The Names by Florence Knapp: Book Club Discussion Guide
One baby. Three names. Three possible lives.
It’s 1987, and Cora is on her way to register the birth of her newborn son.
Her husband Gordon has already decided what the baby should be called: Gordon, after himself. But Cora’s nine-year-old daughter Maia has other ideas — Julian or Bear.
From that single decision, Florence Knapp’s The Names unfolds into three different versions of one family’s life.
Across those parallel lives, the novel explores identity, family, motherhood, domestic abuse and the strange combination of choice and chance that shapes who we become.
And it leaves us with one very big question: how much can one choice really change?
THE BIG QUESTION
How much can one choice change?
Cora’s decision at the registry office creates three different versions of her family’s future.
But The Names complicates the idea that our lives are simply the result of the choices we make. The same personalities, relationships and patterns echo across all three timelines — even when their circumstances change.
Are we shaped by the choices we make, the choices made for us — or something much harder to define?
Same family. Different name. Different future?
INSIDE THE READING GUIDE
Our The Names reading guide includes:
10 discussion questions exploring the novel’s characters, three timelines, structure and central themes
Big ideas including identity, choice, fate, motherhood, family, domestic abuse and nature vs nurture
Further reading and listening for anyone who isn’t quite done thinking about it yet
Free to download for personal and book club use.
A little note from Brunch Book Club
Our discussion guides aren't homework.
They’re designed to give you somewhere to start, something to disagree about and a few cultural rabbit holes to disappear down afterwards.
Use all ten questions. Use three. Ignore them entirely because someone has just declared which of the three lives was obviously the right one and now the whole table has thoughts.
There are no rules here.
Books. Brunch. Booze. Big conversations.
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