The Daily Telegraph

At one point in Rohinton Mistry's latest novel, a pair of theorising thespians apply Aristotelian ideas about tragedy combined with a Brechtian notion of epic realism to an ordinary Bombayite. While the characters in question are comically pretentious, their remarks hint at how the action of Family Matters is structured.

The Times

Magical realism, cool cleverness and stylistic fireworks won't do for Mistry; he opts instead for believable characters and for strongly plotted storytelling narrated like a classic piece of 19th-century realism. The artist creates an illusion in order more powerfully to conjure the real.

The Guardian

The story moves to a close on a surge of pious sentiment. Every writer establishes a threshold between major and minor characters, significant and arbitrary fates, but it's perhaps a weakness of the book that this divide coincides with a sectarian one. The only real god in a novel, after all, dispenser of grace and penalty, is the author.

The Independent

Although large and ambitious in scope, Family Matters is not a baggy monster. The constant return to the tiny flat and its focus on interior lives makes for a tight, well-contained narrative. Ultimately, the novel's main achievement rests with character; Mistry never allows the writing to draw attention to itself. His creations are all equipped with longings, desires and, above all, resilience.