Named: A Story of Names and Reclaiming Who We Are

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'Gutsy, entertaining and thought-provoking...A marvellous book.' Diana Evans

What's in a name Everything we carry, and everything we are.

Our names are a shadow we carry around with us. They are part of who we are. Our names are a marker of our self-identity and our sense of self. Our names have the power to shock. They have the power to heal, and they have the power to trigger conversations around race, class, social mobility and belonging. But what is a name What do our names tell us about ourselves And why do they matter

Named is a fascinating exploration of names, global naming conventions and identity politics woven into a moving, personal narrative about the finding of family and self. At the intersection of memoir and social and cultural history it is a truly fascinating book about the seemingly ordinary and every day.

The author's own narrative about her estrangement from her Nigerian father, the grapples with her Jamaican mother and her journey towards identity is woven through the chapters making it an engaging and intimate investigation of what makes us who we are.

Reviews

'Utterly fascinating, insightful and meaningful. Balshaw has sensitively unpicked the loaded act of naming and carrying a name through her own story.' Bonnie Burke-Patel, author of I Died at Fallow Hall

'Gutsy, entertaining and thought-provoking, a valuable meditation on the origins and politics of what we call ourselves, on what is both lost and gained in naming. A marvellous book.' Diana Evans

Author Bio

Camilla Balshaw grew up in Luton. Her work has been published in the Observer and the Guardian. She has an MA in Creative & Life Writing from Goldsmiths and is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham. Her writing has been shortlisted and longlisted for a number of competitions. She lives in rural Norfolk. This is her first book.