The Names by Florence Knapp (2025 Fiction)

This is a powerful novel which includes family love, abuse, tradition and some gut-wrenching emotion. Set in England, Cora has just had a baby and she and her nine-year-old daughter are walking to register his name. There was a family tradition that any male child was named Gordon like her husband, but Cora was reluctant to agree to that. She mentions to her daughter that she had looked at other names and found Julian, which means Sky Father. Her daughter liked that, but had another suggestion—Bear. They go on to the Registry and give his name. At this point, the story evolves in three ways, with the baby given each name. We follow the child and the family over the next thirty-five years, alternating the future by his name. Can a name choice change the course of a life? The book explores the effects of domestic abuse, family loyalty and supportive love. Knapp’s prose is rich and sensitive. I agree with some of the reviews that suggest this is a modern classic.

Reviewed by Robin Olivier