Synopsis:

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.

Rating:

Review:

This boo was so interesting that I couldn’t put it down. We start the story with Cora. Her husband is terribly abusive and controlling. He instructs her to go into town and register the birth of their son, whom he wishes to have named after him. From there the story splits into three separate stories. In one story, Cora names her son after her husband as expected. In another, she names her son the name that she picked and wanted to name him. And in the third, she lets her daughter pick the baby’s name.

The entire rest of the story is about how this family changed over the years based on that singular choice that Cora makes. It was such a touching and moving story about autonomy and the power of a name. This story makes it clear that it’s not really about her son’s name, but about the choice of a name and the power and expectation that comes with each name.

This book was heartbreaking. It was fascinating. It was rich. It was beautiful. The only thing keeping it from 5 stars was that it was difficult to track which events happened to which name. I had to make some notes to keep it straight. But I think that was just part of the nature of the storyline. Also, be aware that this book contains a lot of spousal abuse and is quite graphic in some of those descriptions.