This is Sarah Enright with the Sioux City Public Library and you’re listening to Check It Out.
Have you ever wondered if your life might have turned out differently if you’d been given another name? Would you make the same choices, or would the very sound of your name lead you down another path? That question lies at the heart of Florence Knapp’s novel The Names, the book I’m recommending today.
In this work of fiction, Knapp crafts a story that is both imaginative and genuine. The novel explores how identity can be shaped by the names we carry, and how a single shift—a different name, a different identity—can alter the course of a character’s life. The writing balances lyrical language with sharp insight, drawing readers into a narrative that feels both intimate and universal.
What makes The Names stand out is the way it blurs the line between personal history and inventive storytelling. Rather than following a traditional plot, the book unfolds as a meditation on how names can influence fate, relationships, and even self-understanding. Each page seems to ask: are we defined by what we are called, or is there something deeper that holds us together?
Reading it made me pause and think about how names echo through families, histories, and communities—how they can open doors, shape expectations, or carry memories long after a moment has passed.
Check out The Names—and discover other imaginative stories like it—at the Sioux City Public Library.
Support for Check It Out on Siouxland Public Media comes from Avery Brothers.