I’ve just read this beautiful and moving novel by Florence Knapp, which asks whether your name, in some way, determines who you become.
starting with a mother, cora, going to register the birth of her son, It tells the story of how her family is torn apart by her violent and abusive husband. cora is faced with a choice: Does she call her son Gordon, his father’s name, one passed down oppressively generation after generation, or Does she call him Julian, the name she wants herself, or Bear, the name his older sister’s chosen for him?
At this point the narrative splinters into three different timelines – telling the stories of these names, and the family’s life. Returning to each timeline at intervals of seven years, we see how the intimate terrorism of domestic abuse plays out differently. Knapp shows its insidious effects on Cora and her children; and on how it shapes the relationships they form throughout their lives.
One of the achievements of this book is that the characters in the different timelines are recognisably the same people, with their personalities shifted slightly by differently unfolding events. And Knapp brilliantly weaves these three storylines together so they each inform the other and lead to a conclusion that’s both devastating and full of hope.
Beyond its specific subject, this book makes you think about the choices you’ve made, the alternative paths you could have taken, and the always complicated ways in which our upbringingings echoes throughout our lives.
One of the things I really admire about this novel is how its power builds through the cumulative effect of small details. Some of the violent, disturbing events that in lots of novels would be centred, actually aren’t described at all – we learn about them through their effect they have on the characters. this allows Knapp to develop the stories in ways that feel nuanced and authentic.
the names Is such sensitively written book, I’d urge you to read it.
