Christmas in Austin

'Intricately, intimately written, with some wonderful prose and delicate dialogue.' Guardian



'A loving and nuanced portrait of a family's myriad functions.' The New Yorker



'Utterly absorbing.' Financial Times



'A tour de force.' Sunday Times





A Luminous family saga from one of Granta's Best Young British Novelists





When the four Essinger children gather in Austin for Christmas, they all bring their news. Nathan wants to become a federal judge. Susie's husband has taken a job in England. Jean has asked her boyfriend and (once-married) boss to meet her family. Paul has broken up with Dana, mother of their son Cal. But their parents have plans, too, and Liesel, the materfamilias, has invited Dana and Cal to stay, hoping to bring them back together. As the week unfolds, each of the Essingers has to confront the tensions and conflicts between old families and new.





Rich, intimate, and deeply perceptive, Christmas in Austin beautifully explores the deep-rooted division between the world we grow up in, and the life we make for ourselves.





'A subtle, complex, grown-up study of a modern family. There's something pleasurable and astute to be found on every page.' Literary Review



Benjamin Markovits grew up in Texas, London, and Berlin. One of Granta's Best Young British Novelists and the winner of the James Tait Black Award, he is the author of eight novels. He has published essays, stories, poetry, and reviews on subjects ranging from the Romantics to American sports in the Guardian, Granta, The Paris Review, and The New York Times, among other publications. He lives in London and teaches creative writing at Royal Holloway, University of London.