Literary Fiction · Free kit
The Names
England, 1987. After a history-making storm, Cora walks her nine-year-old daughter Maia to the registrar to name a newborn son. Her husband Gordon — a respected local doctor and a terrifying presence at home — expects the boy to take his name, as the men in his family have. Cora has three names in her head: Bear, the one Maia invented; Julian, the one she chose; and Gordon, the one she has been told to write. The novel follows all three lives, seven years at a time, and asks what a single act of naming can set in motion — and what no name can protect you from.
“Or perhaps, and this is her real concern, she'll formalize who he will become.”
Complete free book club kit
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Plan your meeting
The Names Hosting Guide
A free, printable-minded plan for hosting The Names.
Invite hook
“One registrar's desk. Three names. Thirty-five years. Which life would you have written down?”
The question you’re arguing about: Would you rather keep a dangerous peace, or risk a name that might set a whole family on a different path?
Shopping list
- □Irish breakfast tea and English breakfast tea — Cora's two countries in two pots
- □Coffee, lemonade, juice, hot chocolate, and sparkling water for a long, heavy discussion
- □Irish soda bread, butter, and jam (Sílbhe's kitchen energy, not Gordon's)
- □Lemon drizzle or plain scones — something that looks like a registrar-morning treat
- □A bar of good chocolate to break up at the table
- □A few fir or evergreen sprigs, or a bowl of pinecones, for the storm-and-trees prologue
- □Index cards labeled Bear, Julian, and Gordon, plus a cheap baby-name book as a centerpiece
- □Printed bingo cards and pens
Day-of timeline
- 0–10 minWelcome with tea or lemonade; guests draw a name card (Bear, Julian, or Gordon) and do icebreakers
- 10–20 minTrivia warm-up — start easy with 1987, Maia's suggestion, and the seven-year jumps
- 20–55 minMain discussion (which name was bravest, Vihaan, Maia's letter, Gordon Jr., the ending)
- 55–70 minWould You Rather or Speed Debate: Was Cora right to name him Bear?
- 70–80 minBingo, rate the book (1–5 + one word), vote on next month
Surprise touch
At the door, have guests draw one of three name cards — Bear, Julian, or Gordon — and sit with that name for the first ten minutes. Then let them say which life they landed in, and whether they would trade. It is cheap, instantly on-theme, and it makes the book's structure a game before anyone has to talk about the hard chapters.
Wrap-up
- □Group photo with the three name cards or the baby-name book as the prop
- □Quick rating round: 1–5 stars and one word each (try not to all say "devastating")
- □Vote on next month's book together