I'm sorry. I am bored. I decided to put this title down. I have tried multiple times and the story is not working for me.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this title. All opinions are my own.

I expected this book to more fast-paced and have more surprises. It was kind of a slow-paced read, and it wasn't totally clear if it was fictional or biographical. The ending also left me wanting more. I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

In Search of a Name by Marjolijn van Heemstra is a unique story with an intimate look at how the stories we tell and the ones we are told to us by our family exist between truth and fiction.

Writer and the narrator of the story Marjolijn van Heemstra agrees to name her firstborn son after her distant uncle, who was seen as a hero of the Dutch resistance by her family. Now pregnant, she begins to worry about naming her child after someone she knows little about, so she sets out to learn more about the man who was to be “the blueprint for my son.”

As Marjolijn searches for answers the story is told with chapters beginning with a week-by-week countdown to the due date. I enjoyed how this gave a race against time-intense feeling to the story.
The story reads like a memoir, and I should have approached as one as I often get lost in the telling of a story when I expect to be shown. At times I was confused with what was going on, however, this could have been due to translation from Dutch to English.

We also see into Marjolijn’s pregnancy and she is brutally honest about her experience and that does add another interesting dynamics to the story. Some of her decisions in her quest to find answers left me questions some of her actions.

The ending left me with a few unanswered questions and left me wanting more from the story but not from Marjolijn I think this was because this was in a way is a fictionalized memoir. I just made up a new genre. lol

4 stars! An endearing and emotional journey.

I loved the premise of this novel - a woman on a quest to understand the meaning behind a family name being passed down to her unborn child. The novel unfolds through the weekly pregnancy countdown while the mom-to-be searches for the truth of her family’s past. Long hidden secrets are uncovered and whispered family gossip is investigated.

I found it very interesting to follow the main characters path. She wanted to use a family name with history and meaning for her son but yearned to fully understand the history behind the family name first. I strongly connected to her journey through pregnancy and upcoming new motherhood. I thought the author did a phenomenal job sharing those inner thoughts and worries. The author also shed light on the essence of how alone a woman is in the experience of pregnancy, even with a supportive partner. A partner can only truly experience so much through the woman. Much of it is a deeply personal female experience.

The main part of the family history being investigated surrounds the credibility of the ancestors heroic actions after the war. Differing stories reveal various circumstances that change the outcome. The author asks some thought provoking questions about the Resistance and shares some insight on how some struggled in letting go after the war ended. When does a war truly end? When does peace actually start? Does one change from a Resistance hero to a criminal in one day? I found the idea of “Resistance psychosis” very interesting — the fear of returning to everyday life after fighting in the Resistance.

Overall, I found this book very thought provoking. It asked some deep and important questions that I enjoyed pondering. It was very well written and unique.

I'm not sure how much of this story is true and how much is fiction. It definitely reads like a true story and I even found myself googling the Mentos ad when the author says her husband was in the ad. The author calls it a story of a story.
In Search of a Name is such a compelling read I found myself totally invested in Marjolijn's search to uncover the true story of her great-uncle.

At the age of Eighteen Marjolijn had promised her grandmother that she would name her first son after a late relative, the hero of their family. Years later, pregnant with her first child, she starts to investigate this relative. There is a lot of conflicting information from different relatives and friends. Like all family stories, Uncle Frans' (nicknamed Bommenneef) story has changed as it was handed down through the generations and was also different according to what side of the family Marjolijn was talking to. She searches for the true story because this is what she wants her child to know.

Each chapter is headed by the number of weeks left in her pregnancy as the author counts down from 27 weeks to the day her baby is born.
Marjolijn becomes obsessed with finding out the full details behind the bombing he was involved in. She goes through archives of newspapers, court hearings, birth records and witness statements

Themes of bringing unindicted war criminals to justice, vigilantes continuing the cause after the war is over and the idea of a person living up to a name make this a thought provoking read.

In Search of a Name is a fascinating story. The writing is engaging, the translation is impeccable, and I loved the way the author slowly teased out the mystery of her uncle's actions sifting through fact and fiction, leaving me on edge right up until the end.

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.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
For all the research and information mentioned in this book, I never felt as if I learned anything new about the characters and the time just moved on with little to nothing happening.

This is billed as a World War II (WWII) novel, and while it has that as its underpinnings, it is truly about motherhood, legacy, and how a name can shape a life. This novel is autobiographical, based on the author's own search for truth in the story of her great-uncle's heroism during WWII. I tend to stay away from autobiographical novels, mostly because I feel like it's a bit of an ego boost to an author—just write a memoir, or write a piece of fiction, don't land somewhere in-between.

Regardless, I was curious about this one and it didn't disappoint. I wasn't really sure what to expect going in, and I was surprised to find a really thoughtful and quiet dissection of motherhood and a questioning of history. Van Heemstra doesn't shy away from asking quite hard questions of herself—about how she wants her son raised, how history has been distorted, and the morality and sacrifices made during, and after, war. This isn't a plot-heavy novel, and instead focuses on a meandering quest to find truth, and figure out how to begin a life.

