The £30,000 award went to novel A Family Matter, about a lesbian affair and a custody battle
A debut novel exploring the long-term effects of prejudice and secrecy on a lesbian couple in the 1980s has won the Nero Gold prize.
Claire Lynch was presented with the £30,000 award for her book A Family Matter at a ceremony in London on Wednesday evening.
The judges admired the book’s “wry humour, deft storytelling and its love for all its characters, even those who behave in ways we find hard to understand,” said judging chair Nick Hornby. “It is both readable and intelligent, and it offers hope and consolation. We believe that this novel will be read and thought about for years to come.”
The Nero book awards, run by Caffè Nero, were launched in 2023 after Costa Coffee abruptly ended its book awards in June 2022. The prizes aim to point readers “of all ages and interests” towards the best books published in the UK and Ireland over the past year.
