It is 1987, and in the aftermath of a great storm, a woman sets out to register her son’s birth. Her abusive husband expects her to follow family tradition and call the baby after him.

But is it right for her child to inherit his name from generations of domineering men?

So begins Florence Knapp’s The Names, which imagines three different life paths prompted by three different names, and reflects on the decisions – big and small – that shape a life’s course.

Full of heartbreak and hope, it was deemed “the best debut novel in years” by The Sunday Times, praised by Jojo Moyes, Chris Whitaker and Geraldine Brooks, and has barely left Auckland’s bookshop and library charts.

Michèle A’Court meets her.