With accomplished prose and a stunning array of well developed characters This Family is a magnificent read.

Meticulously planned, the plot weaves together the threads of the storyline into a seamless and authentic ending.

Poignant, heartbreaking at times but overall uplifting this was a joy to read and a masterclass in exploring the depths of family relationships.

A very involving though rather sad read. The family's stories are cleverly interwoven, but any happiness seemed to come at another's loss. I could have read more about the characters

Told over multiple timelines and POV, you meet Mary's family and friends. Mary wants the perfect wedding day and is hoping that bringing everyone together will not ruin that dream.
In Kates words, she is asking a lot of the readers at the beginning while you familiarise yourself with all the characters. Once you do, you will soon get captured into each of these characters' lives and how they come together. What I loved is that all these people have been a good in-depth backstory, and how it pieces together is beautiful and well executed. Some of the characters you will love, some you will want to shake and have a good go at. Kate has a way with words and descriptions, and you can't not fall in love with her work and the humour in this, especially with Richard is genius. I honestly don't know many writers like her. My favourite part.....the last section, incredible!

This Family - Kate Sawyer

I went into this book slightly pessimistic. The Stranding was one of my favourite books last year and I went in feeling that This Family would not live up to it. Well guess what @mskatesawyer proved me wrong.

An absolutely gorgeous slow burn domestic fiction.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4⭐⭐⭐⭐

Can't wait book number three 😂

I love a good book about complex families, and This Family was a wonderfully compelling read.

Set over 24 hours, it’s Mary’s wedding day and her daughters are coming together for the time under strict instruction to keep the peace due to their ongoing fallout.

The book then deftly weaves between present day and flashbacks and we learn the story of each of the women, and what has led to the fallout.

It’s a really lovely read, emotional but ultimately heart warming. And I absolutely loved how the author alludes and gives a sense of what has happened and trusts the reader to fully connect the dots.

A holiday read for me, it had me going to bed early just to enjoy my time with This Family.

This was quite a slow book which I found quite annoying as it really didn’t keep my interest going and I kept putting it down. The story once it got going was good but a lot could have been dispensed with. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A fabulous family drama was beautifully written. A recommended read.

It's an intriguing book about families, relationships, and how can be difficult the relationships with mothers or sisters.
I liked the storytelling that kept me reading even if the book is quite slow
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

I enjoyed the book once I worked out the difference with going backwards and forwards with time. It was a slow but encompassing read.
The complex saga was great and I could relate with many of the issues with the diverse characters of the family who each carried their own personal baggage.
Mary was the matriarch and held everything together despite the traumas she had to endure through her life.

I had read good things about 'This Family' and the premise of it sounded very much like a book I'd like to read. I enjoy, usually, a contemporary family drama, and often verge towards selecting such a book.

'This Family' focuses on Mary, the Scottish matriarch of a Suffolk-based family. They are gathering to celebrate her wedding to Iain before selling up and downsizing. Children Emma, Phoebe and Rosie are there, along with Emma's famous husband, Michael. Also, Richard, their family, and Mary's ex-husband. There is some obvious conflict between the daughters mainly because one of them isn't Mary's - Richard had an affair with a close friend.

Unfortunately, I found the prose quite turgid. I didn't really warm to the characters; the to-ing and fro-ing, and moving backwards and forwards in time, is not always easy to follow. Perhaps I should have read it more quickly. I don't know. I did want to like it, and I recognise that Sawyer has some quality writing here. I just don't think such a character-focused novel, told in this specific way, works - well, certainly not for me. I was, to be honest, pleased when I finished it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

The Stranding was a book that really resonated with me when I read it last year so I was absolutely thrilled to be approved for an Arc on @netgalley of her latest book. This Family is a wonderful slow-burn family drama where Kate Sawyer invites to spend a sultry late summer day with a family that is reuniting for a family wedding in their home. Mary, the bride, is getting married in the home where she raised her children, all of whom are coming back for the happy occasion but we soon find that this isn’t a typical family reunion and that sparks may fly at any point. Each member of the family has their own story to tell, their own emotional baggage and there is a fear that things might erupt at any point. As the day unfolds, and we get the learn more about them through their own perspectives, as they recall the past and try to heal their wounds. This is a beautifully crafted story that explores the complexity and diversity of family relationships. Kate Sawyer creates realistic and relatable characters that make us care about them and their struggles – Mary is an amazing character – this incredibly strong matriarch holding them all together over the course of their lives. This Family is a novel that will touch your heart and make you reflect on your own family ties and really what defines a family. I’d highly recommend this slow-burn story to those who enjoy family sagas and how we all connect with each other.

I enjoyed this book far more than I expected. On starting I was a little unsure but as I got further in really enjoyed it. The story of the three siblings unfolds and the twists and turns of their relationships kept me hooked. How their lives entwine is great. Didn't want it to end.

