Allegra Goodman made her name as a novelist who explores the complexities of family relationships and cultural identity. After ISOLA, her recent bestselling work of historical fiction, she is back with a book about a family today and the emotional connections that hold them together. THIS IS NOT ABOUT US is about three generations of one family navigating beginnings and endings, the kinds of hurt that festers, and the ways in which they adapt and grow, sometimes despite their best efforts.

Eighty-year-old Helen and 78-year-old Sylvia did not expect to outlive their youngest sister, who is just 74 years old. But Jeanne, a musician and music teacher, mother and grandmother, dies surrounded by her loved ones well before them. In the stress of her illness and as they make arrangements for the funeral and shiva, the low-level tensions that run in the family are highlighted.

"The novel is thoughtful and relatable, character-driven, and full of intimate moments and keen observations. It is a lovely, sometimes funny and always honest look at how we create family and how family creates us."

Helen and Sylvia disagree about how to honor Jeanne, even though the final decisions belong to her grown sons, Steve and Dan. Yet it’s an incident with an apple cake that finally pushes the remaining sisters apart, resulting in their estrangement, even as the rest of the family still mourns Jeanne and moves forward to observe and celebrate holidays and life-cycle events. 

Goodman moves readers through the perspectives of many characters, weaving their lives together over the two years after Jeanne’s death. Phoebe is Jeanne’s 21-year-old granddaughter and has inherited her talent for music, not to mention her valuable violin. The problem is that Phoebe isn’t sure about playing music anymore or even finishing college. Her parents are concerned, and her relatives are confused. But it may be that she finds her way back to what she loves and what connected her to her grandmother.

Phoebe’s 12-year-old cousin, Lily, is also considering the world and herself. Smart and a bit weird, Lily is a daydreamer and a promising dancer who is struggling in school. Her upcoming bat mitzvah is a time to celebrate, but it doesn’t come without more stress. Her dad Richard, Sylvia’s only child, is doing his best to help her and his other daughter, Sophie, navigate their teenage years while co-parenting with his ex-wife and trying to find a new romantic partner. He falls in love with Lily’s bat mitzvah tutor, but even this happiness brings complications.

From growing pains to end-of-life decisions, the family wrestles with questions and feelings big and small. As the months go by, the apple cake continues to be a symbol of division between Helen and Sylvia. It isn’t quite clear where those underlying issues originate or if there will be a healing path forward for them.

THIS IS NOT ABOUT US is realistic in its assertion that sibling relationships can be very challenging. But it is not really dark or dire; this is a family of strength, resilience, creativity and, most of all, love. The novel is thoughtful and relatable, character-driven, and full of intimate moments and keen observations. It is a lovely, sometimes funny and always honest look at how we create family and how family creates us.