A Family Matter by Claire Lynch

Nero Book Awards Debut Fiction Winner 2025
 
A mother following her heart. A father with the law on his side.  A child caught in the middle.  
It’s 2022, and Heron, an old man of quiet habits, has just had the sort of visit to the doctor that turns a life upside down. Sharing the diagnosis with Maggie, his only daughter, seems impossible. Heron just can’t find the words to tell her about it, or any of the other things he’s been protecting her from for so long.

It’s 1982, and Dawn is a young wife and mother penned in by the expectations of her time and place.  Then Hazel comes into her life like a torch in the dark. It’s the kind of connection that’s impossible to resist, and suddenly Dawn’s world is more joyful, and more complicated, than she ever expected.

But Dawn has responsibilities, she has commitments: Dawn has Maggie.  A Family Matter is an immersive and tender debut, at once heart-breaking and hopeful, that asks how we might heal from the wounds of the past, and what we might learn from them.
----
'To tackle heart-wrenching emotion with such precision and restraint takes one hell of a talent. An impeccable debut that takes the mess of life and turns it into something quite beautiful. A timely reminder of love’s redemptive power. I was blown away by this novel.' ― Lotte Jeffs
 
'I read this bone-chilling, soul-affirming novel while 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
 
'I was caught up from the first page, and completely taken aback by this story of restraint and 'civilised' behaviour, and things unsaid. I loved it’ ― Clare Chambers