Can a name shape one’s destiny? Knapp’s high-concept debut ponders this question with remarkable psychological nuance.
The story begins in 1987 with Cora on her way to register her infant son’s name, with her daughter Maia in tow. Cora’s real concern is that she will “formalise who he will become” based on what she names him.
Her husband Gordon has instructed her to name the baby after him, to carry on the family’s tradition. She fears that this would burden him with the abusive legacy of his namesakes. “It feels like a chest-beating, tribal thing ... that will tie him to generations of domineering men.”
She prefers the name Julian, which means sky father. Maia suggests Bear because it is “all soft and cuddly and kind ... but also, brave and strong”.
This seemingly innocuous decision to name a baby is the sliding-doors moment in this novel that charts the destiny of this family in three alternate storylines. The chapters are spaced seven years apart and titled after each of the three names.
Gordon is a reputable doctor but an abusive patriarch at home. The overarching theme of the three storylines is the repercussions of living under the fear of domestic abuse. In each storyline, guilt and trauma dominate the interior psychological landscapes of the three main characters – Cora, Maia and the boy.
Knapp shrewdly weaves together three distinct permutations of this family’s future into a single tapestry with perceptive insight.
The narrative remains consistently emotionally engaging, which is no mean feat for a debut novelist. The story resonates on many levels. It depicts an evocative portrayal of children who grow up under the shadow of a narcissistic father, conditioning them to become hypervigilant and pander to authority. In a poignant moment, Cora observes this in how her nine-year-old daughter has learned “to soothe, to placate” and is “attuned to the undercurrents in a room”.
In another devastating instance, the grown-up boy asks his sister Maia, “Do you think Dad consumed me?” – a stark illustration of the tyranny of an abusive parent.
The Names is an exquisitely layered story about the ripple effects of trauma and choices – and the legacy they leave behind.
