CULTURE EDITION
CLAIRE LYNCH A Family Matter This quietly stunning debut novel jumps in time between 1982 and 2022, laying out the inner workings of a small family turned upside down by a tragedy that didn’t need to happen. In 2022, Heron is an old man and his daughter Maggie his one remaining family member. He’s spent his life protecting his daughter and cannot bring himself to share his recent medical diagnosis with her. Instead, he busies himself clearing cupboards and clutter, unsettling disturbing documents containing the truth about the small family’s past. Back in 1982, young mother Dawn is stuck between wanting a life filled with love or remaining trapped in the situation she’s found herself in. Staying put might cost her sanity, but doing what’s right for her will cost everything. This spectacularly powerful novel blooms with emotion – the domesticity of the setting at odds with the soaring prose and heartbreaking choices facing each member of the family. The pages practically vibrate with the characters’ furious need to be true to themselves but also remain normal – to appear respectable, to not cause a fuss – yet the truth will out. The author’s historical note at the end of the story will break your already-shattered heart into even smaller pieces, leaving you bereft for families torn apart in the past, and so grateful – and protective – of our society’s evolved thinking.
Classic LGBTQ+ reads Alongside this year’s new releases, don’t miss these masterpieces of the past
Experience the sordid glamour of 50s Paris through the eyes of David, a young, engaged American man having a passionate affair with Italian waiter Giovanni, while also wrestling with questions of identity and his own past relationships with men. Giovanni’s Room JAMES BALDWIN
This tale of a new shopgirl and her wealthy customer feels like reading an Edward Hopper painting. Highsmith’s precise prose is packed with moments of vibrant light set against thrillingly dark shade. You need this iconic romance in your life. The Price of Salt / Carol PATRICIA HIGHSMITH
Deserving of its many accolades, this sci-fi classic challenges gender perception through a world where beings become male or female only once a month – with ramifications for politics and society. But of course, it’s about much more than that. The Left Hand of Darkness URSULA K LE GUIN
CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK JUNE 2025 27
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