Unfortunately this was a DNF at 45%. I was intrigued by the beginning but it quickly became a bit dull for me. While I think the premise is very interesting, I felt the story lacked depth. Maybe this would be better as a shorter novella. I appreciate the lgbt representation and exploration of such hard subject matters, I just couldn’t finish.

A moving character driven literary debut that explores the societal implications of a mother’s lesbian affair in 1982 UK. This is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. The novel is really all about the characters so don’t expect a fast paced book, although this is still a quick, well written, beautiful book. I loved the character development, the historical significance (I always love a great author’s note!), and the complex family dynamics. Fans of Claire Lombardo will especially enjoy this excellent debut. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Maggie has grown up without a mom after her mother Dawn abandoned Maggie and her father when Maggie was just three years old. For decades all Maggie has known is life with her dad Heron who gave only a vague explanation for her mother's absence. Now an adult with children of her own, Maggie learns that her dad is terminally ill. But that's not the only news that upends Maggie's world as she uncovers what actually happened to Dawn all those years ago. Thus is the premise of A Family Matter. Alternating between 1982 and 2022, A Family Matter holds up a mirror to how much things have changed during those forty years, as well as how much they haven't. A Family Matter is difficult to read at times-your heart will break for all that Maggie and Dawn endured, and while you'll admire Heron for raising Maggie as a single father, it's hard to understand how he could have let their lives play out as they did. A Family Matter is a short novel, but it doesn't need many pages to speak of a family torn apart because society said it was the right thing to do. A Family Matter is a "timely" novel in the sense that the world seems to be going forward by looking back. Gritty, brave, and very moving, A Family Matter is a tale no family should have to tell.

Thank you Netgalley & Scribner for an eARC ♥️♥️♥️

Let’s start with Dawn, because oh boy, her story is a *lot*. It’s 1982, she’s a young mom, and then bam—Hazel walks in, and suddenly everything’s messy and intense and beautiful. The way the author writes their connection is so raw and real, you can practically feel the electricity. But here’s the thing: it’s not some fluffy romance. Dawn’s choices have consequences, and the book doesn’t let her (or you) off the hook. I kept swinging between *"You go, live your truth!"* and *"Girl, you are playing with fire."* 🔥
Then we jump to 2022, and Heron—sweet, quiet, heartbreaking Heron—gets news that changes everything. And what does he do? He clams up. Of course he does. Because that’s what he’s always done. Watching him struggle to open up to his daughter, Maggie, even now, when time’s running out… oof. It hit way too close to home. How many of us have done the exact same thing—held back the truth to "protect" someone, only to realize too late that silence can hurt just as much?
No one’s a villain. No one’s a saint. They’re just people trying to navigate love and loss and the weight of their own choices.
This book is a masterpiece of messy, complicated emotions. It’s not an easy read, but it’s the kind of story that stays with you. If you’re in the mood for something that’ll make you feel *everything*—grab this one. ♥️💔

Heron has just received tragic news from his doctor. He doesn’t want to tell his daughter, whom his life has revolved around. He also can’t reveal secrets of the past.

A quiet and short novel; you could read it one sitting. It is very character based and a lot of the present time line is based on the future; which you’ll come to fully know and understand. It’s a story about motherhood and changes over time not only in women and society, but in family.

“And it was fine. Just family life, bustling and real. Except sometimes when it was lonely.”

A Family Matter comes out 6/3.

This is a novella. It ends abruptly and I realized it was more of a statement about same sex love and marriage, I thought the characters were poorly depicted and the story simplistic. I would not buy this or recommend it.

This is a well written, character driven, touching story about a divorce that affects generations down the line. Dawn and Heron are happily married with a daughter, Maggie, when Dawn falls in love with Hazel. This is set in the UK in the 1980s, when same sex relationships were frowned upon. When Heron decides to divorce Dawn, his lawyers argue that he should get full custody as Dawn cannot be a mother due to her perversion. There's some shocking statistics in the author's notes at the end that state that during this time period in the UK, 90% of lesbian mothers involved in divorce cases like this one lost legal custody of their children, so very sad to say the least.

The story goes between 2 different timelines, the present, where Heron decides to tell Maggie about his terminal illness, and the past where he divorces Dawn, the ensuing court case, and her banishment from the family. Maggie is now grown up with a family of her own, and as she helps her dad go through all his papers, she finds out the truth about her mom. She struggles with the idea of abandonment, and her father lying to her about her mother, and finally decides to try and find her.

The last part of the book is very touching as mother and daughter try to find ways to forgive each other and have some type of relationship moving forward.

The pace is slow at times, but the characters are very well developed, and the story makes you think about how things have changed today, and how they have stayed the same.

It’s the 80s. The world hasn’t caught on that gays are here to stay. Traditional family dynamics are clung to. Many young women move from depending on their fathers to depending on husbands.