The discussion of motherhood, which I also usually shy away from in my reading, were more captivating as van Heemstra focuses more on the ethical and moral questions of how to raise a person, and how a parent's choice can influence the potential direction of their children's lives. I appreciated these more ethical and imaginative wanderings, rather than a more concrete discussion of motherhood and the raising of a child.

I also really appreciated van Heemstra's questioning of history. There are points that put her, and you, in quite a moral muddle, where vastly different perspectives are vying for attention, to win. And in the end there is no real right answer, and instead, a lot of food for thought. The questions that van Heemstra brought up are ones that I would want to go back and think over, especially in how they relate to how we consider our own families and personal histories.

Van Heemstra also has a lovely talent for characterization, and I adored the descriptions of the husband and an old man who serves as her research buddy and confidante throughout the book. This is a lovely little novel that will prove quite thought-provoking.

It would have been so easy to believe all the old war stories, to embrace them as gospel and move forward and christen the child as promised. But when is life ever easy?

Told in a weekly countdown to the birth of her child the author compels herself to find “the proof of courage, sacrifice and allegiance.” Nothing less will validate the “Bommenneef, Cousin Bomber” the Dutch Resistance hero who is to lend his name to her child. Frans Julius Johan are three perfectly acceptable first names, but the terms of the naming have a tinge of suspicion about them. The story needs to be sussed out. She quickly discovers “there are two things you don’t find in historical documents: that which, at the time, was common knowledge, and that which no one wanted mentioned.”

18 weeks left - our author can’t do what people have been doing for seventy years - she can’t leave out the parts of the story that she doesn’t like. She begins to understand the child’s game of telephone is also played by adults and with every retelling the truth may become harder to find. It isn’t an easy or kind pregnancy, nor is the story. Following the threads leads to dead ends, complications, frustration.

14 weeks left - She posits - “you cannot understand a man without understanding his war.” The question resounds: “How long does a war last?” “Does a single life become meaningless in the light of the stars and one’s own moral Law?”

13 weeks left - the findings scream of collateral damage.

12 weeks left - a very pregnant woman with swollen legs, hormones raging, desperate to keep her story intact no matter the deficiencies and disparities. “Sorry, sorry, sorry.”

1 week left - “End things with the truth.”

3 days left - still no name “baby for the time being”

The day - “He has a name”.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria. Books for a copy.

I thought I would enjoy this book but it ended up being very repetitive and boring less than halfway through. It seems as if this book was originally Dutch and then translated to English so much of the magic and understanding have been lost in translation. Things aren’t explained very well (maybe because I’m not familiar with Amsterdam).

Marjolijn van heemstra is pregnant and wants to fulfill a family promise to name her son after her great uncle. His story of bravery and heroism is one she’s looked up to throughout her life. Before the child is born she sets out to find the true history of her great uncle so she can know exactly who her child is being named after. Unfortunately though, the findings are not what she had hoped.

I was often confused and found myself not caring. It seemed so mundane, like she knew what she would find but kept searching anyways. In the end we are left somewhat in the dark, with only her taking a certificate of her great uncles off the wall above her child’s bed.

The start of this book was a little odd to me. It kind of just drops you into the story in the middle of a story, which caught me off guard. I wasn't able to make it past page 20 - but I am still going to keep giving it a try. I feel like I just need to power through the beginning to get to the heart of the story.

This was an ok read for me. I think that much of the prose was lost in translation. The plot was good and I enjoyed the history.
Many thanks to Atria Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

For more reviews and bookish posts please visit: https://www.ManOfLaBook.com

In Search of a Name by Marjolijn van Heemstra follows a pregnant woman researching her uncle’s past after World War II. The book, originally in Dutch, won several prizes and has sold the film rights.

A pregnant woman wants to call her unborn son after her great uncle, a hero of the Dutch Resistance who is known as “Bommenneef”, since he killed a traitor with a bomb. As she looks more closely at the uncle’s legend, passed down by family members, she starts to have her doubts about the history that goes with the name.

She has to finish her research, talk to witnesses, and separated truth from fiction before the baby is born.

This book is a somewhat unusual book which is more nuanced than what I thought it would be. The story of a woman who dares, has the courage, to dig into a family legend that created a hero is something to behold.

I enjoyed the timeline, counting backwards the week to the birth of the baby. I thought it was a unique way to tell a story and In Search of a Name by Marjolijn van Heemstra uses that technique very well. The premise of this book is very interesting, and I can certainly understand that in many families this is a can of worms no one wants to open.

