THE NAMES by Florence Knapp. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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“It is 1987, and in the aftermath of a great storm, Cora sets out with her nine-year-old daughter to register the birth of her son. Her husband intends her to follow a long-standing family tradition and call the boy after him. But faced with the decision, Cora hesitates, questioning whether it is right for her child to share his name with generations of domineering men. Her choice in this moment will shape the course of their lives.”
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THE NAMES is a beautiful portrait of how someone’s choice can echo on into the decades beyond. In this case: what Cora names her son. Each name choice is loaded: Gordon is what her husband, also Gordon, explicitly wants him named. Julian is the name Cora finds the most fitting, as it means Sky Father and she finds that infinitely hopeful. Bear is what her 9 year-old daughter wants to call her little brother.

Each of her three choices are worked out in 7-year increments, and it’s both uplifting and heartbreaking, over and over again, to discover what each new period brings. Knapp cleverly weaves parallel choices for each of her characters – they’re not ever the same, but in line with the character, and the life laid out in that strand. Some characters become main characters in one strand, but remain in the background in others. Still, there is a continuous unity to all of the strands that is a truly excellent feat of the writing.

Above all, however, this is a sensitive, harrowing study of domestic violence and abuse, and how that affects absolutely everyone associated. The violence is not ever quite front and center, but inescapable nonetheless, and readers should be forewarned that this is a central theme to the book. Each life strand deals with it in its own way, and even in happy moments it’s a spectre in the background. I personally found it a powerful story, especially in showing how the abuse is a dominant theme even to those at quite a distance to it.
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