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Find out moreOur high-quality Family Drama selection offers the heart-breaking and heart-warming conflicts and dramas directly from the hearth, telling the stories of these families that have been struck by tragedy, conflict and drama and their struggle to survive intact.
Crossing genres in style, this just has to be one of my favourite novels of the year. Set in the marshlands of North Carolina, the majority of this story takes place in the 1950’s and 60’s. The prologue begins in 1969 with the body of Chase Andrews being found in the marsh. The first paragraph of the prologue introduces surprising beauty, the marsh simply sings, it settled into my mind and became a part of me. The central character is Kya, we meet her as a child, and the truth of her life is immediately apparent. As the novel moves backwards and forwards in time, Kya emerges as the Marsh Girl, and suspicion begins to hound her after the body is found. Author Delia Owens is a wildlife scientist who has worked in Africa and written non-fiction, this is her debut novel. Descriptions entered my mind in wafting movement, I fell in love with the marsh and the girl who lived there. Where the Crawdads Sing is truly touching, almost hauntingly beautiful, and opens a doorway to a different world. It has been chosen as a LoveReading Star Book and a Liz Robinson Pick of the Month.
An unsettling and absorbing psychological thriller, set within a street that just seethes with the awareness of past events. Leah and Jake move to the basement flat of a large house, just as the owner, Anton, is released from prison 19 years after being convicted of murdering his wife in their home. As Anton and Leah tentatively move towards friendship, will the past come to haunt the present? This is a read that pounced from the very first page. The author combination really works for me, Paul Perry and Karen Gillece excel in balancing a believable plot with multifaceted characters, while ramping up the tension. Layer upon layer of delightfully chilling intrigue highlighted the unknown. Questions built up in my mind, ensuring I was successfully kept on tenterhooks throughout. Come A Little Closer is a properly riveting read, it crept into mind spaces I didn’t even know I had, and I just had to choose it as one of my Liz Robinson Picks of the Month.
A deftly dark, creepy, and disturbing psychological thriller. Claire is determined to leave her husband Duncan who appears to be leading a double life. As events splinter and start to destroy their family, can Claire discover the truth? Claire narrates her own story, while Duncan’s is told, both characters and their tales left me with feelings of uncertainty. An underlying chilling atmosphere settled and began to grow as I read. Sharply focused before and after chapters ensured I was kept off balance and intrigued! Sophie Draper scattered hints and suggestions in my path, my mind started to fill gaps and my thoughts scurried off to pick over information. As I reached the ending I stopped, sat up and felt the need to start reading again from the beginning. I am quite sure that next time I pick up Magpie, a completely different reading experience will be awaiting me!
A deftly dark, creepy, and disturbing psychological thriller. Claire is determined to leave her husband Duncan who appears to be leading a double life. As events splinter and start to destroy their family, can Claire discover the truth? Claire narrates her own story, while Duncan’s is told, both characters and their tales left me with feelings of uncertainty. An underlying chilling atmosphere settled and began to grow. Sharply focused before and after chapters ensured I was kept off balance and intrigued! Sophie Draper scattered hints and suggestions in my path, my mind started to fill gaps and my thoughts scurried off to pick over information. As I reached the ending I stopped, sat up and felt the need to start again from the beginning. I am quite sure that next time I enjoy Magpie, a completely different experience will be awaiting me!
A Midwinter Promise by Sunday Times top ten bestselling author Lulu Taylor, is a dramatic story of loss, grief and the legacy of secrets. The past A lonely and imaginative child, Julia loves her family's beautiful and wild Cornish home with all her heart. But, marked by dark troubles, she enters her adult years determined to leave and seek a new beginning in London. It's there she meets the handsome David. They fall in love, but when Julia becomes pregnant, even he can't stop the terrible echoes of the past from ringing in her ears. The only sound to be heard above the noise is the old Cornish house, calling her home . . . The present For Julia's adult children, Alex and Johnnie, the house hides the history of their family within its walls. For Alex, it is full of memories of her late mother. For Johnnie, it is the house that should have been rightfully theirs after Julia died but has been stolen from them instead. With their father now lying in a hospital bed, time is running out for Alex and Johnnie to uncover the secrets of what happened to their mother all those years ago. Can they discover the truth before the house closes its doors to them forever?
Brothers by Kirk Weddell has all the seasoned quietude of a maritime adventure novel. Owen Kerrigan is a weather-worn and embittered lighthouse keeper. He is disillusioned by his past, owing to the estranged relationship he has with his brother, Patrick. He now lives a solitary existence on the coast of Clare Island, tending to the many laborious engagements of a lighthouse keeper and guarding an ancient secret... This short novel expertly develops its setting, in its depictions of the raw elements of a remote Irish coast and even in the humorous exploits of the two young brothers, Ryan and Derry. I loved the pacing in this novel and how quickly the plot progressed, as it doesn't solely rely on the merits of its maritime setting or on the charm of the quiet moments in Owen's life. Brothers is a quick read that I found engaging from the outset and largely enjoyable throughout. Lois Cudjoe, A LoveReading Ambassador
A thoroughly interesting and engaging mystery that slowly but surely gathers pace until it fairly rockets along. When Graham spots an unexpected face at a hotel, he believes his past has come to pay a visit. His reporting skills come to the fore as he begins to investigate but events quickly turn from a friendly to deadly game. This was my first book by Paul Trembling, and as I read there were suggestions of a previous story, yet this felt like a complete and standalone tale. I later discovered that his previous novel Local Artist features Graham’s wife Sandra, ahhh, that explains those snippets of information! You can certainly start as I did, with Local Legend, though I do now want to find out what happened in Sandra’s tale. Paul Trembling is a former Crime Scene Investigator, and his knowledge ensures an authentic read. The family bond and relationship sits beautifully alongside the mystery elements. The quotes at the beginning of each chapter work really well and introduce the continuing story beautifully. With a cracking storyline and an ending that had me visiting the edge of my seat, Local Legend becomes a fast-paced, high octane ride.
