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This Is Not About Us cover

This Is Not About Us

Allegra Goodman · Literary Fiction

40 Pulse Score

Based on recommendations from independent creators

coming of agefound family
coming of age

#328 All Time

About this book

A kaleidoscopic portrait of a modern American family—steadfast, complicated, begrudging, and loving—from the bestselling author of Isola “A compelling, love-laced portrait of several generations of a family much like yours, mine and just about everyone’s.”—People (Most Anticipated Books of 2026) Was this just a brief skirmish, or the beginning of a thirty-year feud? In the Rubinstein family, it could go either way. When their beloved sister passes away, Sylvia and Helen Rubinstein are unmoored. A misunderstanding about apple cake turns into a decade of stubborn silence. Busy with their own lives—divorces, dating, career setbacks, college applications, bat mitzvahs and ballet recitals—their children do not want to get involved. As for their grandchildren? Impossible. With This Is Not About Us, master storyteller Allegra Goodman—whose prior collection was heralded as “one of the most astute and engaging books about American family life” (The Boston Globe)—returns to the form and subject

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