This Family

THIS FAMILY is a lyrical and poignant exploration of the complex bonds of family, set across a summer’s day as Mary’s relations gather for her wedding. The cracks soon begin to show and we are drawn deeper into the family’s world, accessing multiple perspectives, as the fascinating dynamics become ever more intricate. It is published by Hodder & Stoughton and has received brilliant reviews. THE STRANDING, Kate’s debut novel, is currently in development for Film/TV which she is adapting with Afua Hirsch.

Mary has raised a family in this house. Watched her children play and laugh and bicker in this house. Today she is getting married in this house, with all her family in attendance.

The wedding celebrations have brought fractured family together for the first time in years: there’s Phoebe and her husband Michael, children in tow. The young and sensitive Rosie, with her new partner. Irene, Mary’s ex-mother-in-law. Even Emma, Mary’s eldest, is back for the wedding – despite being at odds with everyone else.

Set over the course of an English summer’s day but punctuated with memories from the past forty years of love and loss, hope and joy, heartbreak and grief, this is the story of a family. Told by a chorus of characters, it is an exploration of the small moments that bring us to where we are, the changes that are brought about by time, and what, despite everything, stays the same.

Kate Sawyer was born in Bury St Edmunds, where she grew up the eldest of four siblings. She trained in acting at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, Kate has worked as an actor since. Her debut novel, The Stranding, was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel award, won the East Anglian Fiction Prize and was adapted for Book at Bedtime on BBC Radio 4.

Kate is represented by Claire Wilson at RCW Literary Agency.