The Names: A Read with Jenna Pick: A Novel
And this is the truth of it. The people he was meant to love, he has only hurt. He cries out then, a guttural sound. Because it’s so clear. He had one life. And he could have spent it differently.
Florence Knapp • The Names: A Read with Jenna Pick: A Novel
They sit at the table until the early hours, talking, laughing, crying. Cian still hasn’t slept, but when he thinks of going to bed, he cannot face Sílbhe not being there beside him. And so he stays in the kitchen with Maia and Julian and the warmth of traded memories. A clarity exists amongst them, that they have shared their lives with someone
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But it only confirms what he knows. He brings her still-warm hand to his cheek and weeps. Because they have not had long enough. Because he is not ready for their shared life to be at its end. He sits with her as the light fades, as the chill starts to creep in through the open door, as her cooling body sets in place. He sits with her through the
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At night, Maia’s words circled in his mind, something she once said about contempt being the most corrosive thing in a relationship, the indicator of a marriage on the rocks.
Florence Knapp • The Names: A Read with Jenna Pick: A Novel
That he was unable to leave behind the past—his hostility toward England—to secure their future.
Florence Knapp • The Names: A Read with Jenna Pick: A Novel
They do jigsaw puzzles, build LEGO towers, read stories, and with each piece placed, each block stacked, every page turned, Lily feels Bear’s absence. One day they make scones and as they press the cutter down through the thick rolled pastry, Lily is astounded that Bear can be dead, and they are left here baking. That the world is continuing to
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He didn’t care about you becoming your own person, he just wanted to mold you into something that could hurt Mum.”
Florence Knapp • The Names: A Read with Jenna Pick: A Novel
She turns back to Gordon, sensing his eyes on her, waiting for an answer. “I don’t know if consumed is the right word. Manipulated, though. You were rewarded for being awful to Mum, before you’d had a chance to…I don’t know, form your own conscience, I guess.”
Florence Knapp • The Names: A Read with Jenna Pick: A Novel
“All I’m asking is for you to let me meet your brother. Because I love you. And I want to know your people, even if they’re not perfect.” She sees Maia’s jaw tense and adds, “I don’t mean your dad. But Gordon. Your mum, if there’s ever a safe time for that.”