Can a name change the course of a life?

In the wake of a catastrophic storm, Cora sets off with her nine-year-old daughter, Maia, to register her son’s birth. Her husband, Gordon, a local doctor, respected in the community but a terrifying and controlling presence at home, intends for her to name the infant after him. But when the registrar asks what she’d like to call the child, Cora hesitates...

Spanning thirty-five years, what follows are three alternate and alternating versions of Cora’s and her young son’s lives, shaped by her choice of name. In richly layered prose, The Names explores the painful ripple effects of domestic abuse, the messy ties of family, and the possibilities of autonomy and healing.

This book contains scenes depicting domestic abuse and sexual assault.

Have you ever wondered what would have been different if your parents had called you something easier to spell, or less common, or more likely to appear on a souvenir keychain? In The Names, Florence Knapp artfully explores the idea of nominative determinism, giving readers a sliding-doors-style view of how naming a child may determine the course of their future.

Cora, a young wife and mother, gives birth to her second child during a storm and chooses between three names for him—but each name holds a very different path. Trapped in a violent marriage and striving for a better future, Cora vacillates. Will this baby be Gordon after his proud and rageful father, continuing a legacy she fears? Will he be Bear, brave, strong and solid, a protector she might one day rely on? Or will he be Julian, pure and free-spirited, offering the escape she longs for?

In alternating timelines across three decades, the family’s rocky past and the diverging roads of three possible futures crystallize. With meticulously interwoven threads and generous prose, The Names is an intricate and affecting debut about the hope, love, and expectations that can both bless and burden a child.