This Is Not about Us: Fiction

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 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.