<b>‘A wonderful novel: profoundly sad but also absolutely gripping</b>… it manages to be damning about a culture and a system whilst being compassionate towards the human beings pitted against each other inside that system’

Mark Haddon

'<b>A beautiful and tender exploration of parental love, prejudice and the things we carry</b> that we don’t even fully understand; the terrible decisions made in ignorance, and the almost unbearable consequences'

Rachel Joyce

I smiled. I cried. I raged. Claire Lynch has written an un-put-downable novel, and I want everyone to read it. Lynch takes part of our recent history of shame and stigma, and makes it real and beautiful and moving and challenging. <b>Every page sings out with empathy and love, pain and honesty</b>. And the writing - so precise, so deceptively simple, so beautiful in its tiny moments - makes the pages speed by. <b>This book will make you look differently at the world.'</b>

Emilie Pine

'To tackle heart-wrenching emotion with such precision and restraint takes one hell of a talent. An impeccable debut that takes the mess of life and turns it into something quite beautiful. <b>A timely reminder of love’s redemptive power. I was blown away by this novel.'</b>

Lotte Jeffs

<b>I’m full of admiration for this novel,</b> which strikes the satisfying balance of being both quietly observed and deeply felt. It’s an intimate portrait of expectation, love and restraint <b>written with great sensitivity and warmth.</b> I adored it.'

Chloe Ashby

<b>'I was so moved and humbled by this beautifully crafted novel</b> ... captures the heart-gripping consequences of forbidden love'

Mary Beth Keane

'<b>A beautifully written, quiet yet devastating rebuke to an era of cruel prejudice</b>, <i>A Family Matter</i> made me weep like a baby.'

Emma Donoghue