The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano

A Novel

By: Donna Freitas

Narrated by: Kristen Sieh

“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.

©2021 Donna Freitas (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“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)

Good read!

The author has done a good job at breaking down a complex emotion using a wide spectrum of perspectives. The point goes across beautifully.

Good idea but not my fave

I didn’t find the main character likable or all that interesting. I finished listening because it was a book club pick. By the end I had definitely become engaged in the story, but didn’t necessarily enjoy it. The performance was just fine, like the book.

Nine lives of R.N.

Even though I always wanted babies and children it was very interesting to learn the thoughts and feelings of women who never have wanted children. I enjoyed this book. The jumping around from year to year and life to life was quite confusing for me. I never did totally understand if Rose had a baby or not. I would love for someone to explain the concept of jumping back and forth to me. Then I would read this book again. Maybe then it would make more sense. I totally understood Rose’s feelings about not wanting children, no matter what life she was in. I also excepted her feelings. I would have booted Luke and his crazy family out long before Rose did.

excellent and thoughtful

excellent and thoughtful audiobook. the audio was well done as well. highly recommend. great listen!

Beautiful and thought provoking.

This story has so many layers. And one of my favorites things about this story was the pure support Rose received from family and friends.

One of my new favorite books.

Never have a listened to a book and immediately started it over again because I was so in love with the story- or should I say stories. I really enjoyed the authors portrayal of emotions and the narrators delivery of them.

I did start keeping track of each story line the second time around to pick up on subtle details that flowed through the story but the first time I didn’t and could still follow along fine.

I think I loved this story because I don’t want kids and it echoed all of the things I feel or have been told about wanting or having children- The classic “you’ll change your mind”. However, I think this book is for any man or woman whether they want children, aren’t sure, or are firmly against not wanting children.

Very Discombobulated

The only good point about this book was the fantastic narration by Kristen Sieh. Ms. Sieh could read the most boring book in the world and still make it sound so fresh. I absolutely love her voice.

As for the book... It is bad! The storyline is so discombobulated that I couldn't understand it without making extensive notes in a notebook. I quickly learned that this book is definitely not suited for audio narration. So, I thought it might be better if I bought the Kindle version. Boy, was I wrong! Once I saw everything in print I became even more confused.

In addition, Rose is not a very likeable character. She tries to self-sabotage herself in one life when she becomes pregnant , with alcohol, and becomes quite promiscuous. In other lives, she and Luke are so whiny that you want to reach into the book and slap them both.

If you want a much better exploration of this type of time travel plotlines, then I suggest 'Life After Life' by Kate Atkinson. This seems to be the novel from which Donna Freitas has gotten much of her inspiration for The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano.

Read Life after Life or listen to it on Audible. You will really enjoy it and not waste 9+ hours with Ms. Freitas' take on this concept.

Amateurish and Frustrating Book

I kept hearing from women who's taste I trust to check out this book. As a women in my 30's confronting questions about having children, I thought, how interesting. After the first few chapters, I got excited, thinking this was a thriller. It's not a thriller. It's not literature either. There's no story, there's no character development, there's nothing to root for or care about. This book is a giant nothing burger with nothing to say and one dimensional characters who complain the whole time. I hate-finished it, hoping there would be something redeeming at the end. There isn't.

Interesting topic, Terrible Format

Women who do not want children and their struggles is an interesting premise for a book. I was looking forward to to the book’s insights.
The format jumping back and forth through years and ‘lives’ left me confused most of the time. I had trouble putting the pieces together even at the end. Truly disappointed that I spent a credit to listen.
Narration was unremarkable. It neither inspired nor detracted from story. Somewhat monotone, found myself nodding off from time to time.

Spoiler Alert

I thought this book would be about exploring the complicated feelings about deciding whether or not to be a mother. But in each of the 9 “different” lives she eventually has a kid. That or I interpreted the structure wrong which was also confusing. And on top of having a kid in each one she’s also happy about it and perceives herself as good at it and doesn’t think about the life she lost by not having a kid. This book is really about people who couldn’t communicate in a marriage. The husband (who is so flat) wants to have a baby because he thinks it will save the marriage (this is never stated explicitly but is clear because they get divorced in every life, baby or not), then it doesn’t. It’s also about grief of losing her mother which she did not connect well to the supposed story about having a kid. Idk I hated it a lot because I was excited to read a book on this topic and this was such a failure.