By Any Name

by Cynthia Voigt

From the award-winning author of Homecoming and Dicey's Song comes a heartfelt adult novel perfect for readers of Judy Blume.

Rida is an orphan out of California who dances for the troops in the USO. Spencer is a naval officer with roots deep in New England's upper crust. They meet during World War II at an Officer's Club dance, and Spencer might have been dissuaded if he saw just one engagement ring on her finger, but instead, he sees four.

The courtship is easy, Rida wins him and wears his ring alone. But Rida is a wild card, and Spencer's family can't accept her unconventional approach to marriage, motherhood, and life.

Even Rida's four daughters struggle to understand her, but for them it becomes a quest—to untangle the mystery of their stubborn, off-beat, clear-sighted, loving, and above all mesmerizing mother.

Award-winning author Cynthia Voigt has penned a novel for readers who grew up loving her Newbery Award-winning novels...

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Womens, Family, Adult Fiction

270 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

Cynthia Voigt is an American author of books for young adults dealing with various topics such as adventure, mystery, racism and child abuse.


Awards:
Angus and Sadie: the Sequoyah Book Award (given by readers in Oklahoma), 2008
The Katahdin Award, for lifetime achievement, 2003
The Anne V. Zarrow Award, for lifetime achievement, 2003
The Margaret Edwards Award, for a body of work, 1995
Jackaroo: Rattenfanger-Literatur Preis (ratcatcher prize, awarded by the town of Hamlin in Germany), 1990
Izzy, Willy-Nilly: the Young Reader Award (California), 1990
The Runner: Deutscher Jungenliteraturpreis (German young people's literature prize), 1988
Zilverengriffel (Silver Pen, a Dutch prize), 1988
Come a Stranger: the Judy Lopez Medal (given by readers in California), 1987
A Solitary Blue: a Newbery Honor Book, 1984
The Callender Papers: The Edgar (given by the Mystery Writers of America), 1984
Dicey's Song: the Newbery Medal, 1983

Reviews

[The Candid Cover (Olivia & Lori) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full Review on The Candid Cover

As a fan of Cynthia Voigt’s many novels for teens, such as Dicey’s Song, I was thrilled to discover this new adult contemporary. By Any Name is an historical fiction that is reminiscent of Margaret Laurence’s The Stone Angel. The story of Rida’s life is told through the eyes of her daughter Beth and really captures the era beautifully. Also, the references to Little Women by Louisa May Alcott that are sprinkled throughout the story add to its theme in a unique way.

I might be presumptuous in referring By Any Name to The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence because it is probably more recognizable to Canadians. However, By Any Name has so many timeless themes, such as aging and reminiscing that one cannot help but connect these two literary works. Voigt has created a spunky main character in Rida who exudes strength and independence in a time where women were typically oppressed. Rida is definitely inspirational and those familiar with Cynthia Voigt’s other works will find a similar well-developed fierce female in this book as well.

One really interesting aspect of this novel is that it is told through the perspective of Rida’s daughter, Beth. This point of view actually makes for a more reliable narrator, as Beth is looking at Rida’s life from the outside and has a much more accurate memory. Through Beth, the reader can get a sense of what having a mother like Rida was like and how she had a profound influence on her daughters. Beth is putting all of the pieces together about her mother’s past throughout the book and it all comes together wonderfully towards the end.

For those who enjoy classics, Little Women in particular, you will enjoy the allusions and connections that By Any Name has to this much loved novel. Rida names her daughters after the ones in Little Women and the girls themselves are definitely similar in personality to the March sisters. The shared theme of raising well-adjusted daughters adds to the flavour of Voight’s novel, as the reader can relate to the characters and story of Little Women.

By Any Name is a novel that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys historical fiction. The story is a unique look at women’s issues and the aging process as told by the main character’s daughter. It is a novel that is both inspiring and sentimental, and will become a favourite of those who enjoy the genre.

