This was a great family read perfect for a beach read or around the pool. Nuanced characters and a story that kept you guessing

It took me two attempts to get into this book. First time around, I just got lost and abandoned it at about 15% of the way in. I put it to one side to have another go later.

If I hadn't loved Kate Sawyer's first book, The Stranding, so much, I might have not stuck with it. I remembers that when reading that book - a fantastic 'end of the world love story' that confused me just as much at the start, I don't think I'd have been willing to invest the time.

This Family is good but you will have to work at it. The multitude of characters jumping back and forth through time, the siblings having relationships with the same people, the mother forgiving her wandering husband so much that she takes in his illegitimate child when his mistress dies, are all things you need to get your head around. Even the wedding that's taking place had me puzzled until I pieced together just who Ian was and where he and his first wife had popped up earlier.

It's a phenomenal tale of friendship and forgiveness. Mary, the mother, still has to put up with her ex mother in law, decades after divorcing the woman's son. He's still around, setting up the hog roast and tormenting the partners of his three daughters in different ways. And two sisters, very different people but both at one time or another in love with the same man, will take you down paths you might not have expected.

Kate Sawyer creates characters you want to have in your life, whom you will miss when you turn the last page and it's all over. Oh, but I so wish she'd get better (quicker) at coming to the point. Far too many readers will not have the faith to stick with this book to get to the point where it starts to make sense.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for my copy.

A book set over the course of a day, but covering many many years. A real family story that will make you both laugh and cry

The Family by Kate Sawyer

A beautiful Mother/Daughter/Sister novel that flits back and forth to the wedding day and past events which gives us more of an insiders to the characters it’s beautifully written I love a good Mother/daughter relationship and this didn’t disappoint great plot twist amazing characterisations I loved it Thanks to NetGalley and Publisher for this arc and honest review

This Family by Kate Sawyer

It's Mary's wedding day and her daughters have returned to the family home for the celebrations. It should be a wonderful day - glorious weather, the beautiful house they've owned for over 40 years and all the memories of them growing up, the whole family gathered together for one last time before they move on - but tensions simmer beneath the surface.

What a wonderful book - a real page turner and so perfectly done. We move between the wedding day and various points in the past to reveal more about the characters and what events led up to the present situation. Genius characterisation and plotting - I absolutely loved it! Very VERY highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

A family is making preparations for a wedding. Mary’s wedding. Her children and their partners will be arriving from far and wide. There are more than miles for them to cover. This is a family with a back story. As the preparations are underway there are tensions fizzing beneath.. The narrative switches between the present of the wedding and narratives in past - the back stories of all the characters who will assemble for the wedding.

I loved the domesticity of this novel, the preparations for the wedding felt so visual - I had such a clear picture of the garden and the tables… The rural setting was strongly evoked - the rurality, the pigs in the fields, market days, the way everyone knows everyone! The author has a real talent for observing relationships and imagining dialogues between her characters. The difficult and self absorbed grandmother with her inappropriate comments was beautifully done. The writing is lyrical and the observation of family life insightful and intuitive.

I started this novel with great hopes but at some point I became disconnected. I regret that and the fact that I found it impossible to rescue myself. This was in part due to the switching between timelines and narratives which I am afraid to say confused me, and in part simply because I felt a total disconnect with these characters. This is a family with a difficult past and the tension between them was tangible and totally to be expected but at points this just made me feel rather uncomfortable.

I think that this will appeal to readers who love family sagas and the intimate dynamics of family life.

With many thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for my digital copy.

Gosh this book needs to come with a genogram on the first page that the reader can keep referring too. The story follows Mary on her wedding day as she reflects on her life and family to this point. A beautiful story of blended families and how family is always at the heart of everything.
I would definitely recommend this gentle read with a twist of modern dilemmas and family dramas. Once you work out who’s who.

As The Stranding is one of my favourite books I was absolutely delighted to get Kate Sawyer's next book on Netgalley, but also that worry that it might not be as good.

It's a very different book and much more of a slow burn but it drew me in with the flawed but realistic characters, slow reveal through the timelines and the beautiful writing.

Set on one day - Mary's wedding day - we know a family are being brought together and have promised to get along. Then all the back stories and different perspectives are revealed. I also liked the use of real life events that really give the past time lines a sense of time and place.
Fantastic ending as well.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This Family is the second novel from Kate Sawyer, following 2021’s The Stranding. This one is firmly set in the world we know, and is almost entirely located in one house.

