Family Law

by Gin Phillips

When an ambitious female lawyer becomes the victim of harassment, she must decide what's more important: her family's safety or the rights she's fighting for?

Set in Alabama in the early '80s, Family Law follows a young lawyer, Lucia, who is making a name for herself at a time when a woman in a courtroom is still a rarity. She's received plenty of threats for her work extricating women and children from troubled relationships, but her own happy marriage has always felt far removed from her work. When her mother's pending divorce brings teenaged Rachel into Lucia's orbit, Rachel finds herself captivated not only with Lucia, but with the change Lucia represents. Rachel is out-spoken and curious, and she chafes at the rules her mother lays down as the bounds of acceptable feminine behavior. In Lucia, Rachel sees the potential for a new path into womanhood. But their unconventional friendship takes them both to a crossroads. When a moment of violence--a threat made good--puts Rachel in danger, Lucia has to decide how much her work means to her and what she's willing to sacrifice to keep moving forward.

Written in alternating voices from Lucia and Rachel's perspectives, Family Law is a fresh take on what the push for women's rights looks like to the ordinary women and girls who long for a world redefined. Addressing mother daughter relationships and what roles we can play in the lives of women who aren't our family, the novel examines how we shape each other and how we make a difference. The funny, strong, and yet tender-hearted female leads of Family Law illuminate a new kind of timeless Southern fiction--atmospheric, rich, and with quietly surprising twists and nuances all its own.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Contemporary, Historical Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Family, Audiobook

304 pages, Hardcover

First published May 4, 2021

About the author

Gin Phillips has published seven novels, and her work has been sold in 29 countries. Her newest novel, RUBY FALLS, will be published by Atlantic Crime on March 3, 2026.

Gin’s debut novel, THE WELL AND THE MINE, won the 2009 Barnes & Noble Discover Award. Her novel, FIERCE KINGDOM, was named one of the Best Crime Novels of 2017 by the New York Times Book Review. It was also named one of the best books of the year by NPR, Publishers Weekly, Amazon, and Kirkus Reviews. Gin’s novels also have been named as selections for Indie Next, Book of the Month, and the Junior Library Guild.

Born in Montgomery, Al., Gin graduated from Birmingham-Southern College with a degree in political journalism. After time spent in Ireland, New York, and Washington, D.C., she currently lives with her family (including a wonderfully weird golden mountain doodle) in Birmingham, Al.

Reviews

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

1980s, Alabama. Lucia is a bright, successful lawyer, a fighter at a time when women lawyers were a minority. She is often treated with condensation, sometimes pats on her rear by male lawyers and judges, but she is determined to let nothing stop her from fighting for her women clients. Rachel is a young thirteen, being raised in southern manners and womanhood, but she's also a rebel. Wants more and she finds Lucia fascinating, Lucia's wonderful marriage, satisfying. She and Lucia become friends, despite their age difference.

There is a sense of dread, present but in the background of this story. Lucia is being harrassed and someone is bent on doing her harm. She has no clue who it is, but things come to a head and this will effect her relationship with Rachel and with her husband, who is worried for her safety.

The time period and the preferred role for woman, is wonderfully portrayed. I loved Lucia's character, her Moxy and enjoyed watching Rachel navigating her role in life. Which path should she follow? The one her mother prefers or can she see something more for herself? A simple novel on the surface but it has depths in realism that those woman who grow up in the eighties will recognize.

ARC from Edelweiss.

[Katie (katieladyreads) · Rating 2 out of 5]

*SPOILERS* WTF WAS THIS BOOK!?!?!? It started off great; who doesn't love reading about a bad ass female lawyer breaking the glass ceiling in the 80s but the alternating storyline of the teenaged girl almost getting raped by EVERY SINGLE MALE character she meets had me on the edge of my seat cringing in fear. THEN the book just abruptly ends?!!?? There is a big scene at the end with a dog getting RUN OVER BY A CAR. EXCUSE ME LEAVE THE BEAGLES OUT OF THIS DRAMA. And then the book just ends>? Did the dog live? Why did some random ex boyfriend of a client shoot at her house and almost kill her? Why did this woman try to run over her with her car? I don't get it.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, I finished this terrific novel well before my own book tour and I'm still catching up on my reviews. But it's another fantastic story from the brilliant Gin Phillips (Fierce Kingdom). Moving back and forth between the perspectives of two characters, a female divorce lawyer and the teen girl who latches on to her, the novel is rich with dread (which I love), leavened by Phillips's gentle wit and the precise way she draws all her characters and builds her southern world. Set in Alabama in the early 1980s, it's a smart, astute, and tense glimpse at a world in transition.

