This deeply imaginative debut novel asks how a name can shape the course of a life and explores the single what-if moments that can overturn a person's fate

Can a name shape the course of a life?

In the wake of the 1987 storm, Cora sets off with her 9-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 follow his family tradition going back generations, and name the child Gordon. But on the journey there, Cora wonders if it's right to impose the burden of this name and its legacy onto her newborn son. She herself has Julian in mind, and Maia offers up her own suggestion: Bear.

What follows are three alternate and alternating versions of her son's life shaped by Cora's last-minute choice of name. Spanning thirty-five years, the novel takes in themes of domestic abuse, the messy ties of family, and the possibilities of autonomy and healing.

In prose as precise and intimate as it is thrilling, Knapp draws us in from the very first page, ushering in the tenderness of close family connections, as we follow three unforgettable journeys, each heart-pounding in its own way. With echoes of Life After Life by Kate Atkinson and deep characterisation reminiscent of Ann Patchett and Maggie O'Farrell, Knapp's debut will make you gasp as you root for Cora, Maia and Bear/Julian/Gordon, weighing up which has been the better life, not just for the central character but also for his mother, grandmother, and sister.