--- description: Find out why "Family Lore" by Elizabeth Acevedo is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. title: 'Family Lore' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb721e4aa69ca33fd/698a41ff457a52856bd681e7/FamilyLore.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 14, 2023 # Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Flor Marte has three sisters: Matilde, Pastora, and Camila. She also has a daughter, Ona, and is an aunt to Yadi. These six women—each with a preternatural gift—build the beating heart of _Family Lore_. The novel, by National Book Award winner and Carnegie Medal recipient [Elizabeth Acevedo](https://time.com/6295834/elizabeth-acevedo-family-lore-interview/ "undefined"), braids together chapters by each of the Marte women through the lens of Ona’s oral history project. Flor can see the future, mainly the deaths of those around her. So when she announces that she’s hosting a living wake, but doesn’t specify who it’s for, the family is aflutter. What could it mean? What has she seen? Flor is tight-lipped, but over the course of three days, secrets spill out into the oral history. The story is a study in inheritance, resilience, femininity, and the messy bonds of family love. —_Laura Zornosa_ **Buy Now**: _Family Lore_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780063207264 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/468qbcS "undefined") --- **Looking for more book recommendations? Sign up for** [**_Worth Your Time_**](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=worth-your-time "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6331313/family-lore/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6331313/family-lore/"},"headline":"Family Lore","datePublished":"2023-11-14T12:30:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:25:03.675Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6331313/family-lore/","keywords":["Books","list","best books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb721e4aa69ca33fd/698a41ff457a52856bd681e7/FamilyLore.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb721e4aa69ca33fd/698a41ff457a52856bd681e7/FamilyLore.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6331313/family-lore/","name":"Family Lore"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME's 100 Must-Read Books of 2023","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/WppeqCEz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-11-13T19:20:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WppeqCEz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6331313/family-lore/","duration":"PT1M28S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6331313/family-lore/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```