by ABeman: One family, three alternate versions of what 35 years in their lives might be like. Cora’s newborn needs a name, and her husband expects (commands) her to stroller downtown to the registrar and register the baby as Gordon, which is his name and his father’s name. But Cora likes the name Julien. And their 9-year-old daughter Maia prefers Bear.
So the novel narrates between the three possible timelines that result from the consequences of Cora’s three different choices of name. And since Cora’s husband is a respected local physician by day and a controlling, violent monster by night, the three choices have very different consequences.
Domestic abuse and other rough emotional terrain gave me pause, but the novel’s sliding-doors structure and its rich, layered prose had me page-turning with few stops. Highly recommend.
Thanks to Pamela Dorman Books/Viking and NetGalley for an opportunity to read an advanced reader copy and share my opinion of this book.
