Publication Date: April 7, 2026
A man and a woman with the same name are looking for a fresh start only to discover they have landed the same job in this charming new romance by bestselling author Beth O’Leary.
Charlie couldn’t be happier to take the job of farm-shop manager on the remote, wild Isle of Ormer. She’s grieving, a little lost, and in desperate need of a fresh start.
Jones has come out of a difficult breakup and is looking forward to some peace away from the noise of his city life. Moving to Ormer couldn’t have come at a better time.
But when Charlie Jones and, ahem, Charlie Jones both turn up at Ormer’s one and only farm shop, claiming to have been offered the role of manager, everyone is baffled. How could this have happened? And just who is the real Charlie Jones?
Set on the fictitious Isle of Ormer in the English Channel, The Name Game by Beth O’Leary features a grieving Charlie who is anxious for a fresh start.
The bulk of the story is confusingly told by two Charlie Joneses, mainly in emails to others, and it was often difficult to understand whose voice we were hearing.
They each arrive under suspicious circumstances, share a name, but do not know each other. They are each trying to prove their capabilities for the job they are sharing and why they should be kept on at the end of their trial period. We get to know some of the inhabitants of the island and the many roles they play as we learn more about the two Charlies.
While several stories are told, it isn’t until almost the end of the book that everything starts to make sense with an unexpected twist. The author paints vivid descriptions and includes some weighty subjects to wade through. The story spans three months in the present, but also goes back years in their pasts, which often left me more confused. The ending, which takes place five years in the future, offered closure, along with plenty of unexpected happy moments.
The Name Game has the two main characters looking for a fresh start for different reasons, and ultimately get their wish.
Beth O’Leary is an internationally bestselling author whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages. Her debut, The Flatshare, sold over a million copies and is now a major TV series. Her subsequent novels The Switch and The Road Trip were instant Sunday Times bestsellers. Beth writes her books in the English countryside with a very badly behaved golden retriever for company. If she’s not at her desk, you’ll usually find her curled up somewhere with a book, a cup of tea, and several woolly jumpers (whatever the weather).