What a gorgeously emotional and heart-warming read this is. Two women linked by an event that occurred eight years ago, find themselves at the centre of storm that could change their worlds forever, both will fight for what they believe in. The first chapter slams with impact. Oh Dani Atkins, you really know how to make me cry! In the very best possible way of course, with a heart full of emotion and feeling and wonder. The words reached inside me, made me ponder, and truly affected me. The characters are so engaging, the ups and downs so accessible. This is a relationship story with real personality, yes there is some anguish along the way, there is also plenty of hope, love, and feel-good too. I’ve chosen this as one of my Liz Robinson Picks of the Month. If you choose to read A Million Dreams, and I really hope you do, I’ll just leave this here… have some tissues close to hand.
From childhood in Germany and England to young womanhood in Ghana, this enthralling novel follows a steadfastly thoughtful Ghanaian forging her own identity in the face of fractured family ties, tragedy and colonial imperialism. Though of illustrious heritage, Maya’s childhood as an émigré is complex, uncomfortable and evoked with lyrical precision. Her beautiful mother is self-absorbed, always scented with “powdery luxury” and critical of Maya. ”It’s a pity my child did not take my beauty”, she tells her reflection before counselling Maya to “always look more than perfect. Not just good enough, but perfect”. And Maya receives conflicting messages from her father too. “Boys will not like you if you are too clever”, he tells her, while also criticising an eight out of ten mark: “Why not ten out of ten? You must always do your best.” The arrival of cousin Kojo changes everything. His impassioned talk of Ghana fuels Maya’s understanding of her mother country, her parents, and her own identity. She observes that Kojo’s knowledge “gave him the power to upset the order of things,” leading her to wonder, “Could I learn these secrets and codes, even though I did not grow up in our country?” When she and Kojo are sent to schools in England, Maya experiences the racism of peers who “touched my hair and stroked my skin and passed me round on their laps like a doll”, and Kojo is bullied. No wonder then that he decides that, “this is nothing but a small shitty island that doesn’t work properly. It’s a cold wet Third World country, but they made us think they were all powerful.” Later back in Germany, Maya is maddened by the cultural imperialism of her education: “I could not think of much that was more frightening than fitting into this pinched-in sterile world.” Maya’s story is at once arresting and nuanced, and suffused in an elegant sense of triumph when she returns to Ghana, where Kojo has been struggling to set-up a museum, and in time finds her voice and purpose through navigating a tangle of personal misfortune and cultural complexities.
An absolutely cracking, powerful, and oh so relevant novel focusing on domestic abuse, violence, and gaslighting. Ria Taylor is the manager of a refuge for women, she struggles to deal with threatening messages from an unknown source, but worse, much worse is to come. Author Jacqueline Ward is a Chartered Psychologist and Scientist and boy does it show. I entered the story and just felt the truth. The first paragraph is so descriptive, I experienced an immediate sense of place. I didn’t question, didn’t dwell, I was just sucked in whole and lived in each and every moment. The characters pop with authenticity, I could reach out and touch them, they became known to me. The ending had me sitting in contemplation. At the back of the book there are some pretty fabulous Book Club Questions, and most importantly a list of helplines for anyone experiencing domestic violence. How to Play Dead is not only a provocative and fabulous story, it also burrowed inside my head, it made me look, made me see. It shook me to the core to learn that two women a week in England are killed by a partner, or ex partner.
In their riveting and timely young adult debut, acclaimed novelist Akwaeke Emezi asks difficult questions about what choices a young person can make when the adults around them are in denial.
So beautifully written, the chills prowl with unexpected menace to climb inside your thoughts, to lurk and provoke. Richard and Juliette’s son Ewan died at the age of 5, Juliette, convinced that her son is still in the house turns to a group of occultists, while Richard searches for the remains of a hangman’s oak tree opposite their home Starve Acre. Andrew Michael Hurley doesn’t waste a single word, each forms a web to create a picture as he captures the essence of a thought or thing. As the story grows, as the oak planted itself in my minds eye, the unsettling force of grief came to settle over everything. I sank into this tale and couldn’t leave, reading from the deep, dark and incredibly soulful first page through to the startling last in one heady afternoon. Folklore gathers in the background, grief preys on the unsuspecting, and a compelling story unfolds. Highly recommended, I have chosen Starve Acre as one of my picks of the month, and a LoveReading Star Book.
Whether it’s Barbara Taylor Bradford’s window into the dark secrets of dynastic powerhouses, or the hard realities of Allison Pearson’s writing: the incisively humourous observations of Nick Hornby, or the light touch of Charlotte Bingham: the engrossing passion of Jojo Moyes, or the captivating worlds conjured by Jodi Picoult and Daisy Waugh, the range of fantastic stories in the Family Drama section is almost endless. Luckily our unique expert reviews and hand-picked recommendations are here to help match you with your perfect next read. Sign up to our monthly emails to stay in touch with the latest output from warm, wise Elizabeth Buchan, insightful Kate Atkinson, sensory-stimulating Joanna Harris, huge-scale Sidney Sheldon, magical Alice Hoffman and so many more in the varied family of fantastic authors of the genre.