[Darcy · Rating 2 out of 5]

For the most part I liked this one. Liked the difference between Lucia and Rachel and how they grew their relationship. It was interesting to see what each woman faced in the 80's. For Lucia it was being a working woman, your husband not quite getting it and the rampant sexual harassment that was glossed over if you were living in that time. For Rachel it was a teen girl learning the world was bigger, wanting to break away from her mother and Lucia gave her whole new world to explore.

The ending had me looking at my phone, wondering if part of the audio book didn't download. I listed to it 4 times to make sure, but things cut off in the middle of a scene, sort of like the Soprano's finale. And quite honestly that is ruining the rest of the book for me. I'm left with so many questions and hate that none of them will get answered.

[Christiana Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up with Ginny, and Montgomery is our hometown, so reading this book was like opening a time capsule for me. The characters, the setting, the social issues - Ginny brought all of it to life beautifully.

[Chelsea Tirado · Rating 4 out of 5]

When an ambitious lawyer becomes the victim of harassment, she must decide what’s more important: Her family’s safety or the rights she’s fighting for?

This book is set in the 80’s revolves around Lucia, a female lawyer in a time where law is dominated by men; and around Rachel, a young girl who gravitates toward Lucia and her strength and resilience in both her career and personal life.

Phillips has a way with words and was able to perfectly depict the characters flaws and well as their strengths. Touching on themes of personal struggles, social issues, political issues. She also perfectly depicted life in the south in the 80’s, where racism still ran rampant... and still does to this day.

The ending felt a little rushed, but it was all around an enjoyable read.

4/5 stars ⭐️

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not what I expected from Gin Phillips, I didn't feel there was a resolution to the story. I did however, fall deeply into her characters, I think especially Rachel, who was not far off from my own age at the time of writing. I really felt what Rachel and Lucia were trying to grasp and show each other where being and becoming a woman was about in the early 80's. Oddly enough, I was reminded that the movie "9 to 5" was released in 1980, and had to think back to the middle ground of women's lib, and that it was hard fought and not always won.

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book showed great promise. I love books about lawyers, and throw in a storyline about a girl from a dysfunctional family, and I am all in. Lucia Gilbert is a crusading lawyer, defending women in Alabama at a time when women lawyers were an anomaly. Tbriugh a prospective client, she gets to know the woman's daughter, a girl looking for a life outside of the confines her mother has placed around her. Rachel is drawn to Lucia as a mentor and a friend, until one night a near-tragedy pulls them apart. This book is full of incomplete plot lines and lingering questions. Lucia tests the boundaries of her marriage, and Rachel tests the boundaries her mother sets for her. The book ends abruptly and strangely. What happens to Lucia and her husband as a couple and to Rachel remain unanswered. I hung in there with this one, hoping it would get better, but sadly,it did not.

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is set in a time that I know well. I graduated from college in 1978 and knew the hurdles that women had to be prepared to master if they wanted to climb the ladder. I also knew how important female mentors and role models were. I had some strong women who chose to tuck me under their wings and push me out of my box. I loved having this book set in this time.

I also love the gift of repartee the author gave the characters. They were smart, quick, funny, and interesting. I loved seeing glimpses of Judy Crittenden in Lucia. I only know her through friends of hers, but I see her outline and influence.

The book is about people stepping off of their traditional paths and choosing less comfortable tables to sit at that are outside of the box that they expected to stay in. Or that their parents expected for them to stay in. It's about motherhood and it's surprises. About family you choose and family chosen for you. The relationships were sometimes messy. They ebbed and flowed. I liked thinking about this as I read the book.

OK. And here goes. I do not know what happened in the end. Don't worry. I won't include any spoilers. Because I just genuinely don't know how it all came together. Maybe it was just another example of things not fitting into the lines of expectation. I might go back and reread to see if I can figure it out. But then I might not.