Mary is getting married, and all of her children and family have gathered around her to support her special day. As well as set up the house, which is where the reception’s being held. Other changes are happening too - the house is being sold, babies are being born and the family are moving on.

The chapters are told from many different points of view, encompassing the four daughters as well as Mary. Generations of women are present, from mother in law to mother to daughter - and on to the next set of cousins. This works well as it builds a rich tapestry of interaction, of bad blood and history, between primarily the three younger women, but also their friends and partners. Every family has history - events fondly remembered and some which mean certain subjects are avoided at Christmas. Or games - like Monopoly, for example.

Unravelling the relationships is a key plot device, and Sawyer manages this well. It took me a while to really cement who’s who, but the mystery of the connections is part of the fun. Second guessing what happened with who, why those people aren’t talking and ultimately projecting your judgement on the outcome.

The chapters hop about in time and location, and the gaps are covered gradually as we get closer to the end of the book. This keeps it fresh and exciting to read, albeit slightly complex at times to keep the timelines straight.

I enjoyed reading this, but I have to say I found it hard to connect with the characters in a deep and meaningful way. It would work well as a play, or a TV series, and reminded me of a fairly standard Joanna Trollope book - maybe Mum & Dad. Recommended for readers who enjoy stories centred around family history and the future we’re walking into.

An amazing read, this story was really gripping and inexperienced so many emotions whilst reading.
Really well written and absolutely gripping at times.
Twists and turns galore, but absolutely loved it.
Highly recommend

Another stunning novel from Kate Sawyer, I could read well-written mother-daughter-sister novels for ever, there's always more to unpack. And this was up there with some of the best that I've read. The nuances of family relationships, hidden grief, unforgotten slights, unexpressed emotion- all written wonderfully as you'd expect. I'll definitely think about this family and what they've been through for a long time.

I found this book quite slow and difficult to follow in places. This is the first book I have read from this author and unfortunately it does not make me want to rush out and buy another.

I adored 'The Stranding' and couldn't put it down, to the extent that I had to order takeout instead of cooking (oh no)! Unfortunately, this one was too conventional and slow-moving for me and I didn't really care about any of the characters, so I DNF'd it. It just didn't have the bravura of the first book.

I really wanted to like This Family. I adored The Stranding, this is a very different story, which I knew going into it of course. I don't often reach for family drama / saga genre books so maybe it's not a good fit for me. Or maybe it was the wrong time and one I'd revisit in the future. Either way I'd definitely read the nest book the author writes as I loved The Stranding so much.
The blurb: Set over the course of an English summer's day and punctuated with memories from the past forty years of love and betrayal, hope and joy, heartbreak and grief, this is the story of a family. Told by a chorus of characters, it is an exploration of the intimacies and transgressions that bring us to where we are, the changes that are brought about by time, and what, despite everything, stays the same.
I just didn't engage with it so not one I could recommend widely.

This family was so different to authors first book but just as excellent. I loved this family story filled with such engrossing characters. I couldn't stop turning the pages.

I really loved This Family (and immediately after reading bought The Stranding and read that too - also loved it!). I love a book that jumps around timelines, books about families and secrets, and this had all that and more. It is wonderfully written with a cast of characters who I felt I came to know well, and I felt like I was there, in amongst the prep and chaos of a wedding. It examines really interesting themes and is very moving at times. A triumph.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. A story of family dynamics and broken relationships, this is s sad story but well told.

A good family saga. Mary is getting married. The story is set on her wedding day. Her only wish for this low key wedding is that her fractured family get along and not ruin her perfect day. The story goes back in time to reveal how the siblings became estranged. A good read with a great storyline.

This is another fantastic read from Kate Sawyer.

A family gather for their mother's wedding and we learn, through a series of flashbacks, the trials and tribulations that each of the family members has gone through.

This is one of those books that quietly creeps up on you. Its very readable as we jump from present day to years gone by, and I slowly started to get to know and love the characters. Its clear there are frictions between the sisters and we start to understand the reasons for those through each of their viewpoints on past events.

By the end, I was so emotionally invested that tears were shed. It was just beautifully written and i would really recommend this, particularly to those who enjoyed Sawyer's previous book and fans of literary fiction.

A family saga which centres around the matriarch, Mary, and the house where she has brought up her family and where they are getting ready for Mary’s marriage. A well constructed and warm hearted story about the web of friendships, love affairs, conflicts and family connections that build up around an individual and a home over several decades.

With thanks to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy.