The Names: A Read with Jenna Pick

Ever wonder how and why people name their children and how the child adapts to that name? This book gives some insight to this and what happens when parents don't agree on a name. Caution this book is riddled with domestic abuse. Good book and fleshed out how the life of a young man is affected based on three different names.

So captivating, heartbreaking, loving, and amazing! An absolute stunner! One of the best books I've read in a long time, a must read.

If you take any breaks at all in your reading, you’ll become confused. It is difficult to maintain each character’s life with multiple chapters and multiple years between each character. I found I had to reread the book starting with one name and continuing all of those chapters in their name before beginning the next name. In addition, I had to take notes for each character’s name so that I could remember what had transpired by the end of the book for each person. While it was an interesting concept, it was a confusing read.

I didn’t expect to be swept into this book as quickly as I was. Such an intriguing idea for a novel, and a subject I will be contemplating for days. As someone who named my first daughter when I was just in elementary school, I wonder how her life may have evolved differently had I waited to meet her before labeling her? Hmm…

A novel that explores the Shakespearean quote, "What's in a name?" Some names carry love. Others carry wounds.This is the story of a mother, Cora, her abusive husband, Gordon, and their two children. The novel unfolds across three alternate timelines, each determined by the name Cora gives her newborn son-Bear, Julian, or Gordon. Over the span of 35 years, Cora must confront long-buried fears and difficult questions about identity, legacy, and who gets to decide what we pass on.Readers see how the family's lives change depending on the choices made.The novel examines the dynamics of human relationships and the power of names in shaping our identities. It delves into themes of love, family dynamics, generational trauma, secrets, domestic abuse, and the lasting impact such wounds leave behind."Names carry stories. They tether us to our past and hint at our future."