This quiet, quick story is told in two timelines. In the early 1980s, a young married mother of one, Dawn, meets and falls in love with Hazel. She's torn between a life with her husband and daughter and one with Hazel. In the 2020s, Heron, a single father in his 60s, gets a grim diagnosis from his doctor and starts putting his affairs in order. It took me a while to figure out how the timelines were related, but I loved how the author told the stories - moving both forward and backward in time - and how they intersected. Thank-you to Ms. Lynch, Scribner, and NetGalley for the ARC of this title

I really like this author and her writing and this book didn't disappoint. Her characters are full of life and this book also had a bit of intrigued. It was a sad portrayal of the times and the court system.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an early release in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I was very excited to receive an advanced copy of A Family Matter. This is a powerful story of family and the unjust treatment of women, especially lesbian women in 1980s Britain. It is especially poignant in recent events happening in the U.S.

This is a slow read with really developed characters. The story is about one family told in both the 1980's and 2020's and how this family's present is shaped by secrets. I enjoyed the multiple point of views and how Lynch fleshed out the relationship between Heron and Maggie and Maggie and her own children.

This was not a quick read for me - it moved a little slow at times. Also, I think the ending was too abrupt - I think Lynch could have expanded on it and its affect on Heron.

Overall, an impressive debut!

Thank you Netgalley and Chatto and Windus for an advanced copy in exchange for my review!

This was a really unique and engaging read, I loved the alternating timelines and POVs. The writing was solid and the story elicited a lot of emotions!

I was asked to read and review “A Family Matter” by Claire Lynch. Here, the focus is on a family and how the choices and events in one generation impacted those forty years later. In 1982, a young mother, Dawn, finds herself attracted to Hazel, but such a relationship is taboo. Meanwhile, in 2022, Heron, Dawn’s former husband, is facing a terminal illness and wrestles with what to tell his daughter, Maggie, especially as many of the secrets he is keeping might end up hurting her if revealed.

This is a slow moving story, though quite thoughtful. I thought the struggles of Dawn in particular were narrated in a fresh and thoughtful way. I did not connect with Maggie and Heron as much—sometimes when a story is told in dual narrative with multiple points of view, it’s hard to find someone to “side” with. However, I do think this novel makes an effort to acknowledge such prejudice in a poignant way.

Three and a half out of five stars.

Thoroughly enjoyed this novel with alternating timelines 40 years apart. I found the injustice of the mom’s plight maddening but notes at the end of the book show just how true to real life in the 80s in the UK this kind of situation was. I thought the story explored the complexities of relationships and parenthood and love and grief well, and I was a fan the straightforward yet observant writing style.

One of the most character driven books I’ve read in awhile. If this is your jam, pick it up, the last few chapters will linger with me. While there are slow moments, Claire Lynch’s prose if deft and moving.
Dual timelines - 2022 and 1982.
1982: It goes back and forth with with Dawn and Hazel, who share an forbidden attraction
2022: Present day, where Hazel is confronted with a life changing revelation about her father and mother.

This is a shorter book and can be read in one day. The sentences are lyrical with prose. If you like a book where not a lot happens, but packs an emotional punch.

“Just before I fall asleep, I kiss the inside of my left wrist, on the hidden place beneath my watch, just where you always kiss it. I’m sure there must be some trace of your lips that stays there. Will you pay in some deposits when I see you on Wednesday? I need you to leave one hundred kisses on my wrist so I can cash them in when we’re apart.”

My thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for an advance copy of this novel that looks at the lies that families tell themselves, and how these lies fester always leaving wounds that will not heal and hearts that cannot feel.

When I was young I always felt that adults had everything figured out. That life had a pattern that everyone would follow, and that life would be fulfilling. A job one liked that provided for the family that one would have, in a house where one could live, and everything would be a live long and prosper kind of deal. All of this like many things adults tell children, turned out to be lies. I have had none of these things, and I realize that I never will. Adults are as bad as children, believing the lies they were told by parents, government and religion, or by their own circular research. In the 21st century we still hold to out modeled ideas that have been proven to be fallacies. About what a good life is. Who we can be, and who we can love. Parents talk about having grandchildren, never mentioning the pains they had as a parent. Staying together for the kids, meanwhile making misery all around. Even worse never telling the truth about why Mommy or Daddy had to go. This casts shadows, feeding a garden of pain and confusion that one day will need to be harvested, usually for the worse. A Family Matter by Claire Lynch is a novel about an ordinary family that looks happy, but is unhappy in its own way, dealing with love, responsibility, and finding true happiness even if it costs everything.

In 1982 Dawn is married to Heron and the proud mother of a young daughter Maggie. To the world Dawn should be happy, but inside Dawn feels that something is lacking. Being a mother is harder than she was told, and being a wife is not as fulfilling as she needs. Into Dawn's life comes Hazel, a woman who fills the empty spaces in Dawn's life with emotions that Dawn never felt. As things grow complicated Dawn is torn by the fact that she has a family she feels responsible for, and the new life that she sees in front of her. In 2022 Heron has received a death sentence from his Doctor, inoperable cancer that could strike him down at anytime. Heron is torn in sharing the news with his only child Maggie, as she is dealing with a husband and child, and being an adult in a strange new world. As Maggie learns about Heron's health, Maggie is filled with thoughts about her mother, who abandoned her long ago. The more Maggie asks the more it becomes apparant that her parent Heron kept much from Maggie, much that changes the way she feels about everything.

