back, I don’t care very much; I prefer the person I am today. This was said that I often wondered if my life could have turned out to be different if I had not changed my name. In Knapp’s debut novel, she explores the life of a boy and his relationship with his family, in three separate planes – by the name bear, by the name Julian and the name Gordon. As you can imagine, this is the type of book that speaks to me personally, but for more than the names.
I would remind you that a few years ago I read the novel of the Booker Award “The Song of the Prophet”, which had a fairly high factor “Yuck” for me and which unfortunately proved to be somewhat predictive. It was a powerful novel and I deserved this award, but I turned out to be a little detached from the characters, despite how nice they were. I mention this because one of Goodreads reviewers said they should make this novel because of the abuse of spouses that Cora suffered from her husband. I’m sorry to say that I know exactly what this type of misuse looks like first -hand and there were several times when I also thought to stop reading this book. However, just when I thought I had enough, Knap is jumping forward and takes us on the spot to see how these characters strive with a bear, Julian and Gordon. These seven -year jumps and different stories of the three options are what made me read.
I admit that there were times when I wanted KNAPP to clarify further on some aspects of the things that obviously happened in the gaps between the time limits that confused me. However, when I allowed myself to just go with the flow of story and watch how these events unfold as separate stories, I realized how powerful this book was actually, despite the Juk factor of abuse and probably because of it. What impressed me most was how Knap was able to take small things from each of the deadlines and very softly introduced them into the others without affecting the time line it described. It was as if she said that other worlds were still existing, but there was no need to affect each other. This is something you may not notice because it was done so fine, but if you do, they are like little sparks thrown into the darkness. Amazing!
Now I was almost sure that I could not give this book full 5/5 stars because the abuse, well, to be honest triggered for me. And then something happened, and one of the characters said something that just made me burst into tears (and I’m falling apart at the moment as I write it). The thing is, what made me cry was something that hoped, despite the tragic event, and not, not in a gloomy way-it was just a remark outside the hand that brought it. So, yes, this should get the full, unambiguous 5/5 stars from me. And you can believe critics who say it’s the best debut novel for a very long time. My God, if this is her first book … What will be her next? Extremely recommended.
Pamela Dorman Books – Penguin Group/Orion Publishing Release Date for “The Names” by Florence Knapp is May 6, 2025. This Book Is Avalent (Via the Following Affiliate Links) International Shipping), Waterstones, Whsmith, Kobo Us (eBooks and audiobooks), booksamillion.com, Barnes & Noble, iTunes (IBooks and Audio Books (LIGHTS) by bookshop.org and uk.bookshop (to support independent bookstores, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic). I would like to thank the publishers for sending me a rainbow to this novel via Netgalley.
This novel qualifies for the following reading challenges: New Release Challenge (#?).
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