Audiobook review – “The Names” by Florence Knapp

This is the debut novel from British author Florence Knapp and she has taken the literary world by storm; the Sunday Times described The Names as the best debut novel in years. It is a really good page-turner which explores the range of possible outcomes in a scenario where one detail is changed, a ‘sliding doors moment’, if you will. This idea was of course popularised by the 1998 film of that name starring Gwyneth Paltrow. The novel is ambitious in scope, opening in 1987 and finishing in the present day, enabling the author to explore the impact of the key decision on the life outcomes of each of the main characters. 

Central character Cora is an Irish woman who lives in suburban London with her GP husband Gordon, their 9 year-old daughter Maia and their newborn baby son. All appears to be quite normal but it is clear there is a degree of tension in the household, Gordon getting angry with Cora, for example, when the baby cries at night. Over breakfast one morning, Gordon reminds Cora that her task that day is to register the baby’s birth and we learn that his instruction is that the baby is to be called Gordon, after himself and the child’s grandfather, a family tradition that is to be maintained. Cora clearly has no say in the matter and her helplessness becomes apparent when she fantasises about giving the child an alternative name. She toys with the name ‘Julian’, liking its meaning – ‘sky father’. Her daughter, Maia, also offers a suggestion, ‘Bear’ which connotes both brave and fierce, and soft and cuddly. 

Thereafter the book explores the three possible scenarios proffered in the opening pages, exploring each pathway in alternate chapters – what happens if Cora obeys Gordon’s instruction; what happens if she defies him and goes with her own choice, Julian, a respectable name; and what happens if she goes with Maia’s suggestion, Bear, something quite unusual, bohemian and very unlike the middle-class suburban kind of name that goes with Gordon’s carefully cultivated image. In the very next trio of chapters we learn of Gordon’s reaction and the domestic situation that the couple are in is laid bare. When Cora obeys, Gordon is satisfied, but his control over her and her submission is reaffirmed. When Cora selects Julian or Bear, the act of seeming defiance triggers a violent reaction in Gordon. 

It is not just Cora’s life that is explored in the alternate scenarios in the rest of the book, but also that of the children. To what extent does ‘naming’ pre-figure a person’s destiny? Is the baby a different person because he was called ‘Bear’ rather than Gordon, for example, or is it the reaction of the father and the result of that reaction that impacts on the child’s future? I think the author is saying that both can be true. As well as exploring this interesting idea, the author also gives us a real page-turner of a book, in effect three stories for the price of one! It is also well-written and she handles the difficult topic of domestic abuse sensitively. 

I did initially find it quite challenging to follow all the stories and found I forgot which aspects of the history related to which narrative. It might have been better to explore two alternatives rather than three. My difficulty could also have been due to the fact that I listened to this on audiobook; had I read it in book form I would have been able to flick back to earlier chapters to keep track. On the plus side, the audiobook was read brilliantly by Dervla Kirwan. 

I recommend this book highly – it deserves the praise it has had and I can’t wait to see what else this author comes up with.