This Family: Your perfect summer read

Product Information

Even though they are not blood relatives, Mary has still taken care of her mother in law, more than Irene's own biological children have. She knows Irene on a deeper level than Richard ever will. Set over the course of an English summer’s day but punctuated with memories from the past forty years of love and loss, hope and joy, heartbreak and grief, this is the story of a family. Told by a chorus of characters, it is an exploration of the small moments that bring us to where we are, the changes that are brought about by time, and what, despite everything, stays the same. It is my dearest wish, that after so long apart, I am able to bring this family together for my wedding day.

The vibrant, complex members of This Family are still alive and well in my imagination, weeks after I finished reading it. The rich, precise prose drew me into their world and held me there from beginning to end.' JO BROWNING WROE

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We all have a very different type of family, but in this book we get a glimpse into someone else’s and see that actually we’re all more similar than we realise. The intimacy of a family with all its complications is a quietly devastating read. Loved it.' JULIE OWEN MOYLAN If you love a rambling, multi character, family chronicle, then this would appeal. For me it missed the mark and was all a bit so so.

The wedding celebrations have brought fractured family together for the first time in years: there’s Phoebe and her husband Michael, children in tow. An ambitious new novel of family life past and present from the author of the Costa Book Awards shortlisted THE STRANDING It is my dearest wish, that after so long apart, I am able to bring this family together for my wedding day." Mary has raised her daughters in this house. Watched them play and fight and grow up in this house. Today it is the house where she will get married.

LoveReading Says

Beautiful and harrowing but also optimistic and extremely moving . . . a truly arresting depiction of an unlikely relationship’ CLOVER STROUD

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. Laura also writes Young Adult fiction and today we are discussing her latest novel Sisters of Sword and Shadow and why she's so passionate about writing for young people, the incredible power of storytelling and why activism needs fiction as well as non-fiction. Messy, complicated joyful characters and relationships that sneak into your heart and make you care ... a bittersweet, deftly woven, captivating portrayal of a mother and daughters.' JENNIFER SAINTThe intimacy of a family with all its complications is a quietly devastating read. Loved it." - Julie Owen Moylan I don’t think it’s my way to ask much of others, but now I am asking each of you to give me one day where you leave any animosity at the gate and try to remember that you love each other.” I loved the domesticity of this novel, the preparations for the wedding felt so visual - I had such a clear picture of the garden and the tables… The rural setting was strongly evoked - the rurality, the pigs in the fields, market days, the way everyone knows everyone! The author has a real talent for observing relationships and imagining dialogues between her characters. The difficult and self absorbed grandmother with her inappropriate comments was beautifully done. The writing is lyrical and the observation of family life insightful and intuitive.

A tender yet vivid novel in both form and voice, its threads as bright as the tapestry of life it depicts. I lived, laughed and ached for these characters throughout. A superb accomplishment’ – Wiz Wharton This Family is Kate Sawyer’s second novel, the follow up to her debut novel The Stranding about a woman who climbs into the mouth of a whale at the end of the world. I adored The Stranding and haven’t stopped recommending it since 2021. Novel Experience with Kate Sawyer is recorded and produced by Kate Sawyer - GET IN TOUCH or visit https://www.mskatesawyer.com/novelexperiencepodcast for more information. Ruth is ignoring the news. Like most people, she has relations hip problems, job stress, friends and family who need her. Ruth has a life.A tender yet vivid novel in both form and voice, its threads as bright as the tapestry of life it depicts. I lived, laughed and ached for these characters throughout. A superb accomplishment -- Wiz Wharton The intimacy of a family with all its complications is a quietly devastating read. Loved it -- Julie Owen Moylan The return to their childhood home evokes memories in Mary’s daughters, which reveal the deep-seated love they have for each other amongst all their sibling rivalry and which make them realise that they have something quite precious and important that is worth protecting. Kate Sawyer is an extraordinary, original writer... An immersive and absorbing read - I could not put this book down." - Aliya Ali-Afzal Kate has such a beautiful writing style that I’d probably enjoy reading her shopping list. Prose is eloquent and descriptive, but almost poetic in its nature as it weaves around each character to tell their story.