I really enjoyed reading this book. The setting and writing is very evocative and effective at transporting the reader to the scene. The characters are engaging and the family dynamic relatable, with a few slightly further stretched elements! This is a book that you fall in to quickly and feel familiar with the characters straight away. I would recommend this book.

I was delighted to be granted an ARC of This Family by Kate Sawyer as her debut novel, The Stranding, was one of my top reads of 2021. This Family is completely different in tone and focuses on Mary and her daughters as Mary is getting ready to be remarried. Whereas The Stranding gripped the reader immediately, it takes a while to get your bearings with This Family. The story is told from multiple characters point of view and jumps forward and back in time. It is definitely worth persevering with - I flew through the second half of the book. Overall this is a very enjoyable family saga full of big and small hurts, betrayals, friendships and love. 3.5/5

It’s a sultry late summer’s day and a wedding is due to take place in this family home. The last celebration to be held under its roof. This is home to Mary, the bride-to-be. She’s lived, loved, and lost here for 40 years. It’s also home to her fractured family who, she hopes, will return for her special day.

In a timeline that jumps between the present and past, there are hints about the problems that exist between the various members of this family. They have some close ties that could still unite, and painful events that have torn them apart for years.

As Mary hovers over her table settings, checking all is as she wants it to be, she remembers it all with great sadness and clarity. This day of all days, her fervent wish is for them to all arrive, to exercise tolerance and forgiveness, and put her needs first.

Doesn’t she deserve to get married in a peaceful environment rather than endure hostility, recrimination or rejection between her offspring? As this troubled family saga unfolds, her hopes seem unlikely to come to fruition.

There are difficulties galore and several surprises in store as Emma and Phoebe and their half-sister, Rosie, arrive. Will the siblings behave themselves for Mary’s sake?

Will they be able to put aside their differences, the past betrayals and hurts? And put their love for Mary and her desire for peace above their personal feelings? This family is deeply flawed but there’s the potential for what unites them to be stronger than what divides.

This is a beautifully written, engrossing read with several twists and turns that keep you guessing, and a great ending. The mixed relationships are a bit confusing at times but serve to express the divisions in the family. Grateful thanks to Kate Sawyer, Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the ARC.

I really struggled to get into this book.
It wasn't initially clear who all the characters were and how they were related which was a little confusing. More confusing though was the constant changing between the present and the past. I don't have a problem reading books that move backwards and forwards in timelines but usually there is some indication as to when in the past we now reading about. This book just threw you in at the deep end and left the reader to try and work it out from historical references and an assumption of the age of the character. This distracted me from the story.
I enjoy a family saga but this didn't do it for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review. It took me a while to get into this book as I found it rather confusing with the time jumps. I feel as though the time jumps should have been explained better in order to follow the story. Once I had got into the story I found it rather interesting, lots of family drama and secrets. It is definitely a slow burner to read but I would recommend sticking with it as it does get really good with a brilliant ending. 4 stars from me.

Mary is getting remarried and all she wants for her big day is for her family to attend and put their differences aside for twenty-four hours. Her ex-husband Richard, her girls Phoebe, Emma and Rosie and her cantankerous mother-in-law Irene will all be in attendance and there are many reasons why this gathering could be a disaster.....

Kat le Sawyer's second novel 'This Family' is a slow burn. The timelines switch from the present day to various points throughout the past. At times, I wasn't sure when exactly the past events were taking place as it jumped from the 1980s right up to 2020. There were rather a lot of unnecessary references to significant world events in these chapters, I think these were possibly thrown in to help the reader better situate themselves? I devoured this and in reading that ending, my stomach sank like a stone. I will definitely read more from Kate Swayer.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to @netgalley @coronetbooks and @hodderbooks for the advanced copy.

This Family will be published on the 11th of May.

"This Family" is a moving and insightful novel that explores the complexities of family dynamics and the power of forgiveness. It is a must-read for fans of contemporary fiction who enjoy richly drawn characters and emotionally resonant stories.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

This Family by Kate Sawyer

The Stranding was one of my favourite books last year so I saved my ARC copy of This Family to read as a treat after all my assignments were in. Mary is getting married again, in the house she raised her family in. Her one wish is that they all be there to celebrate with her without any fighting or drama. The book follows the events of the wedding day with flashbacks to different family members explaining previous family events. It took me a little while to get in to the story but once I did I was hooked and keen to find out what had happened in the past and how the wedding day would plan out. I particularly liked Mary’s character and enjoyed the descriptions of the family home with the beautiful garden. A very enjoyable family saga.

Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalleyUK for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This family is out on 11th May.

#netgalleyuk #scottishreader #irishbookstagram

I love a good family saga, so was really looking forward to reading this one. The family is about Mary and her family. Set on the day of Mary's wedding, it drifts backwards and forwards over the last forty years. It did not disappoint and is definitely one of my favourite books of the year.