A story that resounds even harder in these dark days of the 21st century showing that even after forty years no matter what we say nothing has changed. People are still judged not by their actions, but the way they live their lives, not hurting others, but being true to who they are. A threat somehow to others, but never made clear. This is an English novel, so there is a bit of remove to the story, told even in the numerous points of view as if by an observer. An American author would add a lot of flowery speeches, and try to strangely relate to all the characters. I prefer this version, as it seems much more real. Lynch is a very good writer, able to handle time changes different points of view, and as story that could be messy and familiar, and make it new, touching, painful, and sad. So many wasted emotions, so much wasted time. A family that is unique in their unhappiness, and lies.

A powerful sad story that stays with the reader. One that I thought about certain lines well after I had closed the book. Not a beach read, but a book to read to remind one that other people matter, have feelings and think differently. They are just as human as we all are. And deserve to be treated as such, no matter how icky or embarrassing it might be for a family. I look forward to more by Claire Lynch.

This was a great book. Tragic, but real and not maudlin. It would be a good book club book. Recommended.

A fascinating look at how social constructs could affect peoples lives in the 980s UK

Dawn and Heron married young and are bringing up their daughter Maggie. One day, Dawn meets another young women and they form a strong friendship. Dawn realizes she needs more than what she has, although she is devoted to Maggie. Times are different then and Dawn is painted as an inadequate mother. She can not fight the legal system. Years later, Maggie is raising her own family and struggling with being a mother, spouse and individual. When the past catches up to the present, everyone must learn to adapt and change.

Really solid read! It was interesting to hear this story in a different cultural/historical setting and I appreciated the nuance that the author gave the characters. I just wish it had been longer! Very quick and enjoyable writing.

What happens when a love that should be accepted causes irreparable damage and loss? A Family Matter focuses on a time when same sex partnerships were considered depraved. As long kept secrets surface, heartache follows for all involved. And can that lost time ever be recovered? Lynch masterfully portrays characters whose intentions are earnest yet naive and misguided. The prose is powerful and the ending portrays a glimmer of hope and resolution. Loved it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for an early read.

This is a nuanced and sophisticated novel examining family and social dynamics and how they do, or don’t, change over time. The author does a fantastic job of juggling multiple timelines. The ending, while not neatly wrapped up in a bow, seems true to life. Nicely paced and I liked the shorter length.
Highly recommended for fans of literary fiction.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance e-galley; all opinions in my review are 100% my own.

"It was the way she changed the air as she moved through it." That line really stuck out for me. Maggie the daughter realizes overtime something is not quite right in regards to her mother and she wants to ask her father. Dawn, Maggie's mother has been out of her life for a very long time. Maggie's father, Dawn's husband Heron is reflecting on his life and the decisions he made. Were the decisions his to make and were they in the best interest of the child (Maggie).

This is a beautiful yet emotional read telling the story of family and how society/government can create a wedge while thinking they know what is best for the family. It also shows what life was like for queer people in the 80s and to some extent today as well. What an heart-wrenching rollercoaster as the reader follows one family over two time frames 1982 and 2022. I appreciated how each character had a voice which provided some introspection. Definitely a read that you should read slowly and savor.

I was impressed. There’s a restraint and a down-to-earthness about Lynch’s approach which seemed right and admirable, given what could have been a much more sensational treatment of the subject matter. And I was shocked too, that attitudes and practices that seemed more in keeping with the 1950s were still abroad closer to the end of the century.
So, although this is a low-key narration featuring determinedly ordinary characters, it traces a palpable tragedy, from several perspectives. And I particularly valued the ending and the reunion which dodged the easy and predictable in favor of something truer and more nuanced.
Well done.

This book follows multiple timelines- one takes place in the 80s and follows Dawn, a married woman with a child who starts to have feelings for another woman. The other follows Heron and Maggie, a son and daughter 30 years later who are dealing with several secrets between them.

What I liked:
I loved this books message about the mistreatment of gay (or just not straight) women back during this time period. I don’t want to give spoilers, but there is an afterword in this book that explains this more, and I greatly encourage everyone to read it. I think the author did a great job portraying the difficulty Dawn went through as she struggled with these feelings for another woman conflicting with her ability to maintain life as usual.

I also liked the themes in here that no one is really evil for what they did. People make mistakes- some bigger than others, but they do not necessarily deserve to be shut out for it.

What I didn’t like:
Everything felt too… removed and impersonal for me. I feel like this is definitely a book that SHOULD’VE made me cry, yet I did not really find myself caring much about any of the characters. Part of that may be that this is a very short book, so there isn’t a lot of time to really connect with anyone. Everyone just felt a bit… flat.

Overall, this is a very character driven book about these 3 people, and the complicated web between them. I would recommend it if you like slower moving family dramas, but not if you’re looking for a twisty-turny sort of book.

3 stars for an interesting yet flat family drama.

This is beautifully written. It is a book that really makes you feel. It makes you happy and then sad and then happy again. I loved the depth of the characters and their storyline was amazingly done.

This story is full of hope and heartache. It lifted me up and brought me down multiple times. The writing is superb. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Book clubs should read this together.

What a wonderful book! I really enjoyed the dual timelines and hearing from multiple perspectives. Quick, light writing but there was still a ton of depth to the storyline and characters. Highly recommend!

After receiving a cancer diagnosis, Heron must break the news to his middle-aged daughter, Maggie. Facing the mortality of the only parent she's ever known, questions about Maggie's long-absent mother, Dawn, begin to surface. As Dawn's narrative in 1982 runs in parallel to the present day drama, readers begin to understand the events that drove the family apart. A beautifully written, tender book that paints a moving portrait of a family shaped by love.