[Viviane Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rida is an orphan who meets Spencer while she is serving in the USO during WWII and he is serving as a naval officer. They meet at an Officer’s Club Dance. Rida loves to dance and have a good time. She is an orphan from California and has no idea of her origins but doesn’t really care. Actually she considers her unknown status as a mandate to speak her mind at all times and to defy what other see as necessary conventions of behavior. Spencer has one thing on his mind, to divert his constant worry about being killed in this nasty, crazy war. Rida totally diverts his paranoia and rivets his attention on her startling nature. This works well and promises for some audacious moments, especially when she informs him she is engaged to four other men. She admits they all know about each other and don’t mind at all. Spencer thinks, as a young man of the gentle, upper class Boston aristocracy, that he must make Rida realize the error and danger of her ways. Of course, he fails miserably and decides the only way to protect her is to marry her. Theirs is a love affair that truly understands and accepts each other’s nature, his of academic propensities and hers of practical truth and planning for the future.
This then is a unique novel of two characters who complement each other perfectly but who are hardly understood by his Hargrove relatives. The story is told from the narrative voice of Rida or Mumma (as she is called by all) who supports her husband through his obtaining a Ph.D. in classics and starts her own realty business. But the gripping essence of Mumma’s story is the way she shocks Spencer’s family and the acquaintances of her daughters with her refreshing truthfulness and unwillingness to conform to dress and social conversation.
Numerous funny scenes fill these pages in which Mumma shocks all and yet also can perfectly read people’s false veneer to who they are truly are. In one particular scene, she intuits that a certain teacher is taking advantage of her daughter and sets about eliminating that person before damage can be done.
Even the end of the novel is mesmerizing as we see how Mumma handles her husband’s life and death and then plans the immediate days after her own death. The reader knows that her personality will be the subject of days and days of thoughts and conversations among her daughters as they try to figure out just who she was and remain just as befuddled and mournful of her dynamic, astonishing presence!
Cynthia Voigt’s foray into contemporary adult fiction is delightfully well-crafted. The plot is simple but the characterization is the central focus that defies any stereotypical pattern. Nicely done, indeed, Cynthia Voigt!!!

[Louisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this as much as I love Cynthia Voigt’s YA fiction, but Rida isn’t as sympathetic a protagonist as Dicey, or Izzy, or Mina, or as curmudgeonly as Gran. She is definitely a law unto herself, particularly when dealing with marrying into a Boston Brahmin family. She loves Spence truly, madly, deeply, and sees herself as his helpmeet and protector to deal with an outside world that doesn’t protect his scholarly mind from mundane problems like income. Spencer recognizes and develops Rida’s keen mind while granting her free rein over running their lives on a day to day basis. In short, despite their vast differences, they are a well matched pair. Not until Part Two when Voigt focuses on the four daughters did I begin to love Rida and her offspring. The reader begins to understand that Rida is pragmatic yet vulnerable after Spencer is gone and she has to rely on her daughters for assistance that she never expected to need. Each daughter, named after one of the March girls in a humorous nod to Louisa May Alcott, has her own strengths. Together they form a formidable team with enough sibling rivalry to be believable. Anyway, my top three takeaways from By Any Name: 3) Rida and Jonquil’s relationship, 2) Anne and Giancarlo’s wedding, and 1) everything Sarah.

[Brenda Ratliff · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first 100 pages of this book just FLEW by! I read Cynthia Voight's books and loved them when I was in middle school (Homecoming and Dicey's Song! So great!). I was really excited to see her name on a new book and I'm glad to have gotten an advance copy.

By Any Name is the story of a woman's life told in the recollections and gatherings of her four daughters. The concept appealed to me and I already like the author so I was excited to read it! I stayed up WAY to late reading the first section of the book. When Rida (also known as Mumma to her girls) met her husband Spencer I was hooked. I really loved her character and her quirky ways. After that, her life just flew by through the rest of the book. I didn't really get attached to any of the other characters (even the daughters) and it took me a lot longer to read through to the end. And honestly, I just started feeling bad for Rida in the end.