Looking back it feels like I spent more time trying to work out which of the shifting timelines I was reading than in enjoying a family saga which is what I was expecting. I also felt a lot of the descriptive passages were unnecessarily long and often quite tedious.

This Family is the latest by The Stranding author, Kate Sawyer. I loved that book so much and I know lots of you reading this did too.

In “This Family” we meet matriarch Mary; she’s raised two daughters and one step daughter in her big old house, and is reminiscing about all the good and bad times that have been had inside and outside its walls.

Mary is preparing to remarry; a big celebration in her garden and then she’ll leave this home forever. Before she can get to that point though, her children and their partners, plus their long standing feuds will all have to come together and hopefully behave themselves for her big day.

The story takes place via a series of flashbacks told from various perspectives, balanced with the modern day setting of Mary’s wedding.

This is a slow burn family drama. I enjoy those so this was very much my cup of tea but it is very different from The Stranding, if you were hoping for similar. Sawyer’s writing is very descriptive, and she has a real knack for world building; I have a very clear image of the family home and garden and somehow felt nostalgic for a time and place I’ve never been to. I found myself still savouring the warmth of this book the day after I’d finished it.
My only qualm was the mention of so many major world events as markers for the years the family lived through; 9/11, the July bombings in London, the Indonesian tsunami, the COVID 19 pandemic. I felt it over complicated the narrative at times.

With that said, I think this is an engaging story, ideal for lazy summer reading. If you enjoy books about family dynamics and the havoc they can cause, then I think you’ll enjoy this one too.

With thanks to @hodderbooks and @netgalley for the opportunity to read #ThisFamily, available to buy now.

thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

It is a fine late summer’s morning and in the garden of a country house preparations are underway for a wedding. The bride is Mary, a matriarch in late middle age, finally getting the church wedding she has wanted all her life but worrying that her adult daughters won’t manage to keep their promise not to spoile her big day by quarrelling.

From this premise, we are treated to a family saga as the account of the wedding day is interspersed with intriguing sections revealing the back story of the various family members in tantalising snippets. Mary’s two daughters, Emma and Phoebe, are estranged; Rosie, her ex-husband Richard’s daughter with another woman, has apparently also been brought up within the family home. Their stories form the heart of the novel, drawing in other key guests - the handsome actor Michael who has a connection with both Emma and Phoebe, Mary’s ex Richard, a pundit on national TV, Richard’s frail mother Irene, and absent friends in the form of Mary’s best friend Lizzie, lost to cancer.

The structure is balanced and assured, and very skilfully managed. The intertwined back stories of the various characters are brought together deftly and unhurriedly, and it keeps the reader engaged and curious and wanting to read on. The time span covered is of around forty to fifty years but the main focus is on the two sisters and the slowly unfolding tale of their estrangement. If you’re a fan of Elizabeth Jane Howard’s Cazalet novels or Georgina Moore’s more recent Garnett Girls, you will enjoy this.

the stranding was one of my fave books of the past few years and i was intrigued by the very different synopsis for kate's second book, following a single day in a family's life, covering reunions and tensions, while detailing their history. if the stranding can be hard to read due to the apocalyptic dread, this can be hard to read due the accuracy of family relationships and characters that feel so close to you. a quiet yet page turning family drama in a beautiful setting

An Extremely English book, in the best possible way - by the last page I felt like I was a family member. A real coup to pull of a plot that happens in one day yet takes in years and years. Beautifully, tenderly, honestly written.

This is a tender novel about the human condition, our flaws, forgiveness and family. The setting of a garden party for a wedding is really evocative. The character development is warm and beautifully drawn. I also loved the backdrop of events and current affairs providing context and another facet to the lives of the characters. It was a little hard to orientate myself around all the relationships at first, but I ultimately I enjoyed spending time with this family.
This honest review is given with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

I really enjoyed this book, set over one day in the life of an extended family with glimpses back into their past. The writing is beautiful, I felt swept away by the characters and was interested to see how some of the patterns in relationships repeated themselves over the years. The present day is a wedding, which all family members have been called to with strict instructions to behave themselves, this results in simmering tensions as we discover what went before. Really enjoyed it and highly recommend.

This is a book centred around a single day in the life of a family- the mother Mary is getting remarried and has asked her two daughters and her step daughter to come to the family home which is soon to be sold, and asked them all to give her that day with no arguments. The text jumps through time and different characters perspective as we learn why Mary has had to ask for no arguments- the history of the discord that now sits between the three girls and to an extent, their parents as well. It’s well written, and. I loved the family dynamics. I wasn’t sure the ending was particularly needed (or a particular detail within that realistic either) but the story over all and the relationships between the family members, with all of their weaknesses laid bare, was really well written and entrancing.