What readers think of The Names, plus links to write your own review.

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.

Occasionally someone says, "you rate too many novels 5 stars." So I thought about this and attribute it to the following: 1) I am choosy about what I read and do my research so the odds are high it will have merit and be good; 2) as a lifelong voracious reader, I recognize and appreciate a novel that is compelling, well-written and says something new; and 3) what does a rating system even mean. Which brings me to The Names by Florence Knapp. This is truly an outstanding, compulsively readable, unique, five star read. Knapp offers us a sliding doors novel of three versions of one woman's life - but the sliding doors in this case is a name - how does a name - the 3 names Cora bestows on her newborn son in 3 different versions of her life - define someone and what happens to our life as a result? This book is harrowing - the 3 "lives" all deal with domestic abuse. But there is beauty in the horror and an understanding of what it means to have a life well lived despite the odds. The highest of recommendations.