The Names

Florence Knapp‘s The Names is a bold and memorable literary fictional book that asks a disturbing question: Can the name you give a child change their destiny?
Cora travelled with her nine-year-old daughter, Maia, after surviving a terrible storm to register the birth of her baby son. Gordon, her husband, a well-known doctor in the community but a violent and manipulative personality at home, insists that boy should carry his name. But Cora hesitates when the registrar requests the baby’s name, at that moment everything falls apart.

What develops is a stunning, multi-layered story told over thirty-five years via three different versions of Cora’s and her son’s lives, each influenced by the one choice deciding what name she gives him. Each version explores, how this apparently little act of rebellion, hope, or anxiety sends ripples across their future.

The Names explores themes of domestic abuse, identity, motherhood, and the subtle power of decision with emotionally charged prose and a superb sense of organization. Florence Knapp presents a powerful tale of resilience, trauma, and the delicate routes to recovery.

The Names, a contemporary literary master, is poignant, creative, and unforgettable. It will leave readers altered and gasping.