[Sophia Barsuhn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have loved Cynthia Voigt since I was thirteen years old and read her novel Homecoming in school. She's one of my all-time favorite authors, and this book did not disappoint. I think this is the funniest novel of hers I've read so far; there were parts that made me laugh out loud. If I could have even a quarter of Rida's self-confidence and self-assuredness, I think my life would be much easier.

[Baron Rothschild · Rating 3 out of 5]

goodread...

[Lori Downs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining story of Rida, a USO dancer, who is unconventional, dresses boldly, believes lines are meant to be crossed, and is off-beat. Rida marries a Naval Officer from an upper crust family and the story spans the decades and details Rida's relationships with her in-laws, high society, and her 4 daughters, who struggle to understand their mother.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Years ago I read all of Cynthia Voigt's books about the Tillermans. I also loved The Callender Papers. So when I saw this, I had to give it a try. On the back cover it says, "Cynthia Voigt has penned a novel for readers who grew up loving her...novels for children and young adults." That would be me. I really wan't expecting too much, but it quickly drew me in. The narrator, Beth, is telling the story of her mother, Rida's, life. There's plenty of great social commentary thrown in, too. This was just what I needed. It falls somewhere on the scale between chick lit and serious literature.

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a fan of Voigt's young adult novels, I was happy to learn of this one for adults. It ended up being a little too quirky for me to love completely. It centers on Rida, a strong-willed woman who marries into a rich family and has 4 daughters (named after the daughters in Little Women. Her daughter Beth narrates most of the story. It just didn't feel like there was much of a plot, and Rida's character was grating after awhile.

[Ehbooklover · Rating 2 out of 5]

I added this to my TBR pile because Cynthia Voigt was one of my favourite authors from when I was a young girl. Unfortunately, despite a promising premise and character I found this one to be dull and boring. It's never a good sign when you keep checking to see how many pages you have left and I did that a heck of a lot while reading this book.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars - a bit tough to rate because it was strong most of the way through, but started a bit of a downward slide about 60% of the way through, and should have been edited shorter. For instance, I didn’t know that Dot and Emily were Beth’s daughters because they had been barely mentioned and it wasn’t clear they belonged to Beth (rather than to one of her sisters) until suddenly at the end they were brought in for an additional generation of squabbling sisters which felt totally unnecessary. Sarah bakes tarts from scratch for an engagement party Dot is supposed to be throwing for Emily, five people show up who didn’t rsvp so there aren’t enough tarts to go around, and Emily doesn’t get one, and somehow both Dot and Emily throw a snit about this? Instead of saying thank you for making homemade tarts! We’ll just pop out and buy some additional desserts, or share what we have, or let the people who didn’t rsvp know that they don’t get any. It seemed to me the book was mainly a character study of someone with a very strong personality, and only secondarily about mother-daughter or sibling relationships, so I personally didn’t need the stuff at the end which felt tacked-on. I really like Cynthia Voigt as a writer, and I think there’s so much she did well in this book in her character study of the self-confident mother and complicated mother-daughter or mother-friend relationships, but it needed editing to tighten it up and focus on the main story.

[Tea73 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fine read, but it didn't get me in the gut the way Homecoming and Dicey's Song did. In Mumma/Frida we get a feisty, strongwilled protagonist who fascinates and aggravates everyone around her. She's almost a great character, I just never quite believed in her.

Still lots to like. I loved the Boston characters, (the house in Louisberg Square! An uncle named Ethan!) the family dynamics, the final scene with Sarah preventing those who didn't RSVP from attending the wedding reception.

