Think of this book like a choose your own adventure novel. Cora, the core of the story as the Author explains, has a choice to make regarding what she will register as her sons name. The book then follows the three choices and examines the lives that result from each choice.

The choices we explore are Bear (Cora's daughter Maia's choice), Julian (Cora's Choice), and Gordon (the patriarchal tradition that has been the name of abuser after abuser).

This is a book about domestic abuse and violence so be warned that this is heavy from start to finish.

I really enjoyed seeing how each story played out and they went beyond my expectations especially the Gordon story line. It's hard to praise any aspect without giving away the story too much.

However, I think the reason this didn't fully land for me is that we don't really get to spend too much time in any of the universes. The characters are largely the same, but something about the differing realities left me slightly removed and so I have landed on a 4.5. Really great and maybe in another reality this was a five star book for me.

"A deeply compassionate person propelled by her need for relational intimacy as well as her sense of moral duty, Harriet Tubman fought for the ability of all God’s creatures to share this earth in freedom and dignity. Whether or not we hold her religious convictions, we bear witness to the power she unleashed believing in something larger than herself. Harriet’s love of family, friendship with trees, faith in God, and care for the needy were values united by a tenet of togetherness."

This is a book that seeks to humanize Harriet Tubman, however we do not have a lot of information about her as a child. Therefore, this book uses women who are similar to Harriet Tubman to extrapolate about how Harriet might have felt about experiences she had as a child. I think this argument works, but I struggled to want to read a book that was basically "what if" or "maybe this" about Harriet Tubman. However, the second half of this book, which focuses on a time in her life where there is a lot more information about her, was stronger to me because we don't have the same thought experiment going on.

Regardless, Harriet Tubman is incredible and learning more about her is deeply enriching.