A Family Matter - by Claire Lynch

About the Book

"Family Matter is a heartbreaking and hopeful exploration of love and loss, intimacy and injustice, custody and care, and whether it is possible to heal from the wounds of the past in the changed world of today"-- Provided by publisher.

Review Quotes

"This quietly heart-scorching novel took me one day to read, and I'll be thinking about it forever. If you think these are dark times for civil rights and non-traditional families, the book's understated brilliance is to remind you that light-years of progress have happened in our lifetimes. And why we can't go back." --Barbara Kingsolver

"Lynch's debut burns like a sparkler, quick and mesmerizing." --New York Times

"An emotional mystery... the ideal one-sitting beach read." --Jenna Bush Hager in People

"Quietly stunning... A heartbreaking read about love, loss, making mistakes, and making amends." --Boston Globe

"Elegant and important." --Minneapolis Star Tribune

"A tempered celebration of how far we've come." --People "Book of the Week"

"In this small and powerful story, Lynch forces us to stare bigotry in the eye. She does this not only with smart and often heartbreaking observations of human behaviour, but also by weaving in difficult truths." --The Guardian

"Mesmerizing... an intricately layered and infinitely nuanced story of a single family, imbued with a human pulse you can feel and implications for the current moment you can't ignore." --Oprah Daily

"Stunning... A fast-paced, quickly consuming read that interrogates what happens when we follow rules designed to oppress rather than protect." --USA Today

"A searching story of family, love, and loss...raises thoughtful and heartbreaking questions about what really is in a child's best interest. An affecting exploration of the shelf life of love." --Kirkus

"Poignant... a story of hope and healing from a talented writer." --Booklist

"A beautifully written, quiet yet devastating rebuke to an era of cruel prejudice, A Family Matter made me weep like a baby." --Emma Donoghue

"A triumph! Like the great Maggie O'Farrell, Claire Lynch deals brilliantly with both big themes and small moments. I can't express how impressed I was by A Family Matter. It is, in a word, perfect." --Elin Hilderbrand

"I read this bone-chilling, soul-affirming novel on the edge of my seat, as though I'd been waiting for it for years. A Family Matter is structurally exciting, emotionally resonant, and deeply effective. Claire Lynch explores themes our culture fears, and in doing so, promotes healing of our world." --Chloe Caldwell

"A wonderful novel, absolutely gripping... Lynch manages to be damning about a culture and a system while being compassionate towards the human beings pitted against each other inside that system." --Mark Haddon

"I was so moved and humbled by this beautifully crafted novel that I held it in my hands after finishing for a moment of thanks. In frank and straightforward prose, A Family Matter captures the heart-gripping consequences of forbidden love and reminds us that while the world is far from perfect there are among us decent people who are trying, little by little, to make it better." --Mary Beth Keane

"A beautiful and tender exploration of parental love, prejudice and the things we carry that we don't even fully understand; the terrible decisions made in ignorance, and the almost unbearable consequences." --Rachel Joyce

"Claire Lynch takes elements of shame and stigma in our recent history and turns them into fiction that is beautiful, moving, and challenging. Every page sings out with empathy and love, pain and honesty. This unputdownable book--so precise, so deceptively simple, so beautiful in its tiny moments--will change the way you look at the world." --Emilie Pine

"I was caught up in this story of restraint and things unsaid from the first page. I loved the fact that there were no heroes or villains, and the novel's combination of hope for the future with an awareness of how much has been lost is perfect." --Clare Chambers

"I was blown away by this book. To tackle heart-wrenching emotion with such precision and restraint takes one hell of a talent. A Family Matter is an impeccable debut that turns the mess of life into something beautiful. A timely reminder of love's redemptive power." --Lotte Jeffs

About the Author

Claire Lynch has a doctorate from the University of Oxford and is a professor of English and creative writing. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post and on BBC Radio. She lives in Windsor, England, with her wife and three daughters.