Thanks for allowing me to read an ARC of this superb novel.

This resonated with me so much after having a rocky family and a varied family history, it reminded me of how important family is and that you should always cherish it.

It’s a fantastic novel that I’ll happily recommend to all my bookish friends

A wonderful story about a family, and the house they have lived in for a lifetime.

Mary knew that this was the house for her family whenever she laid eyes on it. Now, decades later, she is getting married and the house is playing a huge part. Mary's family have, like a lot of us, been broken and mended across the years and the story is told both in the here and now and in retrospect.

I adored this novel! Everything about it struck a chord; the family members, their history with each other and as a whole, and the beauty of the house and garden - the mainstay of their lives. It is a gorgeous read and I'm being very careful not to give anything away! Well-crafted and beautifully written, I like to think I shall read it again someday - not something I say often. An absolute delight from beginning to end and, as such, easily earning a full house of stars and my recommendation.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

Thank you to the author, publishers Coronet and NetGalley UK for access to this as an advance reader’s ebook. This is an honest and voluntary review.

A family which time has pulled apart are brought back together to celebrate their matriarch’s marriage and to say a final farewell to the house they grew up in.

A slow burner, but worth sticking with it for a wonderful story of a family with a shared history of highs and lows, disputes over politics, marred by tragedy, and overshadowed by past betrayals and fears.

The story is told through the points of view of characters in the past and present. The full story of the relationships and history of Mary and her daughters, Emma and Phoebe, and their half-sister Rosie, emerges gradually between flashbacks and perspective shifts. Although the present day narrative is all over just one day, the day of Mary’s wedding.

The pacing is deliberately slow, and while this makes it difficult initially to figure out how all the characters connect, the full picture does emerge and make the rest of the plotting easier.

A gentle, emotional tale of family.

What a gorgeous book!

I loved The Stranding and was delighted to be able to read this early copy of This Family.
Kate Sawyer draws you into this family during the course of the sweltering day of Mary's wedding.
As the family decorate the table, roast the pig, cut the stems of the sunflowers and try to find just the right shade of yellow for the candles, their lives are unraveled.
The story moves back and forth through time and we catch glimpses of what came before, but this is done with a clever and light touch. I was fully immersed and the fractured timeline only added to the depth of the story.
A beautifully told, moving and evocative tale with some wonderfully funny moments too.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kate Sawyer and to Hodder and Stoughton for the opportunity to read this early copy.

A real page turner and very difficult to put down. I enjoyed the twists and turns of the family relationships. I loved all the characters and the way the story covered the past and present. It was beautifully written and a great read.

I think this may be my favourite book of the year. The writing is beautiful, the story pulls you in.
The story spans over 40 years, the life of Mary and her family and friends. It alternates between the past and the present weaving the threads of the story together.
A beautiful well written story.

2.5 rounded to 3

I normally really like family sagas but unfortunately I really couldn't get into this one. I couldn't warm up to the characters and found some of the descriptions/dialogues just uninteresting.
Probably the fact that the story was going back and forth in time without telling you didn't help the reading experience, as I was constantly trying to understand when the things were happening.

Unfortunately, not one for me.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love a family saga, so was really looking forward to reading this one. However I found it really difficult to keep track of the many characters introduced in a few pages, who was married to whom, what different relationships were between people, whether they ‘got on’ or were at loggerheads with each other, it was all too much. All of this was added to a minute detailed description of the wedding breakfast setting, tablecloths, glassware, silverware etc.
How I wish that authors writing in the dual timeline style, would grant their readers the courtesy of telling them which timeline they have just switched to. It completely interrupts the flow of the narrative when the reader has to read several paragraphs/ pages before they can figure out which period they are in, and pick up the storyline again. A simple year on each chapter heading would suffice.
I skim read a a fair amount of this book as it sadly did not hold my attention. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

Set on Mary's Wedding day, 'This Family' by Kate Sawyer, moves between different characters within the novel to explain why Mary "deserves" this day, and why it has been so hard for all of her family to come together without huge tensions arising.

Sawyer moves seamlessly between the different voices within her novel, and different time periods over the course of 40 yrs. The lives of the characters have been messy and their have been many betrayals along the way, large and small.

The way that this novel is written draws you in, and make you want to make sense of the different resentments, and the things that are not being said on the wedding day. Sawyer is a great story teller, and like 'The Stranding' before it, this is a well told, enjoyable read.

This family is a complicated one. Too many to describe here but the family joins together to celebrate Mary's and Ian's wedding before they leave the house for he last time. Will there be friction and arguments or will past grievances be laid to rest?

On a hot September day 4 generations of Mary's family are gathering for her wedding. All she's asked is that there are no arguments, but with an ex mother in law, ex husband, 2 daughters and a step daughter all under one roof will she get her wish.
We read the highs and lows of all of the characters, and the reasons behind some of their estrangement. Told over one day with flashbacks over the last 40 years this us a delightful read