The structure is very clever and highly entertaining to read. All the characters are equally well drawn so you care about all of their stories. The end is superb.
WINNER OF THE NERO BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION 2023 WINNER OF AN POST IRISH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2023 SHORTLISTED FOR THE WRITERS' PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024 SHORTLISTED FOR THE KERRY GROUP NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2024 ONE OF SARAH JESSICA PARKER'S BEST BOOKS OF 2023
Book of the Year 2023 according to New York Times, New Yorker, The Sunday Times, The Economist, Observer, Guardian, Washington Post, Lit Hub, TIME magazine, Irish Times, The Oldie, Daily Mail, i Paper, Independent, The Standard, The Times, Kirkus, Daily Express, City A.M.
READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY | AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
“Dazzling. . . The Names is startlingly joyful. . . Knapp tirelessly and beautifully replicates not just loss and grief but endless rebirth and delight.” —The Washington Post
“Elegant. . . this is a wholly original work.” —People Magazine "Book of the Week"
“A magnificent novel, thrumming with life in all its pain and precariousness, yet suffused with the glorious possibilities of love and redemption.” —Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Horse
The extraordinary novel that asks: Can a name change the course…
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A Today Show #ReadwithJenna Book Club Pick
A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.
It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming…
Germany, 1941. Noemi’s hazel eyes shine with tears as she takes Pascal’s hand. ‘Come with me,’ she begs him. ‘If we lose each other now, we might never find each other again…’
When Pascal kisses Noemi and presses his mother’s silver locket into her hands, it is a moment she has been longing for her whole life. But when war is declared, their loyalties and their lives are split apart.
When Noemi’s parents are captured and taken to Dachau, Pascal smuggles her onto a train, praying she will survive until the war is over. As he watches the train leave, he promises himself that one day he will find the girl who took his heart and locket.
Noemi’s never loses hope that one day she will make her way home to her family again. She tells herself that can never include Pascal with his ties to the Nazis, but still she remembers the pendant he gave her, and hope flickers in her chest like a flame. Maybe one day they could reunite…
But as the world burns around her, will she have the strength to find and forgive him? And if she does, will their love last – or will the war’s shadows tear them both apart forever?
A heartrendingly emotional page-turner about hope in the darkest of days, and how love must always prevail. Perfect for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Nightingale and The Book of Lost Names.
