Family Lore
- 4 Jul 2024
- 9781805300526
- £9.99
- 400 pp
- 129×198mm
- 10 Aug 2023
- 9781805300502
- £7.99
- 400 pp
- 10 Aug 2023
- 9781805300519
- £25
- 9 hrs 49 min
In a few words
From the National Book Award-winning poet and YA author of The Poet X comes a huge-hearted family saga spanning three generations of women
In a few words
From the National Book Award-winning poet and YA author of The Poet X comes a huge-hearted family saga spanning three generations of women
In a few words
A big-hearted, compassionate novel about three generations of women preparing for a living wake – from award-winning poet and author Elizabeth Acevedo
Acevedo is a master of time. Family Lore is full of beautiful prose, even-handed magic and all the pains and triumphs of intergenerational bonds. Tender, moving and altogether lovely. Not one word is wasted here
Kiley Reid, Author Of Such A Fun Age
An exuberant, polyphonic story of one family’s reckoning with their past . . . Acevedo’s background in spoken-word poetry shines through in the energy and lyricism of her prose . . . But the novel’s greatest triumph is in the warmth of her portrayal of these women, their strength and stubbornness, and the inseparability of love and grief
Acevedo is a master of time. Family Lore is full of beautiful prose, even-handed magic and all the pains and triumphs of intergenerational bonds. Tender, moving and altogether lovely. Not one word is wasted here
Kiley Reid, Author Of Such A Fun Age
An exuberant, polyphonic story of one family’s reckoning with their past . . . Acevedo’s background in spoken-word poetry shines through in the energy and lyricism of her prose . . . But the novel’s greatest triumph is in the warmth of her portrayal of these women, their strength and stubbornness, and the inseparability of love and grief
Acevedo is a master of time. Family Lore is full of beautiful prose, even-handed magic and all the pains and triumphs of intergenerational bonds. Tender, moving and altogether lovely. Not one word is wasted here
Kiley Reid, Author Of Such A Fun Age
An exuberant, polyphonic story of one family’s reckoning with their past . . . Acevedo’s background in spoken-word poetry shines through in the energy and lyricism of her prose . . . But the novel’s greatest triumph is in the warmth of her portrayal of these women, their strength and stubbornness, and the inseparability of love and grief
More about
the book
‘Beautiful prose, even-handed magic and all the pains and triumphs of intergenerational bonds’ KILEY REID, author of Such A Fun Age and Come and Get It
‘Undeniably beautiful’ Sunday Times
Flor has a gift: she can predict, to the day, when someone will die. So when she decides to throw her own living wake, her sisters are concerned. What has she foreseen?
Planning the celebration brings further complications for the Marte family, because Flor isn’t the only person with secrets: her sisters are hiding things, too. And the next generation, cousins Ona and Yadi, face tumult of their own.
Family Lore traces the intertwining stories of five women: sisters and cousins, mothers and daughters, aunts and nieces, to ask the ultimate question – what does it take to live a good life, for yourself and those you love?
More about
the book
‘Beautiful prose, even-handed magic and all the pains and triumphs of intergenerational bonds’ KILEY REID, author of Such A Fun Age and Come and Get It
‘Undeniably beautiful’ Sunday Times
Flor has a gift: she can predict, to the day, when someone will die. So when she decides to throw her own living wake, her sisters are concerned. What has she foreseen?
Planning the celebration brings further complications for the Marte family, because Flor isn’t the only person with secrets: her sisters are hiding things, too. And the next generation, cousins Ona and Yadi, face tumult of their own.
Family Lore traces the intertwining stories of five women: sisters and cousins, mothers and daughters, aunts and nieces, to ask the ultimate question – what does it take to live a good life, for yourself and those you love?
More about
the book
‘Family Lore is full of beautiful prose, even-handed magic and all the pains and triumphs of intergenerational bonds’ KILEY REID, author of Such A Fun Age
The Marte women are preparing for a gathering that will change their lives forever
Flor has a gift: she can predict, to the day, when someone will die. So when she decides to host her own living wake – bringing together her family and community to celebrate her long life – her sisters Matilde, Pastora and Camila are concerned. What has she foreseen?
But Flor isn’t the only one with a secret. Matilde has tried to hide the extent of her husband’s infidelity for years, and now must confront the true state of her marriage. Pastora – always on a mission to solve her sisters’ problems – needs to come to terms with her past. And Camila, the youngest sibling, has decided she no longer wants to be taken for granted. Alongside their struggles, the next generation of Marte women face their own tumult of family obligations, infertility, and heartache.
Spanning the three days prior to the wake, Family Lore traces the intertwining stories of these sisters and cousins, mothers and daughters, aunts and nieces, to ask the ultimate question: what does it take to live a good life, for yourself and those you love?
There is potent magic in these pages, passed down through this lineage of powerful sisters who have captured my heart. How does Acevedo do it? Reading Family Lore is like an embrace, and I am filled with nostalgia for a family I have never had and could never have imagined
Ruth Ozeki, Author Of The Book Of Form And Emptiness
An expansive story that follows three generations of the Marte family . . . [Family Lore] mixes the old-timey lyricism typical of the genre with a plethora of twenty-first-century references . . . [Acevedo’s] writing is undeniably beautiful, overflowing with original turns of phrase and polished prose
A labyrinthine tale of sisterhood and the chaos of love . . . the depth, grace and nuance Acevedo gives her characters is palpable; her love for these women comes through with arresting clarity . . . Pearls of magic and wisdom, hard but not hardened, the story of the Marte sisters is a treasure to behold
This beguiling tale is set over three days but explores a vast amount – from family obligation to love and heartache
There is potent magic in these pages, passed down through this lineage of powerful sisters who have captured my heart. How does Acevedo do it? Reading Family Lore is like an embrace, and I am filled with nostalgia for a family I have never had and could never have imagined
Ruth Ozeki, Author Of The Book Of Form And Emptiness
An expansive story that follows three generations of the Marte family . . . [Family Lore] mixes the old-timey lyricism typical of the genre with a plethora of twenty-first-century references . . . [Acevedo’s] writing is undeniably beautiful, overflowing with original turns of phrase and polished prose
A labyrinthine tale of sisterhood and the chaos of love . . . the depth, grace and nuance Acevedo gives her characters is palpable; her love for these women comes through with arresting clarity . . . Pearls of magic and wisdom, hard but not hardened, the story of the Marte sisters is a treasure to behold
The women's stories intertwine, establishing a fully realised family portrait with all the quirks, resentments and secrets that characterise it
There is potent magic in these pages, passed down through this lineage of powerful sisters who have captured my heart. How does Acevedo do it? Reading Family Lore is like an embrace, and I am filled with nostalgia for a family I have never had and could never have imagined
Ruth Ozeki, Author Of The Book Of Form And Emptiness
A labyrinthine tale of sisterhood and the chaos of love . . . the depth, grace and nuance Acevedo gives her characters is palpable; her love for these women comes through with arresting clarity . . . Pearls of magic and wisdom, hard but not hardened, the story of the Marte sisters is a treasure to behold
The women's stories intertwine, establishing a fully realised family portrait with all the quirks, resentments and secrets that characterise it
Acevedo expertly maneuvers through the complex and singular stories of each of these women and all that unites them. It was a joy to experience each character’s expressive and gripping story; to acknowledge their truths and to recognise some of the women in the lives of women around me. A remarkable accomplishment
Abi DarÉ, Author Of The Girl With The Louding Voice