Then Dawn meets Hazel.

What starts as curiosity becomes love. What follows divides a family forever.

I could not put A Family Matter down. The characters feel like people I know. Their story is relatable the way that history always is.

Big thanks to @scribnerbooks and @clairellynch for the phenomenal early read!

This is about a young married woman who meets another woman and they instantly become friends. Dawn has a 3 year old daughter, Maggie, who she adores. As Dawn's friendship with her friend Hazel grows, she realizes that she has feelings for her that she has never had for her husband. Dawn tells her husband Heron about her feelings and a custody suit begins. The story takes place in 1982 and 2022. In 1982 a lesbian women would never have custody for a child. This book is very well written. It was something different. You really feel for Dawn and her now adult daughter Maggie. This is a short book and my only complaint is that I would have liked it to be longer! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC copy of this book.

A Family Matter is an emotional, tightly written drama told in the present day and the early 1980s. In 1982, Dawn is a young mother who is deeply in love with her little girl but feels lost in her marriage. In 2022, Heron is an older man receiving a troubling diagnosis and keeping it secret. But it is not Heron's only secret, and it's perhaps not his biggest.

This novel builds rich, dynamic characters and a moving story in a quick 224 pages. I loved Lynch's writing style, especially what she leaves unsaid for the reader to infer. This story takes a seemingly ordinary family of a little girl who grew up with her father and shows just how devastating a culture's selective beliefs around who can parent can be.

I recommend this for readers of family drama. It may be a great fit if you enjoyed The Vanishing Half, My Government Means to Kill Me, or This is How it Always Is.

4.5 rounded up

What a debut novel for Claire Lynch! The synopsis for this book instantly intrigued me when I read it and was very excited to get the chance to read the ARC for it. It did not disappoint!

The writing style was interesting. It read very much like a Fredrick Backman and I have learned to really love that style! I was invested in the story of how everything was going to play out in the end for Maggie and her mom, Dawn. And Heron, but not as much for him 😅

You could not help but feel all of the feelings for what Dawn went through after finally fully embracing herself and her love. Having to fight for your family is such a hard thing, especially when the whole world is against you. Going through that at that point in time would have been horrendous.

Maggie finding out the truth was described perfectly. The mix of feelings on coming to terms with what you’ve believed your entire life versus what actually happened… I can’t imagine. Then finally getting some closure at the end was great. I just wanted more.

It did end kind of abruptly. I wanted more of how the family reunited but I also think it was almost perfect in where it ended. It’s a conundrum 😂 I will definitely be picking up more from Claire as she releases!

Very well-structured glimpse into one family torn apart by the 1980’s (and even 1990’s) legal system’s antiquated, patriarchal, shameful and shaming view on lesbian mothers and the lasting damage done to said family under the guise of protecting children. What I loved most about this book was the tight, pared down delivery. The reader was not taken into the deep backstories of the central characters: how the parents met, what their childhood was like, etc. The novel was kept to such concise parameters that the subject matter was allowed the spotlight. Lynch says in her author’s notes that while the characters are fictional, the degrading words from the judge and lawyers in the novel are not. Mind blown. And that this was the generally agreed upon manner in which society operated IN THE EIGHTIES. If you want an easy to read (summer vacay) novel that packs a deeper punch, this is for you

Family secrets never stay hidden forever. Maggie was raised by her father, Heron, and the story she was told about her mother was riddled with omissions and lies. Maggie discovers the truth one day as she helps Heron clear his home of clutter. Dawn is young mother who has had no opportunity to learn about herself. She loves her daughter. She is naive about the world.

This story is told in a dual timeline format, it alternates between 1982-83 and 2022-2023. I appreciate the subject matter and the spotlight this story provides. I think it is an important reminder of what people are willing to do in the name of fear and ignorance. The story is told in a very straightforward, almost dry, style which made it less emotionally affective. Overall, I appreciated the story and the hopeful ending, but there was something lacking. A Family Matter is less than 250 pages and there was definitely room for more. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.

A Family Matter is the story of a young wife and mother who meets and falls in love with another woman in 1980’s Britain. The two begin a clandestine affair that has life-changing implications for not only the lovers, but for her husband and child. The story is told in a dual timeline, beginning in 1982 and then leaping forward in time forty years to 2022. As the reader learns what has become of the characters, the narrative alternates between the two time periods.

I had a difficult time connecting with this emotionally, which was frankly disappointing. I read the ARC because the premise had so much potential to touch upon a part of LGBTQ history. But most of the characters came across as shallow, and I found myself feeling detached from the story. I’m fully willing to concede the point that this could be at least partially a me problem, as I’m not a very emotional person to begin with, but the entire book just felt far more dispassionate than I expected, given the plot line.

