I found this short book quite moving and very thought provoking. Heron is an interesting character and his daughter, Maggie, comes through stronger as the story progresses. It's a sad little story but not an unusual occurence, as the book describes. I remember such cases amongst friends and colleagues during the early 1980s. Well written and well paced, an excellent debut. I wish it could have gone on a bit longer but the main reason for the story was certainly dealt with by the nice ending. With thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the e-ARC to read and review.

Absolutely beautiful book. I read this very fast as I was desperate to know how it ended. Lovely characters and hugely sympathetic portrayal of an impossible situation. Highly recommend

A thought-provoking tale.
Claire Lynch gives us a very well written story that deals with a situation that existed in the 1980s and earlier, but that thankfully has now been resolved.
Forty years on from then, Heron has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He sets to putting his affairs in order. He enlists the help of he daughter Maggie, for whom he has been a sole parent since 1982. She makes a discovery that relates to her mother, finding more about her and why she left. Readers learn more about this from the other timeline and from Maggie discoveries. This causes a rift with her father.
I found what is described here very disturbing, and in the acknowledgements at the end Claire Lynch tells us that this was by no.means a solitary case.

A good read. The book straddles the years between 1982 and 2022. Heron lives in Scotland now and has ill health. He keeps himself to himself and the villagers know very little about him. He keeps his illness from his daughter. Heron brings up Maggie on his own. The reason for this is that Dawn becomes infatuated by a school teacher she meets and this is where it all changes. Maggie could not to be brought up in what was then considered a “toxic” relationship – two women living together. Heron passes away and someone is sent to deal with his Estate. Eventually the truth comes out about how Maggie has been brought up by Heron and the story goes full circle when mother and daughter meet after so many years. The book is very emotional on all levels and sad but that is due to public opinions about same sex relationships in the 80’s. The book is written beautifully and sensitively

I was immediately interested in Heron's story, and I was concerned for him. His story was more recent, 2022-2023.

Dawn's life in 1982 was very interesting to learn about. I shared the way she liked fashion, and thought what she bought from the car boot sale was very imaginative and so immersive. It reminded me of my own experiences of these events and how I'd like to try to find bargains too. How Dawn met Hazel is very imaginative.

I liked the easy banter between them.

I really felt witness to both Dawn's and Heron's life. Heron's daughter Maggie's life is part of the story, too.

I felt proud of Heron and how he tried to do the best he could with his life considering his health and age. I have disabilities and am not in the same health situation as him in terms of having cancer, but I did feel for him after his gym sessions and with his aches and pains and the kind of feeling like people didn't understand what he was going through.

I was pleased that he tried to keep a tidy home and was sad he was divorced.

I thought the scenes with his doctor's appointments were realistic and her advice was helpful.

There's so much attention to detail and the visuals are excellent.

A Family Matter will make you think and feel. I felt interest, empathy, and sadness. It's hopeful, realistic, sad and heartbreaking. It will make you feel emotions as it's so realistically written.

Thanks to Claire Lynch and publisher for my eARC in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

4 stars

Maggie was brought up by her father Heron form the age of 4. She believed that her mother had had an affair with another man and gone off leaving her behind. She never really had a conversation with anyone about her mother.
When her father is diagnosed with Cancer and starts clearing out his house she comes across Court Papers detailing why her parents split up. Will she forgive her father and eventually find her mother?
A complex tale of relationships 40 years ago and how times have changed for the better.

Beautifully written. A simple story but beautiful and heartfelt. An interesting insight into family life and family law in the past and the lasting impact this may have had on some families.

Whenever I am reading a new book, I wonder what my book club would think. A Family Matter by Clare Lynch would definitely make a brilliant book club choice. Absorbing, emotional and a very interesting suibject. There is so much to talk about and explore with a group.
I am a fan of stories revealed over two time frames, as long as it is done well. This is beautifully written, well plotted and paced. I couldn't fault it.
I am just hoping that my book club pick it, as I want to read it again. An easy five stars from me.

A Family Matter by Claire Lynch
Published by Chatto & Windus
Publication Date 29/5/25

Poignant and at times, heartbreaking, it’s crazy to realise these attitudes existed when I was in my 20’s, the same age that Dawn is when this is happening.
I liked the dual timeline and the fact that the story was seen from all perspectives.
A very interesting and informative read.

Thanks to the author, publisher and to netgalley for providing me with this advance digital copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I have had to let this emotional story settle in my mind for a few days before writing a review.
First of all, the quality of writing is excellent and the description of the characters so good that I felt I knew them by the end of the book.

Heron has some shattering news but doesn’t immediately share it with his daughter Maggie which is in some ways surprising as he has brought her up alone after his wife Dawn left the family home when Maggie was three years old. It is difficult to describe Heron and Maggie’s relationship. He is there for her in practical ways and always on hand to repair items around the home she shares with her husband and two children. As Heron himself admits this is the way he shows his love for her. He is clearly not a demonstrative person when it comes to showing affection. Heron, it seems does carry some guilt for taking the action he took in the past which was not entirely his fault as his mother and the legal system took a hand in telling him what he should do in the situation.

We meet Dawn, Maggie’s Mum in 1982 and it is clear that she loves Maggie dearly so what can possibly have happened to make her leave her three year old child? It soon became clear that once the court knew of Dawn’s relationship with Hazel she stood absolutely no chance of keeping her daughter.
When I found out I was shocked and devastated. How could this happen in the early 1980’s and be considered in the best interests of a small child? Dawn never left Maggie, she was taken from her.

