A Family Matter

Name: A Family Matter
Brand: Penguin Random House NZ
SKU: 9781529942354
Price: 28.0 NZD
Availability: InStock

By Claire Lynch

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3.71

( 26,355 ratings, 3,315 reviews)

Brief Description

A mother following her heart, a father with the law on his side, a child caught in the middle - an unputdownable debut about a family torn apart by secrets, prejudice, and their own best intentions - for fans of Claire Keegan and Louise Kennedy. WINNER... Read More

Format: Paperback / softback

$28⁰⁰

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A Family Matter

$28⁰⁰

Description

WINNER OF THE NERO BOOK AWARDS DEBUT FICTION AWARD 2025

'I'll be thinking about it forever.' - Barbara Kingsolver

'A gorgeously written story... a must-read.' - Jennie Godfrey

'Powerful and beautifully written... Lynch is a huge new talent in fiction.' - Good Housekeeping, Book of the Month

'I was caught up from the first page and completely taken aback by this story. I loved it.' - Clare Chambers

A mother following her heart. A father with the law on his side. A child caught in the middle.

1982: Dawn is a young wife and mother hemmed in by village life. Then Hazel appears like a torch in the dark. Their attraction is instant, and suddenly Dawn's world is more joyful and more complicated than she ever expected.

2022: Maggie has always lived with an absence where her mother should be. Her father never speaks of her, and it feels impossible to ask. Then an official letter arrives with news from the past, and Maggie must face a truth far bigger than just her family's secret.

'A beautiful and tender exploration of parental love, prejudice and the things we carry.' - Rachel Joyce

'A brilliant book... Full of heart, sympathy and sadness.' - Sara Pascoe

'A triumph! Like the great Maggie O'Farrell, Claire Lynch deals brilliantly with both big themes and small moments.' - Elin Hilderbrand

'Smart and heartbreaking.' - Guardian

READERS ARE IN LOVE WITH A Family Matter

'I would rate this 10 stars if I could'

'Utterly brilliant, I was captivated from page one'

'This book had my whole heart and more'

'A beautiful, heartbreaking, important book'

'I can't get the story out of my head'

'It totally broke my heart'

'I'll be thinking of these characters for a long time to come'

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781529942354

Publisher: Vintage Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 15 January 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Vintage

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 16.0mm

Width: 128.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 163g

Pages: 224

Collections

Claire Lynch Fiction General Fiction LGBTQ+ Literary Fiction Penguin Books

About the Author

Claire Lynch has spent her career teaching literature in universities. She is the author of Small- On Motherhoods. She lives in Windsor with her wife and three daughters.

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A Family Matter

A completely unputdownable debut novel that tells the story of one family torn apart by secrets, prejudice, and their own best intentions, for readers of Trespasses and Sorrow and Bliss. No one need know about her mother's deviation. A mother following her heart. A father with the law on his side. A child caught in the middle. Powerful ...smart and...

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