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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 “perfect” (Elin Hilderbrand) 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 a heartbreaking and hopeful 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.
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Thank you to Shelf Awareness for the free copy!
I'm not supposed to quote from uncorrected proofs so I'll just say, I am not sure why the line in the last chapter about sand castles is what finally got me properly crying.
This book was filled with frustrating characters who I wanted to shake sense into. Why would you think your husband would be okay with this? Why would you entertain the notion that this could be good for your children? What is wrong with you people??
But I loved the structure of the story, gradually revealing the things family members have in common without their knowledge or permission. I might reread this at some point to see if there are parallels earlier in the two timelines that I didn't know enough yet to notice.