[Phillips] is flexing her writing muscles once again as Family Law is a completely different type of novel but still possesses her trademark of complex female relationships in dangerous circumstances ... Readers become keenly aware of how important it was for women to bond with one another and stay connected at a time when they were fighting for equal rights.
Though the scenes of Lucia, her husband Evan, and Rachel sitting together in the living room drinking ginger ale are charming and have an innocent air to them, there isn’t enough meat to their more mature relationship a few chapters later. But perhaps this is purposeful, meant to show how childhood fixations dissipate or become disillusioned as time goes on. Yet, that cannot be it, for Rachel still idolizes the lawyer into her high school years ... I wanted more conflict ... Where’s the struggle of internal emotions? There doesn’t seem to be enough external action to propel internal, cognitive change or reaction ... Gin Phillips wants the reader to see that not all women are victims, that there are some women who instigate trouble for selfish reasons. This, naturally, makes for great reading. Family Law brings together two characters and jockeys them around, showing how a younger generation can follow and then become someone other than mommy's little girl.
Phillips (Fierce Kingdom, 2017) nails dialogue and characters’ emotions even as the loose plot meanders. The gentle foreboding lends an air of suspense, and the era’s details (Tab, anyone?), misogyny (which Phillips explores well), and racism (which she could have explored further) fill out the setting. Fans of character-driven women’s fiction should be on the lookout.
Rachel’s first-person narrative alternates with third-person chapters written from Lucia’s perspective, their experiences combining to paint a nuanced portrait of the era and its volatility. The pace is languorous and the plot feels like a bit of an afterthought, but Phillips’ keenly drawn characters and their realistically flawed relationships will hold patient readers rapt until the book’s uplifting close. An incisive, warmhearted exploration of women’s roles in shaping society, the future, and each other.