I think that books like this, one that targets a different audience than English speakers, will do well with footnotes and annotations from the translator, or publisher. I happen to be somewhat familiar, even though certainly not intimately familiar, and far away from being an expert, of the history the author talks about. Much of the story, mood, and background was familiar to me, but I can certainly see how those who did not grow up in Holland might find it difficult to either follow or understand.

The ending of the book was a bit strange. While I know that I can never get close to understanding what women feel being pregnant, I don’t think that flying to Spain, during a non-conventional pregnancy a few weeks before you’re due is something a pregnant woman would do.

I did enjoy how the author went about constructing the story and searching her family history. In the process she discovers new friends, and new branches in the most unexpected places. Even though, in places like Holland, if you dig far enough – and it doesn’t have to be too far – I’m sure everyone is related at some point, whether it be by family or happenstance.

Marjolijn van Heemstra's In Search of a Name is one of those novels that's a bit of real life that has been altered somewhat to make it more "literary." The underlying (and true) story is that the author had a long-deceased relative, a Dutch resistance hero, after whom she'd promised to name her first son, should she have one. Once the author found herself pregnant, with a son, she wanted to know more about this relative. But the reality she found didn't align particularly well with the family legend, leaving her at odds with her own commitment to finding the truth, her promise about the naming of her son, and her understanding of what heroism is and isn't.

In Search of Name was a quick, engaging read, but I was conscious the entire time I read of the fact that I was reading truth/not-truth. I developed opinions about the characters—but didn't know whether those opinions would fit the individuals depicted, given the license the author admits she took. If, for example, I thought a character was being selfish, was the "real" person actually selfish or did the author make him selfish only in fiction in service to the plot or style of her novel? And why would an author choose to "make" someone, a close family member, into a more selfish person than he actually was?

The author does explain some in additional material that she chose to fictionalize the story in order to spread the narrative out more evenly over time, which makes sense, but still leaves me wondering about the reader-writer relationship created.

If you're interested in novels looking at WWII resistance or at the experiences of women during pregnancy, you may well enjoy this book, but I was never quite able to settle into it comfortably. I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions are my own.

i really enjoyed reading this book, it really shows the aftermath of war. I enjoyed the characters and getting to know them

This was a translated work from Dutch. It was hard to tell if this was fiction or about the actual author's life. Since most reviews are in Dutch, I can't tell.
It worked ok. The MC trying to find out if her grandfather was really the hero everyone said he was, after all she naming her baby after him.

I love historical fiction, especially WWII. So I was prepared to be swept off my feet by the mystery of unraveling the past. But I wasn’t.

The synopsis sounded exciting and full of drama but for me I was left honestly bored and disappointed. I think this book will definitely resonate with a lot of people, I was just not one of them.

*I received this copy complimentary of NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In Search of a Name by Marjolijn van Heemstra turned out to be a much more compelling book than I expected. I don't mean to imply I had low expectations, I just had no idea how much this wonderful novel would make me think about so many aspects of life that usually go unexamined.

There is a time constraint, namely the time of a pregnancy. The story of the research and the story of the pregnancy is intimately entwined and each sheds light on the other. The content of the research, centered on an event in 1946, is yet another story. As a reader I was swept up in each story to the point where they were, as they should be, one story. Or like a tree, perhaps a family tree.

I think there are so many ways into this novel that most readers will be able to find a path that speaks to them. The only readers I would be less likely to recommend this book to would be those who read mostly genre fiction and want/need those common elements to make the story flow for them. This is not an action-filled novel and the conflicts are largely internal.

To offer some idea of the kinds of thoughts the book stirred in me, I will mention what is probably the most obvious element: what is in a story? Who decides if a story we tell about our life or our family is accurate? Who actually knows? Good or bad people or actions? Again, it depends on perspective. Stories about our families and our lives are like history, the ones doing the writing/telling are the ones deciding right and wrong, good and bad. Same events from another perspective will likely reveal a different set of heroes and villains, justice and injustice. Finally, how good are we, when not pushed to look more closely, at being somewhat realistic about our own stories?

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

Marjoljin recurved her uncle's only jewelry twelve years after he dies. She is to give the ring to her offspring. She and D fuss over whether to name the baby Fran's after her uncle. Marjoljins uncle was a hero in story.

I am very super picky about historical fiction especially ones set in WWII because there so many. It is always a breath of fresh air when there is a historical fiction book with a different time period; this is not the case. Yet another one added to the thousands for WWII. That's my rant.

So what is good about this book? I like the intrigue about the main character's interest in her great uncle and a special ring she gifted from her grandma. She is pregnant and has to name her baby after her great uncle if it is a boy. This sets her off to find out more about the of her great uncle and his actions with the Nazis. He was a resistance fighter. But was he really a hero? What does she discover?

And the bad? Another WWII historical fiction book that I just couldn't connect with as much as I should have. I wanted to know the big reveal and life lessons and what the character learned but it was lackluster in its delivery. Still a worthwhile read, but not my favorite.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and Atria Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 11/10/20