Family & Heritage

Sagas of lineage, tradition, and the ties that bind generations.

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A Short History of Longans

A Short History of Longans

Spanning nearly two centuries, A Short History of Longans traces the intertwined lives of four generations of an Irish-Chinese family in Australia, exploring how ancestry, memory, and historical upheaval shape a sense of belonging. The story opens in Queensland in 2049, where Daniel, an elderly and reclusive artist, faces the destruction of his beloved longan tree after a devastating storm. When a young reporter arrives seeking answers about a troubling event in his past, Daniel’s carefully guarded life begins to unravel. The narrative then travels backwards through time, revealing the experiences of his aunt Wendy, who struggles with early-onset dementia, and Ruby Wong, a Chinese Australian actress pursuing her ambitions in 1940s Los Angeles. Finally, the novel reaches the nineteenth century, where an Irish orphan named Maria Lyons falls in love with Ah Yang, a Chinese man whose life will shape the family’s future. Through these interconnected stories, Riwoe examines migration, racial prejudice, family secrets, and the ways identity is passed down through generations. The longan tree becomes a symbol of heritage and continuity, connecting people to the places and histories that make them who they are.

The Home of the Drowned

The Home of the Drowned

Elin Anna Labba

The Home of the Drowned tells the story of a Sámi family whose traditional way of life is threatened when a hydroelectric dam floods their ancestral settlement in northern Sweden. When thirteen-year-old Iŋgá, her mother Rávdná, and her aunt Ánne return to their summer village, they discover that their home and belongings have disappeared beneath the water. Spanning four decades, from 1942 to 1982, the novel follows three generations of Sámi women as they confront displacement, discrimination, and the gradual destruction of their cultural heritage. Rávdná refuses to accept the loss of her home and fights to rebuild what has been taken from her, while Iŋgá longs for the freedom to live like other young people. Their conflicting responses reveal the painful tension between preserving tradition and adapting to a changing world. Drawing on Sámi history and the consequences of colonial policies, Elin Anna Labba explores the profound connections between land, memory, identity, and belonging. The novel is a moving reflection on what makes a place a home and what happens when that home is taken away.

How To Use 3,000 Yen

How To Use 3,000 Yen

How to Use 3,000 Yen follows three generations of women in the Mikuriya family as they navigate the financial and emotional challenges of everyday life. At the heart of the story is Miho, a young woman beginning her independent life and learning to manage her money. Her experiences connect with those of her older sister, Maho, their mother, Tomoko, and their grandmother, Kotoko, each of whom faces different questions about financial security, family responsibilities, and the future. For the women of the Mikuriya family, money is more than a practical concern: it reflects their hopes, fears, relationships, and ideas about happiness. As they encounter unexpected expenses and major life changes, each must reconsider what it means to save wisely and live well. With warmth and gentle humor, Hika Harada explores the relationship between money and personal freedom, showing how financial decisions shape the lives of women across generations. The novel offers a thoughtful portrait of contemporary Japanese society, where economic pressures intersect with family expectations and the desire for independence.

The Witch

In The Witch, Marie NDiaye tells the story of Lucie, a woman who discovers that she possesses magical powers inherited from her mother. Living in a seemingly ordinary French suburb, Lucie struggles to pass her knowledge of witchcraft on to her twin daughters while navigating an unhappy marriage and an increasingly unstable family life. As her daughters begin to develop their own powers and assert their independence, Lucie’s sense of control over her family and identity begins to unravel. Blending dark humor, psychological tension, and elements of the supernatural, NDiaye explores motherhood, female power, and the complexities of family relationships. The novel offers a subtle, unsettling examination of the desire to control others and the difficulty of understanding those closest to us.

Mothersick

When sisters Mara and Nell watched their parents’ marriage fall apart, they made a pact: no husbands, no babies, and no repeating their family’s mistakes. For years, their bond was the one thing they could count on. But when Mara unexpectedly falls in love and becomes a mother, the sisters find themselves on opposite sides of a life-changing divide. While Mara struggles with the overwhelming contradictions of motherhood, Nell throws herself into a relationship that threatens the independence she has fought to protect. Meanwhile, their absent mother and their aunt Jean hold the key to family secrets that refuse to stay buried. An intimate, sharply observed novel about sisterhood, motherhood, and the complicated inheritance of family, Mothersick asks whether love can survive when the lives we choose lead us in different directions.

United Kingdom 2027

Wet Ink

London, 1969. Trapped in a loveless marriage and the monotony of suburban motherhood, Mitzy Barlow discovers an unexpected escape: writing steamy stories inspired by classic novels. When she begins secretly distributing them inside Tupperware containers at her parties, her private passion becomes a sensation among local housewives. Writing under the pseudonym Queen B, Mitzy sparks a quiet revolution in female desire, friendship, and freedom. But as rumours threaten her family’s reputation and livelihood, she must decide how much she is willing to risk to rewrite her own story.

United Kingdom 2027

Strange Harm

Ainslie Hogarth

When teenager Janie Yearling vanishes from the small town of Gold River, her grieving parents become the centre of a media frenzy. Her mother, Annette, turns her pain into a carefully maintained public image, while her father, Calvin, becomes a figure of suspicion. Fifteen years later, a podcaster with a troubled past offers to reopen the case, stirring up old rumours about a mysterious spirit said to haunt the nearby woods. As the investigation unfolds, the boundaries between truth, superstition, and spectacle begin to blur. A chilling, darkly comic novel about grief, obsession, and the stories we tell to make sense of tragedy.

Somewhere, Something Incredible

Somewhere, Something Incredible

San Diego, 1969. As America prepares to land a man on the moon, Gwen is struggling to keep her family together. After a head injury transforms her eighty-year-old mother, Lucille, into a bold, unpredictable woman who invites a much younger man into her home, Gwen fears that her mother is being taken advantage of. Meanwhile, Gwen’s eighteen-year-old daughter is grieving a friend lost to the Vietnam War. As the world stands on the threshold of an extraordinary achievement, three generations of women must confront grief, control, and the courage it takes to let go.

United States 2027

Three Sisters

Three estranged sisters reunite at their wealthy father’s villa on the sun-drenched Italian island of Capri, nearly a decade after their family fell apart. Cora, Diana, and Kiki have built very different lives, but their unpredictable father has summoned them for a reason none of them expects. When his shocking announcement exposes old wounds and deepens their mistrust, the sisters must confront the secrets that have kept them apart. A witty, emotional family drama about sisterhood, betrayal, forgiveness, and the possibility of starting over.

About this theme

Books: 105
Countries: 49

Countries with this theme

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Central African Republic

Dominican Republic