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The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Kristen Sieh
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
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The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano
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Publisher's Summary
“A powerful exploration of motherhood and feminism… this novel will have readers examining their own ‘what-ifs.’” — Jill Santopolo, New York Times bestselling author of Everything After
“[An] inventive novel about love, loss, identity, and compromise.”—Woman's Day
“Delves deep into love, motherhood, and the complicated dance that is navigating the world as a woman.” — Claire Lombardo, New York Times bestselling author of The Most Fun We Ever Had
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
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.
What the critics say
“Freitas’s prose is engaging and precise, and her what-if format proves ideal for elegantly unpacking the tensions of the plot. She balances tightly written scenes of confrontation with Rose’s poignant reflections on how much she can compromise without losing herself completely. This isn’t one to miss.“ (Publishers Weekly, starred review)
“Reminiscent of Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life or the movie Sliding Doors, Freitas’ novel explores nine (but certainly not all) possible outcomes when a woman who has never wanted children marries a man who gradually decides he does.... Following the maze of numbered takes becomes an addictive game, highly literate escapism, like watching The Queen’s Gambit.... Highly readable and provocative.” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)
“Many of us have had that moment where we wondered what might happen if we took a different path. Rose is adamant that she doesn't want to be a mother, but then she caves to save her relationship. But what if she makes a different choice? In this inventive novel about love, loss, identity, and compromise, we get to find out.” (Woman's Day)