The Names He Gave Me
For readers of Never Let Me Go and Home Fire
Pre-order · Kindle Edition
Think about an ordinary evening. Someone is cooking. Someone else is complaining about the cooking. The house sounds like it will sound this way tomorrow.
A man in Massachusetts believed that. He learned the neighbors' names. He shoveled their walks. He planted asparagus because he believed in three years from now. He raised his children as if the ground they stood on belonged to them.
His daughter is the only one left.
Early Readers
"This book had me staying up late in tears."
- Ronnica F., NetGalley · ★★★★★
"This tragic story is easily one of the most compelling and memorable books I have read in a very long time. The writing is incredibly powerful, and I felt immersed in the descriptive telling."
- D. Vitale, Atlanta, GA
"Finished this at 1am and immediately called my dad. He picked up half asleep and asked what was wrong. Nothing was wrong. I just needed to hear his voice."
- Sarah K., Portland, OR
"I cried four separate times."
- Deborah M., Newton, MA
"Prize-level writing."
- A.J., London, UK
"My wife asked why I was being weird after I finished it. I wasn't being weird. I was just sitting in my house listening to it. You'll understand."
- Michael R., Cambridge, MA
"The asparagus thing broke me. How does a vegetable make you sob."
- Priya N., Chicago, IL
From the novel
He said asparagus takes three years. You plant the crowns and you tend the ferns and you do not cut anything no matter how ready it looks. Three years. Then it gives you what it has.
She said that is a very long time to wait.
He said some things are.
The ground did not hold us.
He was right about the asparagus.
For Book Clubs
The kind of book your group might argue about for months.
Free copies for your group + the author joins your discussion via video call.
You might finish this book and wonder: at what point would I have said something? At what point would I have noticed what was happening to my neighbor?
You might argue about whether Kaz's silence was love or the thing that cost his family everything. Early readers have. There's no right answer.
You might think about the ordinary evenings in your own house differently afterward. The sound of it. The people in it. The assumption that it will still sound like this tomorrow.
Reading group guide available on request. Email mamoon@briarlanepress.com to arrange.
Advance Review Copies
Publication date: February 3, 2027. Advance Reader Copies are available now for book bloggers, Bookstagrammers, BookTok creators, librarians, and journalists.
Request a free digital copy on NetGalley, or get in touch directly for physical copies. No obligation.
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Kindle Edition · February 3, 2027
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About the Author
Mamoon Chowdry is a British-Pakistani writer. The son of immigrants from Pakistan, he was born and raised in England, served in the Royal Air Force, and moved to the United States in 1999. He has spent his working life inside large systems and has written about families, belonging, and what people lose when the ground beneath them moves. The Names He Gave Me is his debut novel. He lives in Massachusetts.