Family stories as gripping as they are dysfunctional
A great range of incredible family dramas have come out recently, so if you're ready to dive into compelling conflict, distract yourself from your own drama or live vicariously through the dysfunction of others, these books will fit the bill!
Together We Fall Apart by Sophie Matthiesson
For the past seven years, Clare has been living in London. She works for a judge on child protection cases. Her partner, Miriam, is devoted to raising their young son, Rupert; their days are dominated by nap times, laundry, and hiding from each other.
When Clare returns to Melbourne to visit her ailing father, another family crisis looms: her brother Max's long-term drug addiction. She turns her efforts towards helping Max into rehab, but is this at the expense of her family back in London?
Girls by Kirsty Capes
At the time of her death, the press wrote many things about Ingrid Olssen: she was a brilliant artist; she was a terrible mother to her girls, Mattie and Nora; and that her legacy would live on forever.
Even so, it's unlikely the world will ever see another Ingrid Olssen exhibition – her last request to her daughters was to throw her ashes in the canyon and her paintings in the sea.
But as Mattie and Nora reluctantly embark on an all-or-nothing trip to fulfil her wishes, they start to unpick the painful scars of their past. And soon they begin to realise that the ties that bound them, might also break them . . .
Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo
At fifty-seven, Julia Ames has found herself with an improbably lovely life. Despite her inclination towards self-sabotage, she has a husband she loves, two happy children and a quiet, contented existence in the suburbs. But, out of the blue, things begin to change.
In the local grocery store, Julia encounters a woman she hasn't seen for 20 years – a woman whose friendship was once both her lifeline and, very nearly, her downfall. Consumed with her checkered past and the chaos of her present, Julia starts to spin out of control, at risk of destroying all she most loves.
Thanks for Having Me by Emma Darragh
Mary Anne is painfully aware that she's not a good wife and not a good mother, and is slowly realising that she no longer wants to play either of those roles. One morning, she walks out of the family home in Wollongong, leaving her husband and teenage daughters behind.
Wounded by her mother's abandonment, adolescent Vivian searches for meaning everywhere: true crime, boys' bedrooms, Dolly magazine, a six-pack of beer. But when Vivian grows up and finds herself unhappily married and miserable in motherhood, she too sees no choice but to start over. Her daughter Evie is left reeling, and wonders what she could have done to make her mother stay.
Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
The Blue sisters have always been exceptional – and exceptionally different. There's Avery, a strait-laced lawyer living in London; Bonnie, who was a boxer but, following a devastating defeat, she's been working as a bouncer in LA; Lucky, the rebellious youngest, is a model in Paris whose hard-partying ways are finally catching up with her.
And there was Nicky, the beloved fourth sister, whose unexpected death left Avery, Bonnie and Lucky reeling.
When, a year later, the three of them must reunite in New York to stop the sale of their childhood home, they find that it's only by returning to each other that they can navigate their grief, addiction and heartbreak – and learn to fall in love with life again.
The Pyramid of Needs by Ernest Price
Linda Taylor is livestreaming her glamourous life as an alternative health guru when she trips over in front of her followers – and can't get up. When Linda's children, Jack and Alice, find out she's broken her hip and can't care for their ailing father or pay her bills, they decide to help. There's just one problem: Jack hasn't spoken to Linda since he came out as a trans man over a decade ago.
As the family gets together in Noosa and thunder clouds gather overhead, will family ties be enough to disentangle years of hurt, prejudice and pyramid-scheme brainwashing?
Tehrangeles by Porochista Khakpour
Iranian-American multimillionaires Ali and Homa Milani have it all – a McMansion in the hills of Los Angeles, a microwaveable snack empire and four spirited daughters. There's Violet, the big-hearted aspiring model; Roxanna, the chaotic influencer; Mina, the chronically-online overachiever; and the impressionable health fanatic Haylee. On the verge of landing their own reality TV show, the Milanis realize their deepest secrets are about to be dragged out into the open before the cameras even roll.
Each of the Milanis has something to hide, but the looming scrutiny of fame also threatens to bring the family closer than ever.
Brothers and Ghosts by Khuê Phạm, translated by Daryl Lindsey & Charles Hawley
Kieu calls herself Kim because it's easier for Europeans to pronounce. She knows little about her Vietnamese family's history until she receives a Facebook message from her estranged uncle in America, telling her that her grandmother is dying. Her father and uncle haven't spoken since the end of the Vietnam War; one brother supported the Vietcong, while the other sided with the Americans.
When Kieu and her parents travel to America to join the rest of the family in the California for the funeral, questions relating to their past – to what has been suppressed – resurface and demand to be addressed.
The Son of Man by Jean-Baptiste Del Amo, translated by Frank Wynne
In the soft morning light, a man, a woman, and a child drive to Les Roches, a dilapidated house, where the man grew up with his own ruthless father. After several years of absence, the man has reappeared in the life of his wife and their young son, intent on being a family again. While the mother watches the passing days with apprehension, the son discovers the enchantment of nature.
As the father’s hold over them intensifies, the return to their previous life and home seems increasingly impossible. Haunted by his past and consumed with jealousy, the father slips into a kind of madness that only the son will be able to challenge.
Edenhope by Louise Le Nay
Marnie is sixty-three and downwardly mobile. Her middle-class marriage is long gone, her only child more or less estranged. She's living in a granny flat behind a stranger's house.
Still, things could be worse. She likes her new boss, Trinh, and her flat has a leadlight window depicting a galleon in full sail. Also, her daughter Lenny has just brought Marnie's adored grandchildren to stay.
She's also brought her repellent boyfriend and raging drug habit, so nothing new there. But this time it's different. This time Marnie can see with absolute clarity the danger the children are in. And this time, she's going to do something about it.
Allow Me to Introduce Myself by Onyi Nwabineli
Anuri's stepmother, Ophelia, is the ultimate 'mumfluencer'. Throughout Anuri's childhood, she catalogued every minute, milestone and carefully curated family outing on social media, cultivating a devoted – and sizeable – following. Now twenty-five years old, life looks pretty perfect on the outside. Ophelia's fans could be forgiven for wondering why Anuri spends much of her time insulting men online for money, battling the call of alcohol, running from a PhD application, and reminding herself that she is now allowed to choose her own outfits.
But when she sees her little sister being pushed down the same rocky path by Ophelia, she decides to take back control. Her stepmother, however, isn't giving up without a fight.
The Deed by Susannah Begbie
Tom Edwards is dying, and cranky. He's made his peace with the dying part. But he'd bet his property – the whole ten thousand acres of it – that there'd be no wailing at his funeral. His kids wouldn't be able to chop down a tree, let alone build a coffin to bury him in.
Then Tom has an idea . . .
Christine is furious, David ashen-faced, and Sophie distracted. Only Jenny listens carefully as Vince Barton, of Barton & Sons, reads their father's will. Either they build his coffin – in four days – or they lose their inheritance. All of it.