[Addie BookCrazyBlogger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lucia is a young lawyer in the early 1980’s in Montgomery, Alabama, taking on mostly divorce, custody or domestic violence cases that rescue women and their children from violent men. Besides her work as a lawyer, Lucia is also an open advocate of the Equal Rights Amendment and travels as a speaker to promote it, causing dangerous instances like her car being broken into and peed on. Despite dealing with unhappy marriages in her professional life, she’s been married to her husband Evan for a relatively happy two years. When a potential client named Margaret makes an appointment, she brings her teenage daughter Rachel with her, thrusting Rachel into Lucia’s orbit. Rachel is caught between the traditional rules of her mother’s world and the feminist rules of Lucia’s. When a shocking act of violence interrupts a visit between Lucia and Rachel, Lucia must decide if she’s doing the right thing and what she’s willing to sacrifice at the battle of the sexes. This is a book that takes on the mother-daughter relationship with Rachel’s perspective and takes on misogyny (albeit, it’s a specific type: Deep South misogyny) with Lucia’s perspective. It’s almost painful reading this, because things haven’t changed. Women are still being beaten. Teenage girls are still being harassed. Women trying to make a difference and stand up for themselves, still get placed secondary to men or experience violence. Divorces are still brutal. I appreciated how this book did highlight how men get screwed in the court system as well. This was absolutely a fascinating read and it goes by quickly. I will say that the ending scene was confusing but I think this will be a great discussion book.

[Charlotte Donlon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gin Phillips uses place and characterization brilliantly in her novels. In Family Law, she weaves together a story from two perspectives in Montgomery, Alabama, in the early ‘80s. Phillips explores issues connected to motherhood, friendship, work, and what it means to know and be known. Like her other books, Family Law includes nuance, depth, and the perfect amount of humor. I love how Phillips writes in ways that demonstrate her complex literary skills while remaining super-accessible to a wide range of readers. Few writers can pull that off.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love "Family Law" by Gin Phillips because, like Lucia, I am a woman lawyer in a male dominated field. I could identify with the sexism she encountered, and unfortunately some of the fear as well. I enjoyed the story for the most part and the characters were well developed and real. That said, it felt like the author ran out of gas at the end. The ending was abrupt and disappointing.

[Ashley Hasty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never read reviews of books. Which is something, considering I write book reviews, I am a book reviewer. But I sought out reviews for this book after finishing it, because I had to know what other readers thought. And, as I suspected, the reviews were all over the place. Some readers loved it, some hated it. Me? I’m INTRIGUED by it. Read my full review: https://www.hastybooklist.com/home/bo...

[Janilyn Kocher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't get this book. I thought the characters were dull and the ending was abrupt. I guess I just never got into the spirit of the story. The only thing I did Like was the era of the early 1980s. It was nostalgic to read about tv shows and songs I was familiar with from my memories. Otherwise this book was a complete miss for me. Thanks to Edelweiss and Viking for the early read.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a disappointment… I started out, thinking I was going to like this book about an attorney practicing family law. She meets a young girl in a very unusual way and then they become attached. very absurd. There really was no real storyline and it had a ridiculous ending.

[Claire Fullerton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review coming on release day in the New York Journal of Books

[Ray Palen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gin Phillips’ latest novel, FAMILY LAW, is released on the heels of her biggest success to date --- the intense thriller, FIERCE KINGDOM. All I can say is that Phillips is flexing her writing muscles as FAMILY LAW is a completely different type of novel but still possesses her trademark of complex female relationships in dangerous circumstances.

We are at the end of 1979 and about to enter a new decade when the story begins. The narrative is shared from two different points of view: Lucia, a young Alabama lawyer, and Rachel, the curious and outspoken teenager who she befriends. As things open, we get to see Lucia in action within the courtroom doing what she does best at a time and place where women were usually not found making a name for themselves.

Young Rachel turns up at Lucia’s door one day and decides to check in. She knew Lucia from the work she did on her parents’ divorce case. Initially, the childless but married Lucia feels strange about spending time with the young girl, but it is clear Rachel does not have many friends and wants someone to talk to. Rachel loved how in Lucia’s home she got to hear great blues records as her mother typically only listened to rock n’ roll on the radio. She also borrows books from Lucia to read like THE FOUNTAINHEAD and ANIMAL FARM, novels she knows she can later chat with Lucia about.

The relationship takes an interesting turn when, during a brief vacation by Lucia and her husband, Rachel swears she sees their dog in the yard of a stranger in the same neighborhood. Upon Lucia’s return, Rachel reports this to her and they go to check things out. It turns out that the neighbor, a very odd man named Marlon Reynolds, had indeed taken in her dog Moxie claiming the dog came to him and appeared sick. The interaction quickly escalates into a more heated discussion and ends with obscenities and threats.

This event may be behind a far more dangerous one that follows. One day while Rachel was visiting Lucia and her husband the windows are blown in by gunfire. Thankfully, no one is badly hurt and far more shaken up by anything else. What follows, however, is Rachel being restricted by her mother from every seeing Lucia again. At the same time, Lucia wants answers from law enforcement about the attack on her home. Was this Marlon Reynolds following up on his threats or a random person from her legal life attacking her?

