The Names

Tomorrow - if morning comes, if the storm stops raging - Cora will register the name of her son. Or perhaps, and this is her real concern, she'll formalise who he will become. 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 has ordered her to follow a long-standing family tradition and call the child after him but when faced with the decision, Cora hesitates. Should her child share his name with generations of fearful men, or should he be given a chance to break the mould? Her choice in this moment will shape the course of their lives.Seven years later, he is Gordon, raised under his father's cruel influence, the apple of his eye. Or he is Julian, the name his mother set her heart on, though she is not around to see him grow into it. Or he is Bear, a name chosen by his sister, and a very different fate lies in store for them all . . . This is the story of three names, three versions of a life and the million possibilities that a single decision can spark. And it is the story of one family, whose love will be tested to its limits and survive the unimaginable, whatever the future holds.