The Names

The Names

Author: Florence Knapp Listening Length: 9h 36m

The extraordinary novel that asks: Can a name change the course of a life? 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 fo...

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Chapter Bear

Bear

Cora watches as the letters form, each one emerging like some magical and extraordinary thing from the nib of the registrar’s pen as it moves across the page.

Bear Atkin. Bear. Just four letters, B-E-A-R, but each one feels charged, no longer just consonants and vowels.

A great surge of—what is this thing?—joy, yes, that’s it, joy—courses through Cora’s being.