While same sex relationships between men were criminalized in much of the UK from 1533 to the late 1960s (1967 in England), same sex relationships between women were never subject to such legal restrictions. There was still a significant amount of discrimination, however, which was not helped by the passage of Section 28 in the late 80s. Same sex relationships were viewed as deviant, and lesbians were widely considered unfit mothers, which resulted in many women losing parental rights if they chose to live freely with another woman.

Which brings us to A Family Matter.

The story opens in present time with Heron, who the reader quickly discovers is dying. Heron seems a bit odd and a bit dull but mostly just ordinary. Through Heron the audience are introduced to his daughter Maggie, and her husband Conor, and very quickly the story moves back in time to 1982. Dawn becomes the focus of the story, and, through her, her eventual lover Hazel, and the reader quickly realizes that Dawn is wife to Heron and mother to Maggie.

And the thing is, these are all rather unremarkable people. They’re no better nor worse than the vast majority of the world population. Each of them is guilty of some fairly despicable behavior at one point or another, and it’s impossible to feel a great deal of sympathy with any of them. Young Maggie, of course, is probably the closest thing to a victim in the story, and there are a handful of scenes where her emotional state stirs a degree of empathy. Heron’s prideful spite and the court’s callousness and voyeuristic insistence on hearing the details of the affair are contemptuous and enraging, and this is the one part of the story it’s easy to be invested in. Not because one cares about the characters – because frankly, for the most part one feels little connection to them – but because historically speaking the narrative is realistic, and there probably aren’t many among the LGBTQ at this point who aren’t sick to death of patriarchy and homophobia.

And Adult Maggie’s eventual actions, while understandable, leave one somewhat befuddled in that her attitudes towards Heron and Dawn seem somewhat opposed to what would be expected.

I was left wondering whether the story was intended to be historical fiction or a story revolving around complex family dynamics, but it’s possible that the author intended for it to be both. It had the potential to deliver the powerfully compelling story I was looking forward to when I picked it up, but unfortunately, for me it missed the mark either way. It’s a good book, but not a great one. If you’re looking for something to break your heart and leave you lost in thought, you’re unlikely to find it here.

3.8⭐️

Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley and am leaving a voluntary review.

A beautifully written exploration of love and family and imperfect people. No one in this novel is perfect, but they feel real and their emotions are raw and relatable.

This book touches on a type of tragedy I had no idea ever happened. The wrongness of keeping lesbian mothers from their children struck me right in the heart. I am glad for how far we've come as a society, but I mourned for women like Dawn who just wanted to live their authentic lives along with the children they loved.

I'm so glad I got to read this - thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Light spoilers. I really enjoyed this family drama, I would have blazed through it in one sitting if I had known how much I wanted to finish this book. It's different for me. I normally like a wrapped up book with everyone having their ending without any ambiguous endings. But this time, the material was so heavy, I think the book did a great job of reflecting reality. Of course, I want more of Heron, Maggie, and Dawn, even Hazel. I wanted Maggie to confront Heron on why he kept her mother away from her and to see her reaction to his excuses. I want Dawn to build a great relationship with Maggie. I want Heron to be sorry that his actions created real problems for the person he said he cared about most. Of course, I think there is a little bit of each of these ideas in each character but I wanted to see it play out. But that's not real life. Not everything is going to be discussed and wrapped up neatly, people move on and live their lives no matter what. The ambiguity of the ending and of the characters feelings are much more realistic. I am so curious to see what other people say about these characters. And of course, it is slightly bewildering that our world was ever so prejudiced like that.

This novel is short but it carries a power message of family, justice and hope. Told across dual timelines, this story is very slow and character driven, however I found myself emotionally invested in the characters very quickly.

Dawn is a young mom living with her husband when she meets Hazel. The two quickly become close, and maybe slightly closer than just friends. This connection is beyond normal, and Dawn is suddenly caught between the before and after of her life. Meanwhile in 2022 Maggie’s father has gotten some serious medical news. He doesn’t know how he will ever be able to tell his daughter Maggie.

This was such a delight of a book. I am shocked it is a debut! I really enjoyed both timelines, and could feel the emotion and tensions the characters were feeling. My heart broke for each of them in their own way, but of course I didn’t love the way one of them handled their heartbreak. This one was very character driven and I loved it. I mean seriously…who am I? Do you even recognize this girl right here?

Thank you to @scribnerbooks for my gifted copy of this book!

I liked the book, but I didn’t like the ending. Maybe if the story was longer and we learned more at the end and what happens next?

I really wanted to love this one, but I struggled with the pacing. The dual timelines were interesting in concept, but the story just never fully pulled me in. The writing is thoughtful and deliberate, but at times it felt too quiet, and I found myself losing focus. That said, I think readers who enjoy slow, reflective literary fiction might get more out of it than I did. It just wasn’t quite the right fit for me.