Audiobook Review: The Names by Florence Knapp
The Names
Author: Florence Knapp
Narrator: Dervla Kirwan
Published: May 6, 2025
Audiobook: 9 hours 40 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: August 7-13, 2025
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
The extraordinary novel that asks: Can a name change the course of a life?
In the wake of a catastrophic storm, Cora sets off with her nine-year-old daughter, Maia, to register her son’s birth. Her husband, Gordon, a local doctor, respected in the community but a terrifying and controlling presence at home, intends for her to name the infant after him. But when the registrar asks what she’d like to call the child, Cora hesitates…
Spanning thirty-five years, what follows are three alternate and alternating versions of Cora’s and her young son’s lives, shaped by her choice of name. In richly layered prose, The Names explores the painful ripple effects of domestic abuse, the messy ties of family, and the possibilities of autonomy and healing.
With exceptional sensitivity and depth, Knapp draws us into the story of one family, told through a prism of what-ifs, causing us to consider the “one . . . precious life” we are given. The book’s brilliantly imaginative structure, propulsive storytelling, and emotional, gut-wrenching power are certain to make The Names a modern classic.
Jessica’s Review:
This was a book club read and one I had on my TBR, and it delivered! We have a mother who has one choice to make: To register and name her infant son’s birth. There are three possible names: Bear, Julian and Gordon (after the father and Cora’s husband). What’s in a name? Does a name actually affect the life someone will live?
The Names takes place from 1987 and spans 35 years with each life that the newborn lives based on the name Cora chose. This is not a light read, it is dark as the reader will deal with domestic violence, coercive control and more. This is a debut novel that will leave you thinking long after you have finished it.
This is also a book I know I will need to actually read versus listen to. I had some issues with the narrator. I couldn’t concentrate while I listened to the novel. I know I missed some things. This was a ‘me issue’ and had nothing to do with the narrator’s narration.
This is a book that had some similarities to the movie Sliding Doors staring Gwyneth Paltrow: One life with two possibilities, based on if Paltrow’s character caught the train or not.
This being Knapp’s debut novel, I look forward to seeing what she writes next!