I felt such sadness for Dawn and was so happy when mother and her grown up daughter were reunited but what a price Dawn had to pay for following her heart, her child snatched away from her. Even though she did her best to keep Maggie the court system was loaded against her. Time lost with her young daughter, never to be recovered. My thanks to the author and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy of this book.

A Family Matter by Claire Lynch

Set in 1982 and 2022 we discover how Heron, now at the end of his life, came to bring up his daughter Maggie alone, and how Dawn his ex-wife was banished from their lives.

Wow, this book is perfection and deserves to win prizes! It's short but really packs a punch - so beautiful and powerful. The author's characters are so real and the story so heartbreaking and rage-inducing. Honestly it's just perfection... very VERY highly recommended.

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

I was honestly blown away by this book and the journey the author managed to take us on in a fairly short book. It’s really is a blistering debut.

The book starts out quite light hearted which was surprising considering it starts with a cancer diagnosis. As the story winds on and we meet all the characters we quickly become invested in them. It’s a testament to the authors writing prowess that she manages to make them all feel so full without resorting to overly lengthy and prosaic prose.

As the story progresses it quickly becomes clear that there is more at play than just people who aren’t happy about how their lives have turned out. When the penny drops at about the half way point and the ending we are hurtling towards becomes painfully clear you have no choice but to hold on and ride it out.

It’s truly heartbreaking and painful to realise that this story represents what so many people had to experience not so long ago. This will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley and RandomHouse for the eARC

I would rate this 10 stars if I could. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to put into words just how much I loved this book.

This is probably one of the most unique and outstanding pieces of work I have ever read. It evoked so many emotions. It broke my heart and it warmed my heart.

The dual timeline is perfectly used - it doesn’t cause any confusion but instead allows the reader to gain an understanding of the bigger picture and to get to know the characters.

The author very delicately, respectfully and perfectly captures how different things were in the 1980s - for parents, for queer people, for children.

I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this book, it will stay on my shelf forever!

Phenomenal. I will be thinking about this book for a long time, couldn’t reccomend it more. Such an important read. Highly emotive, moving and devastating.

One family, 3 generations. A young couple are living a traditional life in the early 1980s. Married, house, working husband, stay-at-home Mum devoted to her young child. But when Dawn strays out of this existence she is punished in the most inhuman way by society’s views.
Flash forward to 2022 when the ex-husband gets devastating news he struggles to tell his now grown-up daughter as he is simply unused to sharing personal details. Only when he is clearing out his belongings does she discover what he has withheld from her throughout her life growing up with no Mum.
Upsetting to hear men with power could determine women’s fates only 40 years ago, this is a family drama with some nuanced characters.

This is one of those strange books that left me feeling nothing. The plot is very slow, with little happening. It is like a conversation between a couple of people that jumps all over without ever really going anywhere. The gist of the story is a family with a young child, the mother is dissatisfied and finds love with another woman, leading to her husband seeking custody. The story veers between the past and present, now told from the point of view of the child who has grown up and has a family of her own. Nothing unexpected happens, the story follows exactly as you would predict. I think the author wants people to learn about lesbian mothers losing custody as that gets covered in the acknowledgements, but the emotions of that never really came through in the book for me. Overall, it just left me feeling meh, but I hope it finds its audience out there.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Book review: A family matter , by @clairellynch .
.
.
.
A mother following her heart
A father with the law on his side
A child caught in the middle

It’s 2022, and Heron, an old man of quiet habits, has just had the sort of visit to the doctor that turns a life upside down. Sharing the diagnosis with Maggie, his only daughter, seems impossible. Heron just can’t find the words to tell her about it, or any of the other things he’s been protecting her from for so long.

It’s 1982, and Dawn is a young wife and mother penned in by the expectations of her time and place. Then Hazel comes into her life like a torch in the dark. It’s the kind of connection that’s impossible to resist, and suddenly Dawn’s world is more joyful, and more complicated, than she ever expected. But Dawn has responsibilities, she has commitments: Dawn has Maggie..
.
.
Oh what a emotional and wonderful book. I went in blind with this book , not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing . This was such an emotional rollercoaster of a book cannot believe that the events in this book actually took place in the 1980s. We have come so far as a society with LGBTQ we have still a long way to go get .
This book had my whole heart and more. I was so shocked with the events that happened as the main character Heron did not come across the person he was years ago . @clairellynch your writing is phenomenal..
.
.
#bookish #bookworm #bookaholic #booksbooksbooks #booksofinstagram #netgalley #booknerd #bookstack #bookstagramer #bookblogger

When I started this book., I very nearly gave it up but I am glad I carried on as it is a good story which is likely reality for some people.

Maggie was brought up by her father Heron because her mother Dawn left them for another man, or so she has been told. In fact, Dawn fell in love with another woman and the family courts in 1982 were very cruel to lesbians.
As an adult with her own family, Maggie finds out the truth about why Dawn left and is shocked that her parents made the decisions they did. The book is told from the time of the separation and back to the present day where Maggie is dealing with her feelings about the revelations.
The writing is very low key for the subject matter, it is a sad story. I felt so sorry for Dawn.
Recommended.

Thank you to Claire Lynch, Random House UK, Vintage | Chatto & Windus, and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was heartbreaking. Beautifully written and poignant, with a nuanced narrative voice throughout. An important read that covers lesbian rights to motherhood in the 1980s and the repercussions of homophobic court decisions 40 years later.