The last part of FAMILY LAW shows Rachel getting older but still impacted by the violent and sudden changes in her life, especially when she needed someone like Lucia following her parents divorce to fill a void only to be harshly separated from her. It is interesting to see how this changed relationship also impacts Lucia and makes the reader keenly aware of how precious and important female bonds were in an age where there was far less for those in need of some human contact than the electronically and virtually connected age we live in now.

Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter

[Brad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Family Law is a new book from Gin Phillips. And your going to want to read it this summer.
“It’s the early 80’s. Lucia is a lawyer at a time when there aren’t many women in the courtroom. Lucia has become a family lawyer helping women and children navigate the system and leave abusive relationships. Rachel, the daughter of a potential client, becomes enamored with Lucia and begins visiting. A moment of violence puts them both in danger. Lucia must decide what she is willing to sacrifice.”
This is told from the POVs of Lucia and Rachel and set in Montgomery, AL. If you were not around in the 80s you will shake your head at what Lucia went through. There are a couple of men that are okay (Her husband, Evan) The relationship between Lucia and Rachel is great to see - one forging a path and the other beginning to believe they can. Phillips takes a moment in time and puts these characters in it. Characters that life happens to. I wanted some more time with them. I want to know what happens next. There is a mention of a football game l went to - 1981 Iron Bowl. And Phillips has a Cox, a Rachel and a Grant - so almost all my family’s names.
This is one of those books I didn’t want to end. Great characters from Gin Phillips. Go read it.

[Bridget Lyons · Rating 2 out of 5]

Initially I enjoyed this book. I actually accidentally left it at the Chicago Airport, paid for the lost library book, then borrowed it again, so I could finish it.
The second part of this book was disappointing and the end was very sudden and felt like an after thought or ended because of something else. So many pages of endless details then within 1/4 page, the end!
I had the feeling the person tried to write two books and blended them into this one.

[BillPriddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars until the last chapter. Weird ending. Left hanging. I need resolution. Sequel?

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was puzzling. Parts of it were meh and forgettable, a few parts are evocative and engaging, and then toward the end suddenly there's all this tension culminating in a weirdly action-packed scene and then it's over quite abruptly. It felt like a first novel that has some merit but the whole just doesn't quite coalesce (it's actually the author's third book). Yet I didn't not like it. I don't know!

[Natalie {booksandbakeryfinds} · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would describe myself as a generous reviewer. I like to be entertained by books; I like books that make me laugh, books that keep me on the edge of my seat, books that make me think/reflect on things. If a book has any of these things I usually give it a decent rating.

Sadly this book had none of those elements. The story started off strong and literally went nowhere! I kept with it because I was sure something would happen but it never did. Actually at the very end something happened but it wasn't tied up well at all. I listened to this on audio and thought maybe it had glitched since the book just ended. But nope to that too!

As noted above I think I'm a generous reviewer in that I dole out stars pretty easily. This one really is a 2 star read, and that's being generous! I'm particularly disappointed because I loved her other book, Fierce Kingdom.

I didn't love this book {obviously!} but maybe it just wasn't for me. Hopefully if you read it you have better luck than I did.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

mmmmmm.... k.
This felt like a book 2/3. We dive right into some characters that maybe we will learn about throughout the book, a thing happens, then every changes, book suddenly ends.
I don't know if I missed something, but I really lost the goal here. Super bummed because Fierce Kingdom is one of the most exciting books I've ever read.
I recommend a re-read of Fierce Kingdom here instead.

[Kathleen Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

It isn't easy being a female attorney in early 1980s Alabama, especially if you, like Lucia represent women. Lucia meets young Rachel when the latter accompanies her mother to an appointment; they develop a relationship which is cleaved when Lucia's home is attacked. Told alternately from Lucia's 3rd person pov and Rachel in the first person, this has some very good spots. Lucia's relationship with her parents is strained but she's got a good one with her husband (there's a gratuitous and incongruous steamy scene). Rachel becomes obsessed with her, largely because Lucia's life is so different from her own. But who is harassing Lucia and why? The answer comes at the end of the book and while it makes sense, the actual ending left me rereading the pages to see what happened and yet still scratching my head. Read this as a story of two women and the people their orbits. The characters, even the minor ones, are well drawn (and I loved the dog, who really needed training imho). Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC. Despite my issue with the ending, this is a very good read.

[Jennifer Gottschalk · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one is 2.5 stars rounded down. I really wanted to like this novel and enjoyed how the story was told through the perspective of two different characters.

