A Family Affair

by Robyn Carr

• ISBN10: 0778331911
• ISBN13: 9780778331919
• Publish Date: 5 April 2022
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Imprint: Mira Books
• Edition: Original ed.
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

A Family Affair is the latest novel to come from Robyn Carr, and it is the perfect read for those looking for a bit of an escape. It's a bit of romance and women's fiction all rolled into one delightful package.

Anna has spent most of her adult life ensuring that her children have the things she never did. Stability, a whole family, and advantages she had only ever dreamed of for herself. Now that they're grown up and moved out, Anna has some time to finally think about what she wants in life.

That is, right up until another surprise hits Anna. With no warning, Anna becomes a widow. Now she must navigate the trials of grief while once again providing support to her hurting children. Yet there is always support out there for those who need it most.

A Family Affair is one of those books you read to be moved. Not physically but emotionally. There's so much happening within these pages that the odds are more than good that every reader will find something to connect with – I know I did.

Anna's story is, well...a lot. But it is also very human and, as I said above, very relatable. Perhaps too relatable at times, as it does tug at the heartstrings on more than one occasion. I'm honestly struggling to find words here, as I feel like anything I have to say will pale in comparison.

So I'm just going to leave it at this: go and read A Family Affair; it will be worth your time. I promise.

Thanks to MIRA and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Read more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Jeff Sexton]

Bigotry And COVID Mar Otherwise Strong Family Drama. On its whole, this is a mostly solid family drama about a mom and two of her three children dealing with a tragedy and trying to move on with their lives in the wake of it.

However, it does have significant problems, problems I've yet to see any of the other 44 Goodreads reviews in existence at the time of this writing address.

The first is the near-constant references to the insanities of 2020-2022, mostly as a way to ground the story in a sense of time and place. But here's the thing: I DO NOT WANT TO READ ABOUT COVID. PERIOD. And thus a star was deducted for this. Maybe you, the reader of my review, are less adamant about this or maybe you even appreciate such references. Good for you, you'll enjoy those parts of this text. But for those who feel as I do on the matter, know that it happens here.

The second major issue is the portrayal and handling of the Autistic third child. To say that this is a highly bigoted view along the lines constantly spewed by the Autistic hate group Autism Speaks is still being a bit too polite, to this Autistic's mind. This character is every tired and worn out Autistic stereotype rolled into one, and while the family claims to love her, they also drug her into oblivion so that Carr can write her out of the back half of the book. Indeed, if an author treated pretty well any demographic other than the neurodiverse/ Autistics like this in a book, that author would likely go viral for social media cancelling them - and yet something tells me most will be silent about or even praise Carr's reprehensible treatment of this character. That it publishes just days after World Autism Acceptance Day and during World Autism Acceptance Month is a slap in the face to Autistics from the publisher, but perhaps they were not aware of just how offensive this characterization truly is and were not aware of April being so designated.

The third issue, a throwaway line that further reveals Carr's political leanings, is a reference to a school shooting where the shooter got "automatic weapons" from his dad's garage. In California. In the 2000s. BULLCRAP! For one, while *some* automatic weapons *are* legal, the manner in which they are legal is INCREDIBLY expensive to obtain and subjects one to an entire alphabet soup of agencies - both Federal and State, particularly in California - knowing exactly where and how you store such weapons. Further, in the *extremely* rare case of Columbine/ Parkland style attacks as is described in this part of the text, such truly automatic weapons are virtually *never* used. But someone who only follows certain paranoid propagandists on this matter would have no clue about these facts, and Carr reveals herself to be just such a person in this instance. However, this did *not* result in a third star deduction as this was more of a one-off throwaway backstory line and not a pervasive element within the book as the first two issues were.

Ultimately, this is one of those books where your mileage may vary quite a bit. If you don't mind references to COVID in your fiction and if you agree with Carr's views on Autism and guns, you likely will enjoy this book quite a bit. And to be clear, other than these issues - which were *not* on every page - the story itself really is quite good. But if you feel as I do on these issues... still read the book. It really is that well written, mostly. Just know there is going to be some infuriating moments. Recommended.