The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano
Ratings3
Average rating4.3
15
Ratings3
Average rating4.3
A deeply moving novel about a woman who thought she never wanted to be a mother—and the many ways that life can surprise us “An ode to possibility” — The Washington Post Rose Napolitano is fighting with her husband, Luke, about prenatal vitamins. She promised she'd take them, but didn't. He promised before they got married that he'd never want children, but now he's changed his mind. Their marriage has come to rest on this one question: Can Rose find it in herself to become a mother? Rose is a successful professor and academic. She's never wanted to have a child. The fight ends, and with it their marriage. But then, Rose has a fight with Luke about the vitamins--again. This time the fight goes slightly differently, and so does Rose's future as she grapples with whether she can indeed give up the one thing she thought she knew about herself. Can she reimagine her life in a completely new way? That reimagining plays out again and again in each of Rose's nine lives, just as it does for each of us as we grow into adulthood. What are the consequences of our biggest choices? How would life change if we let go of our preconceived ideas of ourselves and became someone completely new? Rose Napolitano's experience of choosing and then choosing again shows us in an utterly compelling way what it means, literally, to reinvent a life and, sometimes, become a different kind of woman than we ever imagined. A stunning novel about love, loss, betrayal, divorce, death, a woman's career and her identity, The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano is about finding one's way into a future that wasn't the future one planned, and the ways that fate intercedes when we least expect it.
Reviews with the most likes.
As someone whose Spotify Wrapped skews towards “yearning” and “nostalgia”, it's no shock that I was drawn to this book of what-ifs. But it's not simply looking back on roads not taken - it's an actual exploration of nine of them. (Yes, like Sliding Doors.)
Rose married Luke knowing they wouldn't have kids. He's since changed his mind. All nine lives are sparked from the same moment - Rose had begrudgingly agreed to take prenatal vitamins, Luke discovers the bottle's full - but each time, she reacts differently and a new future is created. Some include a baby, often under pressure, raising big questions of social norms and identity and consent; others don't. Some include divorce, affairs, career pivots. You see some of her most important relationships strengthen or wither across lives, while others are universally present, just in different ways.
What I loved about this book is that I couldn't always predict which choices would lead to which outcomes. And honestly, as someone who agonizes over making the “right” choice, I found it deeply soothing that there was joy and heartbreak in (nearly) every life Rose chose.
I loved reading this book. I'm shocked that it didn't get more attention when it came out last year - I'm not always a book club person, but this was made for book club discussions. At risk of getting personal, it would be fascinating to hear which choices and lives resonated most with each person and why.
My only caveat is that the lives aren't written linearly - you jump from life to life - so I'd recommend having a hard copy to make it easier to flip back and recall where the life you're in left off!