There was a lot of potential here. The problem is that much of it was unrealised. The lawyer in the story had some interesting cases / insights into her clients and it would have been great to read more about that aspect of her life. Phillips sort of explored the issues that professional women face in male dominated domains but this was not fully investigated.

Likewise Rachel (the second main character) was intriguing but once again, much of her story was glossed over.

The ending was both weird and abrupt. It did not really make sense and was most unsatisfying.

Ultimately this was a book that did not go anywhere and at the end I was left wondering what the point of it all was.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of those books that I was afraid might be a chick-lit book but ended up being something else. It SO wasn't but in a good way. Definitely ended up a good read.

Having grown up a decade before this novel was placed, in the South, with a parent that projected similar fears onto their female children, I fully got everything Rachel experienced and wondered about. I craved someone like Lucia to step into my life and show another way of being/thinking/acting. It didn't happen for me but in this story, this teen was lucky to find a strong role model plus adult friends to show her how to live without fearing everything her mom did. We all need good role models and it helps if they turn into friends.

[Susan Conley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have not lived in the south of the early 1980s that Gin Phillips renders in Family Law. But I feel like I have now. It's a deeply engaging novel about family and also about an incredible friendship. The writing is smart and wry and Phillips knows how to create perfect-pitch characterizations that had me laughing out loud, and then nodding my head in agreement over the latent misogyny. This is such a powerful book and I found it completely engrossing!

[Ted · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the realism of the characters and the story development…at least in the first half of the book. In the second half, it felt like the author thought she needed to make a turn but didn’t know exactly how or to where. The book slid to an unsatisfying conclusion. With a different direction in the latter half, it would have earned four stars; as-is, only three.

[Magdalena · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's 1979 in Alabama (1982 by the end of the book) and Lucia Gilbert is a young, successful divorce lawyer who is making a name for herself as a woman in a male-dominated field. After meeting with a genteel but affectatious potential client named Margaret Morris, Lucia finds herself befriending Margaret's teenage daughter Rachel. Rachel dislikes her mother's ladylike mannerisms and expectations and finds a more appealing role model in Lucia.

One day, while Rachel is with Lucia and her husband Evan, someone shoots into Lucia's house. Upon hearing about the incident, Margaret forbids Rachel and Lucia from spending time together. Rachel is defiant, but Lucia is concerned for the girl's safety and doesn't want to go against a mother's wishes. The shooting frightens Lucia and Evan enough that it creates tension in their previously perfect relationship. Lucia doesn't want to take the extreme precautions that Evan would like, but she does accept the handgun that her father gives her, which Evan doesn't appreciate.

Lucia's third-person narrative is interspersed with chapters from Rachel's point of view as she navigates a variety of more-or-less-normal teenage experiences including community service for speeding, arguments with her mother, the beginning of a potential romance with a classmate, and some disturbing encounters with an adult neighbor who may or may not have sexual intentions. (Rachel takes much longer to start questioning his motives than will most readers)

Full of atmospheric descriptions of its Southern setting and realistically random conversations, this book has a lot of appeal in terms of nostalgia and believable characterization. However, there were perhaps a few too many side plots, most of which were never resolved, and it felt as if the book could have used one or two more chapters to wrap up the climactic ending.

[Natalia Weissfeld · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Viking Books for the copy!
The story takes place in Montgomery, Alabama in the early eighties. Lucia is a lawyer (one of the few female lawyers in practice at that time). She is married to a very supportive man named Evan. Due to her job, she received many threats that she is almost stubbornly willing to ignore, despite the advice of her husband and parents.
A pending divorce case puts Rachel, a teenager smart and opinionated, in Lucia's path. Rachel is fascinated by Lucia and everything around her. She feels heard and even valued, for the first time, and devotly inspired by this woman's world.
Until a traumatic experience threatens to change their bond for ever.

The story has two alternated narrators: The first person narrator in Rachel's chapters and a third person omniscient narrator from Lucia's point of view, which makes completely sense at the very end of the novel.
In the author's words it's a novel about motherhood, the mother's we choose, the women who shape us. Those women that inspire and support each other in a world that seems to be deliberately ignoring the limitless capabilities of an empowered woman.
The descriptions are very beatifuly vivid and the pacing of the narration couldn't be better, making this book, the story and the cast of characters extremely enjoyable.
I really want to read @ginphillips previous novel Fierce Kingdom. I really enjoyed her style.

How about you? Does this book sounds like a reading that you would enjoy as much as I did?

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Make sure you check this one out!
Publication day is May 4th (and may the force be with it...)