finished reading

This multi-generational look at family is wryly amusing and poignant.  Told through multiple perspectives, each narrator fleshes out the nuances of the family's dynamics.  Focusing on a sister feud that shapes interactions among family members, the interconnected stories and experiences offer a glimpse of small, everyday moments.  I wasn't as invested in some of the narratives and found the portrayal of children to be stereotypical.  The competitive relationship between the sisters rang true.

From the publisher:

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 that endeared her to legions of readers. Sharply observed and laced with humor, This Is Not About Us is a story of growing up and growing old, the weight of parental expectations, and the complex connection between sisters—a big-hearted book about the love that binds a family across generations.