The Names She Gave Away

By Dana Halbrook

Her mother gave women new names. Now one of them is missing-with her nine-year-old daughter.

Less than an hour after Eleanor Vale's funeral, forensic genealogist Mara Vale finds a stranger waiting at the family guesthouse. Daniel Cross claims his missing wife, Leah, and their daughter, Sophie, stayed there before disappearing. He has one piece of proof: an old guest record in Eleanor's handwriting, with the line for their new name left blank.

Inside the locked house, Mara discovers a hidden ledger connecting Eleanor to a secret network that helped women and children vanish from dangerous homes. But the records also expose a more personal deception: Mara's own identity began with one of Eleanor's rewritten histories.

As the search for Sophie narrows, every adult offers a different version of protection-and every version demands that the child pay the price.

The Names She Gave Away is a tense psychological thriller about family secrets, contested truths, and the irreversible choices people make in the name of keeping someone safe.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HC4KTNNJ
• ISBN13: 9798189784927
• Release Date: July 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 8.0"