“A Family Affair” is a timely glimpse into how queer parenting is still considered “shameful” under the eye of the law. This is an equally heartbreaking and moving account of a daughter learning about why her mother left their family. I won’t say any further, but it is just gobsmacking.

A Family Matter is a debut novel dealing with one mother’s decision in 1982- choosing between her young daughter or her newly found relationship with another woman. (In the 1980’s, most gay parents were not given custody of their children.) Dawn is married to Heron and is adjusting to her life as a mother. In 1982, two women together was not acceptable in the publics eye. The author flashes forward to 2022, when a relationship with two women is more widely accepted.
The story is told in these two-time lines, with the main narrators being Dawn, Heron and the daughter Maggie. These characters are what drives the story. How does a mother decide between her child and her lover? How does a father reconcile the fact that his wife left him and their daughter, not for another man, but for another woman? How does Maggie deal with her upbringing with only a father, not knowing the full extent of what happened to her mother since her father refuses to talk about it?
Things change when Heron, now in this late 60’s, is diagnosed with cancer. He is left with the decision as to whether or not to tell Maggie the full story of her mother and reveal what he has kept secret all these years.
The writing flows in this novel and it makes it easy to keep turning the pages to find out more. This is a very emotional read, dealing with current issues in real life- woman’s rights, lesbian moms.
I am looking forward to reading what the author Claire Lynch writes next.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Scribner Books for bringing this book to my attention and for allowing me to read the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Published on June 3, 2025

This book was so eye opening and such a unique and poignant story about what happened to families at this time in history. I am sooo reluctant to say too much about the plot because the events are revealed in such a beautiful way. It says so much in what it doesn’t say as well. There is a lot of implications and assumed emotions that allowed me to look at this book in such a deep way. This is a short book, less than 300 pages, which I appreciated so much. It was just released and I strongly recommend getting your hands on it!

Going back and forth on my feelings on this book… the subject made me furious because it really did happen, but felt the overall story lacked emotion and skipped parts that I really wanted more details on.

I had high hopes for this book but it was a little slow for me. It took a while just to finish. Maybe it is just me but it dragged on.

Wow. I loved this book. I enjoyed the richness & complexity of the characters in this beautiful and short novel. I liked the alternating timelines from 1983 & 2022 and the variety of perspectives. Overall it was heartbreaking and the story will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you Netgalley & Scribner for the advanced reader copy.

4.5 stars This was a great debut novel! Claire Lynch did a great job developing two timelines—one in 1982 and one in 2022—and bringing them together in a really satisfying way by the end. In 1982, Dawn is trying to figure out life as a new mom and wife. Jump to 2022, and her ex-husband Heron, now in his 60s, is facing a terminal diagnosis. He knows he needs to tell their daughter, Maggie, but he’s terrified that revealing the truth will also uncover the secrets he’s kept from her for years. Great character development. I was completely drawn into their lives and needed to know how everything would turn out. It’s a bittersweet story, but also full of hope. I definitely wanted more, since this story was only 240 pages. Can’t wait to see what Ms. Lynch does next. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

An absolutely gorgeous novel. I’m stunned that this is a debut.

Told in two timelines, this multigenerational family saga is short yet expansive. Maggie is our connection to both time periods - a toddler in the early 80s and a mother in our present timeline. In the 80s, Maggie’s mother Dawn fell in love with another woman at a time when that meant the world doubted her ability to be a mother. The reverberations can be felt through Dawn and Maggie’s lives.

I’d have read many more pages of this book, but at the same time, I thought it was an artfully done. I’ll be imagining what came next for Maggie’s family for a long time, though.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this beautiful book.

What a timely read for Pride month. Look how far ew've come, and yet so far to go. This is a story about what a family "should" look like, heartbreak, and ultimately of forgiveness. Dawn and Maggie have a mother/daughter relationship like no other I've seen in literature. Thank yu for sharing these characters with us Claire Lynch.

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC. Reading A Family Matter by Claire Lynch takes you into Maggie's world- a young girl whose life is changed forever by the misguided perceptions and rules of the time. We see the results of choices that were made supposedly in her best interests. While this book celebrates the progress made in some parts of the world it should also serve as a warning for how precious our rights are.
My only critique is that I wanted to stay in this story longer- to glimpse into Maggie's future if only for a moment. I highly recommend A Family Matter and look forward to reading other work of this author.

As heartbreaking as this story was, I loved everything about this book!

The ending was perfect. The story was told with such care that I kept thinking about it when I was not reading it.

Loved!

What a unique and powerful book! There was a lot packed into this short book. I would have liked to know more about the long stretch of time between the early 1980s and 2022 and why some of the issues weren't addressed during that time. I would have appreciated a longer book that filled in some of these gaps. I flew through the book and enjoyed it. It enlightened me about the extent of the bias against gay women in the 1980s in England. Given the current political climate, the historical parts of the book seemed like a cautionary tale to me. I think this would be a great choice for book discussion groups because of the ethical issues that could be discussed. Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

This book is only 240 pages so it's much shorter than the books I actually read. It's great for any reading challenges for under 300 pages.

The writing style is beautiful. I liked the Heron/Maggie story. I must confess I didn't realize Dawn was Maggie's mom who in the 1980s develops a relationship w Hazel. It took me a bit to figure that out. I don't think this book worked as well w the back & forth chapters. I would have preferred it in chronological order or with Maggie/Heron providing flashbacks of Dawn leaving the family for Hazel.

