Reading Rec: The Names
Sliding Doors Stories to Explore
Were you as obsessed as I was with the 1998 romantic dramedy Sliding Doors starring Gwyneth Paltrow? The movie follows two possible versions of the protagonist’s life. In one version, Paltrow’s character barely misses her train home. In the second version, she just squeezes onto the train. That single random act sets her life on one of two distinct paths: one of misery or one of happiness. That’s the gist anyway. The movie ushered in the cultural concept that our lives can follow radically different paths based on random occurrences or our simple choices.
Florence Knapp’s debut novel, The Names, plays with the “sliding doors” idea. The book begins with a mother choosing the name for her newborn son. She deliberates among three possibilities. Will she give the baby boy his abusive father’s name, a family name passed down generationally, a name she dislikes but that her violent husband demands? Will she choose the name that she prefers, that seems to suit the infant? Or will she pick the rather unique name suggested by her older daughter? We see the outcome of each choice, as The Names follows three different storylines for a family with domestic abuse at its center.
The Names is receiving praise for its structure, following three alternative storylines over 35 years, and its deft handling of dark, difficult subject matter with warmth and heart. What it has me thinking about most, though, is why we love “sliding doors” stories. Perhaps we have all considered the “what if’s?” of our own lives. What if we hadn’t gone to that party? Showed up to volunteer that one day? Taken that job? Entered that contest? We think about how our own lives could have gone in different directions. We both hang on to the way our lives have gone and fantasize about what could have been. Reading stories that present characters’ alternative paths satiates our impossible dream: to live more than one life.
What other “sliding doors” stories have you read? I’ve read The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver (recommend); The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (do not recommend); and Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (I listened to the audio version of this novel and do not recommend going that route because I ended up confused for much of the story). Atonement by Ian McEwan is not technically “sliding doors” but examines how storytelling can create an alternative reality. Although I haven’t read it, Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Maybe in Another Life appears to be a popular pick.
Have you ever thought of writing a “sliding doors” story? Think about your favorite characters that live in your imagination. If you wrote a “sliding doors” story for them, what would their different paths be? It’s fun to think about and maybe it will inspire your next story!