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Original poster

Anyone read The Names?

110 replies

wherethewildthingis · 26/07/2025 08:47

Has anyone read this one. Really enjoyed it and keen to talk about it!

OP posts:
OVienna · 22/04/2026 10:58

I definitely did not read the author's intentions here vis a vis the VS as "... a bit trivialising and a bit of a cheap way to get attention."

Goodness that's a stretch and I also think unfair.

She obviously included some details but stepped back in places too and very obviously left it to the reader to fill in the blanks in an effective way.

Every book doesn't have to do all things, from my POV. It just needs to do what the author has set out to do well, and I think those of us who enjoyed it 'get' what Knapp was trying to do.

HighLadyofTheNightCourt · 22/04/2026 12:36

SwallowsandAmazonians · 22/04/2026 09:32

It's interesting that you reference chick lot here and that you thought it trivialised DV.

I felt that it was handled extremely well and took a very in depth approach to the immediate as well as long term feelings and consequences.

I also didn't think it was anywhere remotely near chick lit. Do you think you may be characterising it as a 'chicklit type genre' book because it was written by a woman and is concerned with relationships and emotions?

Show quote history

I completely agree with this post. I lost my mum to DV and thought the book handled it with compassion and depth.

MonkeyTennis34 · 22/04/2026 13:06

Chick lit?!?!

malware · 24/04/2026 19:14

I think the criticism of it being chick lit is a bit badly expressed. The Names is not chick lit, but it's not literary fiction either.

I listened to The Names on Audible and although I did really enjoy it and I found it interesting but it lacked the depth of other novels I have read and really really enjoyed. For example, I have also just finished The Story of A New Name by Elena Ferrante which is also written by a woman, covers similar ground: DV, women's lives, relationship and feelings. To me Ferrante's characters were more multi-dimensional, the range of issues covered were wider & richer, the writing was more beautiful.

It doesn't mean I didn't enjoy The Names. It's just I think what I would call literary fiction has another level to it and that's why I enjoy it more.

midwalker · 26/04/2026 10:43

@malwarethat’s a good summary. It’s not literary fiction, but it’s a good read.

YouBelongWithMe · 24/07/2026 01:13

I read it all today. Found it uplifting, upsetting and unputdownable.

Do agree it should have some kind of trigger warning. My mum suffered DV at the hands of my dad. I need to sit and unpick my response to it through this lens.

deeahgwitch · 24/07/2026 08:25

“…..I lost my mum to DV…….”
I am so sorry this has happened to you @HighLadyofTheNightCourt.

stonkytonk11 · 24/07/2026 08:53

Interesting to hear everyone’s take on this book. I liked it a lot, it was such a clever idea for a book but maybe just didn’t have enough depth for me. I maintain that the main character would not have gone through with the name change to Bear if actually in this position…that stuck with me throughout and made it a bit implausible for me

Ohwhatfuckeryitistoride · 24/07/2026 10:12

Terpsichore · 13/11/2025 11:13

I’m slightly dithering over whether to read this, as from the description it doesn’t quite chime with me, but every single review I’ve read has been positive.

I knew Florence Knapp previously as 'Flossieteackes' from her wonderful blog and truly amazing patchwork (I've got her book on English Paper Piecing, which is a joy just to look at). Pleased for her that her move into fiction writing has been so successful.

I didn't think id like it either, not my type of book, but so glad I did. I too listened on Audible and had to keep rewinding, not because I hadn't followed the story, but because certain bits resonated so much.

mum2jakie · 01/08/2026 08:53

The Names is only £3.64 for the paperback version on Amazon currently. Bargain!

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