There's so many unique concepts such as "how much paperwork there is in living a life" or when Tom asks his grandpa Heron. "Do you have any advice for me? He looks across at the boy in the chair opposite...this boy who hasn't begun yet. He wants to say, you will be so many people in your lifetime that you'll look back one day & not even recognize some of the people you've been."

My biggest issue was despite a super close father/daughter relationship, Heron & Maggie didn't speak openly to one another.

I had enough at 60% (with only 50 mins left in the book) when Maggie says. "It's irritating, actually, not endearing. All this dredging up of their past lives. She knows he thinks it's practical, but it feels morbid, all the frantic sorting out before he, they run out of time....."

A Family Matter by Claire Lynch is a powerful and emotionally resonant novel that masterfully weaves together two timelines: one set in the 1980s, the other in the 2020s. It’s a deeply human story about love, identity, regret, and the painful complexities of family.

In the 1980s storyline, we follow Dawn, a young wife and mother navigating the confines life. Everything changes when she meets Hazel at a church jumble sale. Their connection is instant and intense, and Dawn quickly realizes that she is in love with Hazel. Despite being married and having a child, she begins a secret affair. Eventually, Dawn decides to tell her husband the truth. His reaction is cruel. He calls her "disgusting," takes her to court, and succeeds in convincing the legal system that Dawn is unfit to be a mother. The result is devastating: she is stripped of custody, punished simply for being true to herself.

In the 2020s, we meet Heron, Dawn’s ex-husband, now an elderly man recently diagnosed with cancer. He is a creature of habit, someone who insists on only grocery shopping on Thursdays. He struggles with the idea of telling his daughter, Maggie, that he is dying. Maggie, meanwhile, is dealing with a failing marriage, a rebellious child, and the creeping sense that there must be more to life than the routine she feels stuck in. Eventually, Maggie uncovers the truth about her mother and learns that Dawn didn’t abandon her after all.

Lynch has a gift for creating characters that feel incredibly real. Her observations of everyday life are sharp, intimate, and moving. I especially loved small details like Maggie snoozing her alarm while imagining a version of herself who actually gets up to do yoga. Or how she wonders why life can’t be about something simple like a new washer, because sometimes it is. Heron’s moment of vulnerability in the hospital, when he tears up over the kindness of the staff and says, “sympathy is hard to bear,” was particularly touching because I know that feeling.

This novel is more than just a family drama. It is a thoughtful, heartbreaking, and beautifully written exploration of love, loss, and the long shadows cast by the past. I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars. It’s the kind of story that stays with you long after the final page. Thank you Netgalley for recommending this.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Dawn did what was expected of her by society. She married, had a child by 19 or 20, and was a housewife and mother to Maggie. And then Dawn met the love of her life, Hazel, when Maggie was three years old. To be with Hazel in the 1980s meant leaving Maggie and her then husband behind.

This is a well written domestic drama full of secrets, lies, and untold truths of a family broken by an affair many decades earlier. The characters are well developed and many societal constructs are analyzed. This is a shorter read that is engrossing and hard to put down!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster | Scribner for gifting me a digital ARC of this wonderful debut novel by Claire Lynch, this month's Read With Jenna Book Club pick. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars rounded up!

In 1982, Dawn is married to Heron and mother to young Maggie, when she met Hazel and her world lit up. Forty years later, Heron received news from his doctor that he knows he needs to share with Maggie, along with the other secret he's been keeping.

I loved the simple, powerful way this story was told and I was equally engaged in both timelines. The world was different in 1982, when the courts and public opinion were not favorable to lesbian mothers. This book explores the issues of motherhood, love and loss, and a hopeful look at moving forward from past trauma. The writing was sparse, beautiful, poignant, and really delves into these characters. I can't wait to read more from this author - a wonderful debut!

*Most anticipated book of 2025*
"Devastating consequences of one woman's affair."
Based on the 1980's custody battle's dialogue, the book portrays and carries the injustice and life-changing results of a woman's decision. In 1982, Dawn, a young mother with a beautiful daughter, Maggie, fell in love with a woman, Hazel. Her husband is devastated. Heron, gets custody of Maggie. Forty years later, he must tell his daughter the lies he created and the distance he placed between her mom and her.
When he receives a terminal diagnosis, he knows it is time to be honest with himself and her.
This book delivers an emotional story revealing the effects on an inevitable divorce. A custody battle that reflects the signs of time in the 80's when most mothers received custody, except in this situation. When no agreement can be reached, the judge settles it. With love and loss that can never be mended, this is heart wrenching and dives into the depth of these characters.
Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

1⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for an advanced copy of A Family Matter.

Heron received news that he is dying and he has no idea how he is going to tell his daughter Maggie. That is not the only thing that he will have to reveal to her.

I liked the idea of this book but it was just way too short to get invested in the story. I was also not a huge fan of the writing style. I just wish it was executed better.

“A Family Matter” by Claire Lynch is a relatively short novel but packs a huge emotional punch. Set in two time lines—1982 and 2022, the story follows a family that falls apart because of infidelity and the impact it has on the young daughter. But this is not just an “ordinary” kind of invidelity—back in the UK in 1982, women had few rights and the court deemed Dawn to be an unfit mother, causing her to lose custody of her child. Maggie was brought up believing her mother had chosen to abandon her, to run off and start a new life. It isn’t until her father Heron learns he is dying of cancer that the truth of what had really happened comes to life.

This is a beautifully written, touching, heartbreaking story. Many thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for an ARC of this novel. My opinions are my own.

I’m going to be the odd person who didn’t care for this book. It just didn’t grab my attention and it felt a little depressing. I’m sure there’s an audience for it but it wasn’t me.