This Is Not About Us | Allegra Goodman

This was getting rave reviews and since, as you know, I would read anything that Goodman wrote (and have read a lot of it), I was all in from the start. The book is labeled as fiction rather than a novel. The format is a series of stories that could stand along but are all based around the same family. A family with members that have different shade of memory, perspectives, experiences and idiosyncrasies. It's a beautiful book that explores all that is family.

The story centers around the extended family of three sisters, Jeanne, Sylvia and Helen. Jeanne is ill and dies early in the book (not a spoiler) and her death exposes some fissures. We come to know the sisters' children and their children and their partners/spouses as the stories progress.

This book reaches back to Goodman's earlier work (The Family Markowitz, The Cookbook Collector and others) and brings to life so much that is true about all families. Highly recommended.