02/09/2026
A review of The Names by Florence Knapp
Summary
It is 1987, and in the aftermath of a great storm, Cora sets out with her nine-year-old daughter to register the birth of her son. Her husband intends for her to follow a long-standing family tradition and call the baby after him. But when faced with the decision, Cora hesitates. Going against his wishes is a risk that will have consequences, but is it right for her child to inherit his name from generations of domineering men? The choice she makes in this moment will shape the course of their lives.
Our thoughts…
An excellent but emotional debut novel by this author. It follows one family but branches off into three different stories. Each of these versions is dependent on a decision that was made one fateful day...the naming of a child. How important is a name?
With the three different scenario’s running alongside each other, the author explores dysfunctional family dynamics, controlling behaviour and domestic violence which was certainly hard to read at times.
Florence Knapp cleverly gets us to see how one decision can change the course of people’s lives, answering the question most of us ask in life, “What if….?”.
An utterly compelling and thought-provoking novel. I certainly went through a rollercoaster of emotions with this novel, and I look forward to reading more books by this Florence Knapp in the future.
If you too would like to read The Names, you can reserve a copy for just 99p by clicking the link https://tinyurl.com/mr3mmxp3
