In Search of a Name: A Novel

I think the fact that In Search of a Name is a novel lessens the story for me, especially since I was looking forward to it as a historical piece. It's based on the author's real experience, and I can understand fictionalizing it for a more concise, compelling tale. But I think it undermines one of the significant ideas of the book: the search for truth. She's digging into the past to find the real story about her uncle. She finds that there were so many stories, so much untold, that the truth barely resembles history (not an uncommon occurrence). It feels like throwing another layer of dirt on the story to fictionalize it but leave it in a format that feels like a memoir. It makes it harder to distinguish reality from fiction.

Motherhood is a significant component of the story, but one that I did not connect with. I just felt myself thinking, “Just choose another name. He's obviously not the family legend you were told about.” Maybe I'm a pessimist, but it felt naïve of her to be so shocked that the story wasn't true, that it had been warped by time. That's the nature of memory and stories; they get twisted until they're more manageable, more comfortable to digest.

I think I wasn't in the right mindset for In Search of a Name when I read it. It dealt more with the questions of raising a child, the foundations you set for your child to succeed. It ended up stressing me out more than inspiring me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.