Vinny & Ted Book Club Choice – May 2026

May Book Club

Chalfont – Tuesday 5 May 2026, 7.30pm

Beaconsfield – Tuesday 12 May 2026, 7.30pm

We will be sharing our thoughts about:

The Names by Florence Knapp and/or Confessions by Catherine Airey. Please use code V&TBOOKCLUB at the checkout to receive your 10% discount.

Do come along and join us to talk about one, or both, of these books. Order your discounted books here for free collection from either store. Sign up by emailing matt@vinnyandted.co.uk

The Names by Florence Knapp

It is 1987, and in the wake of a great storm, Cora sets out with her young daughter to register the birth of her son. Her husband expects her to follow tradition and call the baby after him – but is it right for her child to inherit his name from generations of domineering men? Her choice will shape the course of their lives.

Seven years later, her son is Bear, a name chosen by his sister, hoping he will grow up to be brave and big-hearted. Or he is Julian, the name his mother set her heart on, keen for him to become his own person. Or he is Gordon, named after his father and raised in his cruel image – but is there still a chance to break the mould? Powerfully moving and full of hope, this is the story of three names, three versions of a life, and the infinite possibilities that a single decision can spark.

Confessions by Catherine Airey

It is late September in 2001 and the walls of New York are papered over with photos of the missing. Cora Brady’s father is there, the poster she made taped to columns and bridges. Her mother died long ago and now, orphaned on the cusp of adulthood, Cora is adrift and alone.

Soon, a letter will arrive with the offer of a new life: far out on the ragged edge of Ireland, in the town where her parents were young, an estranged aunt can provide a home and fulfil a long-forgotten promise. There the story of Cora’s family is hidden, and in her presence will begin to unspool…An essential, immersive debut from an astonishing new voice, Confessions traces the arc of three generations of women as they experience in their own time the irresistible gravity of the past: its love and tragedy, its mystery and redemption, and, in all things intended and accidental, the beauty and terrible shade of the things we do.