With razor-sharp prose and a biting wit, Manning gifts us with a moving and unforgettable meditation on family, loss, and the ties that bind.

- Len Kruger,  washingtonwriters.org/publication/bad-questions

We can’t choose our family? This beautifully evocative and closely observed novel about friendship, politics and love makes the case that maybe we can, but fate can be cruel and good intentions are far from enough.

- Susan Coll, USA Today and Washington Post bestselling writer,  susancoll.com

Wickedly funny and quietly devastating, this debut announces a novelist of rare political intelligence and genuine heart — the kind of book that earns every laugh and every gut-punch, and leaves you with the uncomfortable suspicion that when you think you most understand the world you actually understand it least.

- Varun Gauri, author of For the Blessings of Jupiter and Venus, an NPR Books We Love Selection, varungauri.com

Some Family Matters explores the myriad connections that bind person to person and life to life. Manning writes with grace and insight, and his characters are unforgettable.

- Abby Geni, award winning author of Children of the Wolf, The Body Farm, The Wildlands and The Lightkeepers, www.abbygeni.com