* Copy courtesy of Hachette Australia *
It's possible The Names by Florence Knapp is going to be my favourite book of the year and within the first 50 pages I realised it was going to make My Top 5 Books of 2025 list. It has a unique and engaging premise and is incredibly well written.
It's October 1987 and Cora sets out to register the name of her newborn son. Her controlling husband Gordon expects her to continue his long held family tradition of naming boys Gordon. Cora believes names can influence a person's life and would prefer to name her son Julian, which means sky father. On the way to the registrar, Cora asks her nine year old daughter what name she would like to call her baby brother. Maia answers that she would like to call him Bear because it sounds soft, cuddly and kind but can also be brave and strong.
Cora weighs up the pros and cons of each of the names, worrying about the potential consequences of naming her son Gordon in case he grows up to be like his father.
"But what disturbs her more is that she must now pour the goodness of her son into its mould, hoping he'll be strong enough to find his own shape within it." Page 1Yet by page 7 it is done, the baby has a name. The novel then splits into three narratives, the first where family tradition is upheld and the boy is named Gordon after his father, the next where his mother names him Julian and the third where he is given the name his sister chose, Bear.
This isn't a 'dream sequence' or an author's trick where two plot lines are later revealed to be a dream or imagined and the 'true' name revealed. Equal time is spent on all three narratives and there's no clear good/bad or right/wrong; every life turns out differently. The Names is an unbiased and carefully considered exploration of each of the three lives and the different ways in which they turn out. Naturally I did develop my favourite 'name' yet my favourite 'outcome' was different again.
Catching up with the three boys and the family members important to them in their lives every seven years was an inspired choice and reminded me of the Up series of documentaries. Beginning in 1964, the documentary followed the lives of 10 boys and 4 girls in England from seven years of age and checked back in with the subjects every seven years to see what had changed. The Up series had nine episodes and as far as I can tell, there's no plan for a 70 Up - due in 2026 - at this stage.
Back to the book and I was immediately struck by the author's powerful, direct and succinct writing style that also managed to convey softness and vulnerability with few words.
"Because some people - like Gordon's father - travel through life believing themselves so far beyond improvement, they come to think their children, and their children's children, should all be made in their name. Because sometimes their need to please previous generations is greater than their need to love future ones." Page 6I can pretty much count on one hand the number of books that have brought me to tears - Exit Wounds by John Cantrell, Stoner by John Williams and Cloudstreet by Tim Winton - and now I can add The Names by Florence Knapp.
It happened in a scene where a character offers to walk someone home:
"... and her acceptance of it, is unthinking; they are already absorbed in a conversation that will continue to slowly unspool across all the years they have left." Page 283This was so beautiful and poignant due to everything that had come before it that I was moved to tears, wow!
It's difficult to believe The Names is a debut novel for this London based author when it reads like a polished and page perfect masterpiece. The author is engaging with book bloggers and reviewers on social media which always adds to the enjoyment of a book and paints the picture of an author excited by the huge amount of hype surrounding her book yet humble and grateful for the coverage and reviews.
The Names by Florence Knapp was an unforgettable read and I look forward to reading more from this remarkable author in the future.
