What's in a Name? - Heather Holmes

Published by The Copy Press: Nelson, NZ, 2017.

This is a self-published novel by someone who I remember as a teacher's aide at the highschool I went to. Self-published novels are generally a little bit less well edited, or have some sort of structural or pacing issues that 'properly' published novels can avoid, and this does have elements of that. However, once that has been put aside, the story itself is quite fun.

The title works in two ways: it is the title of a film being shot within the context of the book (of whom the two main actors become part of the plot) and it is also a commentary on the main family of the narrative. Our main narrator, Prudence, and her sisters Faith, Hope, Charity and Honesty, all feature as important characters, and all have personalities that directly clash with their names. Their brother, Aslan, features far less but it is mentioned that, desptie having the weirdest name, he is the most normal of the family.

Prudence shows her 'imprudent' nature by taking an impromtu flight to Singapore on a fake passport when she is mistakenly handed one in the street. Upon her return to the UK, she finds herself being trailed by mysterious figures, who think that she is a master spy of some sort due to her ability to continually avoid capture (which they think is skill-related but is actually just random chance). She changes identity a number of times, gets caught up in a few possible romantic subplots, and then everything wraps up at the end.

It certainly is a non-professional book; the choice to have some scenes told first-person from Prudence's perspective and then others, even in the same chapter, told in third person from another character's POV does get distracting at times, and at one point a single paragraph switches from first to third person, only to switch back again afterwards. The opening backstory is rushed through. The ending is a little rushed as well.

But, you know what... I still enjoyed it overall.

Completed 25 October 2026.

Previous Book ~ Next Book 

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