2025 Nero Book Award for Debut Fiction (shortlist)
A READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY • WINNER OF THE NERO GOLD PRIZE • ‘Burns like a sparkler, quick and mesmerizing.’ —The New York Times • Longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize
A young wife following her heart. A husband with the law on his side. Their daughter, caught in the middle. Forty years later, a family secret changes everything in this ‘quietly heart-scorching’ (Barbara Kingsolver) debut novel.
1982. Dawn is a young mother, still adjusting to life with her husband, when Hazel lights up her world like a torch in the dark. Theirs is the kind of connection that’s impossible to resist, and suddenly life is more complicated, and more joyful, than Dawn ever expected. But she has responsibilities and commitments. She has a daughter.
2022. Heron has just received news from his doctor that turns everything upside down. He’s an older man, stuck in the habits of a quiet existence. Telling Maggie, his only child—the person around whom his life has revolved—seems impossible. Heron can'''t tell her about his diagnosis, just as he can’t reveal all the other secrets he’s been keeping from her for so many years.
A Family Matter is an ‘intricately layered and infinitely nuanced''' (Oprah Daily) exploration of love and loss, intimacy and injustice, custody and care, and whether it is possible to heal from the wounds of the past in the changed world of today.
Genre: Literary Fiction
A young wife following her heart. A husband with the law on his side. Their daughter, caught in the middle. Forty years later, a family secret changes everything in this ‘quietly heart-scorching’ (Barbara Kingsolver) debut novel.
1982. Dawn is a young mother, still adjusting to life with her husband, when Hazel lights up her world like a torch in the dark. Theirs is the kind of connection that’s impossible to resist, and suddenly life is more complicated, and more joyful, than Dawn ever expected. But she has responsibilities and commitments. She has a daughter.
2022. Heron has just received news from his doctor that turns everything upside down. He’s an older man, stuck in the habits of a quiet existence. Telling Maggie, his only child—the person around whom his life has revolved—seems impossible. Heron can'''t tell her about his diagnosis, just as he can’t reveal all the other secrets he’s been keeping from her for so many years.
A Family Matter is an ‘intricately layered and infinitely nuanced''' (Oprah Daily) exploration of love and loss, intimacy and injustice, custody and care, and whether it is possible to heal from the wounds of the past in the changed world of today.
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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