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a thoroughly enjoyable read that drew me in completely. Rida, an orphan, meets Spencer who captures her heart, she woos him, they marry and the time comes to introduce her to his family, who while they strongly disapprove of the match are more or less brought around due to Rida's outgoing personality, although they don't lover her forwardness and inability to tell even the whites of lies. The story is unique in that it is told through the eyes of her daughters, primarily Beth, the youngest, in a series of stories they either heard as young children or observed themselves as her children. The story covers her whole life and evokes many emotions as you read. Rida is definitely a woman ahead of her times and the world is all the better for her place in it.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book ! It is about a family Starting during WWII. A woman who was an orphan met a man from a family that thought she was beneath him. He was engaged when they met but she got him to marry her.
When the war ends they go back to his family and adjust their life.
She is a very opinionated woman and much stronger backbone than him, she is also a go getter and won't let anyone stand in her way.
She was strong and funny and raised her girls to be similar. Named after the Little Women characters.
Funny how some family members develop personalities of older relatives. And parents don't know why!

[Lisa Bricker · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I think of Cynthia Voigt, I think YA. I underestimated her substantially...and I think the world of what I've read of hers before. I'm glad I didn't read this book before I was old enough to appreciate it. I can see Rida walking through her world exactly as she thought she should; and what that would have done to her daughters. I can see, without truly understanding I admit, how her marriage worked. And I can see my three sisters and I sitting down and arguing over our parents just like Meg, Jo, Amy, and Beth.

[Bjipson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cynthia Voigt writes compelling young adult novels, especially her series that started with HOMECOMING. This one is published for adults and is a fascinating character study of "Mumma" told by one of her four daughters. An orphan, Mumma had danced for troops during World War II, attracting men but ultimately marrying a Boston academic from a wealthy, oh-so-proper family that she had little in common with. If Jane Austen had been born two hundred years later, she might have written this; hilariously believable dialogue, touching situations, and vivid descriptions. I didn't want it to end...

[H · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfectly readable vacation novel about a one of a kind woman and her four daughters (Meg, Jo, Amy, and Beth). Quirky Rida is very sure of herself, and brooks no opposition to her opinions - which maddeningly are often right on the money. Told by youngest daughter Beth, this book looks back on the girls' childhood in the style of vignettes from Rida's life (as told to them by her), and from the girls' recollections. Made a fun break from kids' books. Would make a good beach read. Best for adults (probably ladies) who like quirky books about families.

[Julier · Rating 3 out of 5]

I somehow was confused by the story in the beginning, and then realized it is the story of a woman's life told in the recollections of her four daughters. The mother seemed cruel and odd at first, but turns out her daughters understood her eccentricities and loved her. I enjoyed the book, but it didn't really stick with me, so I only gave it 3 stars.

[Ana Abreu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rida was a great woman overall.
A wife, mother, neighbor and friend.
She did everything and helped everyone to the best of her abilities.

Shame on Jonquil for turning on Rida like that after she was the only person who stood by her when she was at her worst.

Sarah can be annoying but with reason!!

[Mary Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four daughters trying to make sense of their mother's past and personality is an interesting plot but I found it difficult to warm up to the characters. Nevertheless, I liked the book especially the first section.

[AnnMarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read many of Cynthia Voigt's young adult books when I was a kid and loved them. I was thrilled to see she had a new adult book out. I haven't read her in years and she did not disappoint! I loved this book!

[Mary Duda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Voigt's books are always really good, but seem to be heavy a lot of the time, so I kept putting off reading this one. But it was so charming! I really enjoyed this, with the daughters' view of their Mumma and how Mumma went through her life.

[Din · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has unusual plot that kept your attention; outspoken, misfit wife in a high society family.

[Donna Quinlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable read!

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half was fun and interesting, but the second half lost my interest.

[Kristi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook and I wasn't interested enough to grind my way through it. It started off ok but I just found all the characters unlikable.

[Itchy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very long. Mostly dull.

[Wendy Heffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of a slow start, but redeemed itself by the end.

[Li Sian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plucky orphans are my favourite. Rida could so easily have been a Narcissistic Mum, but she wasn't. I enjoyed this!

[Maryann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Voight’s Dicey books, so I was disappointed when I didn’t enjoy her Max books for younger children. This is an adult book, a fine portrait of an unusual woman and her family.