2025 Nero Book Award for Debut Fiction (shortlist)
**SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO BOOK AWARDS DEBUT FICTION AWARD 2025**
‘I’ll be thinking about it for ever’ Barbara Kingsolver
‘A gorgeously written story…a must-read’ Jennie Godfrey
‘Powerful and beautifully written… Lynch is a huge new talent in fiction' Good Housekeeping, Book of the Month
‘I was caught up from the first page and completely taken aback by this story. I loved it’ Clare Chambers
A mother following her heart. A father with the law on his side. A child caught in the middle.
1982 Dawn is a young wife and mother hemmed in by village life. Then Hazel appears like a torch in the dark. Their attraction is instant and suddenly Dawn’s world is more joyful, and more complicated, than she ever expected.
2022 Maggie has always lived with an absence where her mother should be. Her father never speaks of her and it feels impossible to ask. Then an official letter arrives with news from the past, and Maggie must face a truth far bigger than just her family’s secret.
'A beautiful and tender exploration of parental love, prejudice and the things we carry' Rachel Joyce
‘A brilliant book… Full of heart, sympathy and sadness’ Sara Pascoe
‘A triumph! Like the great Maggie O’Farrell, Claire Lynch deals brilliantly with both big themes and small moments’ Elin Hilderbrand
‘Smart and heartbreaking’ Guardian
***READERS ARE IN LOVE WITH A FAMILY MATTER***
‘I would rate this 10 stars if I could’
‘Utterly brilliant, I was captivated from page one’
‘This book had my whole heart and more’
‘A beautiful, heartbreaking, important book’
‘I can’t get the story out of my head’
‘It totally broke my heart’
‘I’ll be thinking of these characters for a long time to come’
Genre: Literary Fiction
‘I’ll be thinking about it for ever’ Barbara Kingsolver
‘A gorgeously written story…a must-read’ Jennie Godfrey
‘Powerful and beautifully written… Lynch is a huge new talent in fiction' Good Housekeeping, Book of the Month
‘I was caught up from the first page and completely taken aback by this story. I loved it’ Clare Chambers
A mother following her heart. A father with the law on his side. A child caught in the middle.
1982 Dawn is a young wife and mother hemmed in by village life. Then Hazel appears like a torch in the dark. Their attraction is instant and suddenly Dawn’s world is more joyful, and more complicated, than she ever expected.
2022 Maggie has always lived with an absence where her mother should be. Her father never speaks of her and it feels impossible to ask. Then an official letter arrives with news from the past, and Maggie must face a truth far bigger than just her family’s secret.
'A beautiful and tender exploration of parental love, prejudice and the things we carry' Rachel Joyce
‘A brilliant book… Full of heart, sympathy and sadness’ Sara Pascoe
‘A triumph! Like the great Maggie O’Farrell, Claire Lynch deals brilliantly with both big themes and small moments’ Elin Hilderbrand
‘Smart and heartbreaking’ Guardian
***READERS ARE IN LOVE WITH A FAMILY MATTER***
‘I would rate this 10 stars if I could’
‘Utterly brilliant, I was captivated from page one’
‘This book had my whole heart and more’
‘A beautiful, heartbreaking, important book’
‘I can’t get the story out of my head’
‘It totally broke my heart’
‘I’ll be thinking of these characters for a long time to come’
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"I was caught up in this story of restraint and things unsaid from the first page. I loved the fact that there were no heroes or villains, and the novel's combination of hope for the future with an awareness of how much has been lost is perfect." - Clare Chambers
"A beautifully written, quiet yet devastating rebuke to an era of cruel prejudice, A Family Matter made me weep like a baby." - Emma Donoghue
"A wonderful novel, absolutely gripping... Lynch manages to be damning about a culture and a system while being compassionate towards the human beings pitted against each other inside that system." - Mark Haddon
"A triumph! Like the great Maggie O'Farrell, Claire Lynch deals brilliantly with both big themes and small moments. I can't express how impressed I was by A Family Matter. It is, in a word, perfect." - Elin Hilderbrand
"I was blown away by this book. To tackle heart-wrenching emotion with such precision and restraint takes one hell of a talent. A Family Matter is an impeccable debut that turns the mess of life into something beautiful. A timely reminder of love's redemptive power." - Lotte Jeffs
"I was so moved and humbled by this beautifully crafted novel that I held it in my hands after finishing for a moment of thanks. In frank and straightforward prose, A Family Matter captures the heart-gripping consequences of forbidden love and reminds us that while the world is far from perfect there are among us decent people who are trying, little by little, to make it better." - Mary Beth Keane
"Claire Lynch takes elements of shame and stigma in our recent history and turns them into fiction that is beautiful, moving, and challenging. Every page sings out with empathy and love, pain and honesty. This unputdownable book - so precise, so deceptively simple, so beautiful in its tiny moments - will change the way you look at the world." - Emilie Pine
"A beautifully written, quiet yet devastating rebuke to an era of cruel prejudice, A Family Matter made me weep like a baby." - Emma Donoghue
"A wonderful novel, absolutely gripping... Lynch manages to be damning about a culture and a system while being compassionate towards the human beings pitted against each other inside that system." - Mark Haddon
"A triumph! Like the great Maggie O'Farrell, Claire Lynch deals brilliantly with both big themes and small moments. I can't express how impressed I was by A Family Matter. It is, in a word, perfect." - Elin Hilderbrand
"I was blown away by this book. To tackle heart-wrenching emotion with such precision and restraint takes one hell of a talent. A Family Matter is an impeccable debut that turns the mess of life into something beautiful. A timely reminder of love's redemptive power." - Lotte Jeffs
"I was so moved and humbled by this beautifully crafted novel that I held it in my hands after finishing for a moment of thanks. In frank and straightforward prose, A Family Matter captures the heart-gripping consequences of forbidden love and reminds us that while the world is far from perfect there are among us decent people who are trying, little by little, to make it better." - Mary Beth Keane
"Claire Lynch takes elements of shame and stigma in our recent history and turns them into fiction that is beautiful, moving, and challenging. Every page sings out with empathy and love, pain and honesty. This unputdownable book - so precise, so deceptively simple, so beautiful in its tiny moments - will change the way you look at the world." - Emilie Pine
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