This Is Not About Us: Fiction
Not yet published: Expected Feb 10, 2026
A kaleidoscopic portrait of a modern American family—steadfast, complicated, begrudging, and loving—from the bestselling author of Isola
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.
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.
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Community Reviews
Thank you to the author and publisher for this advanced reader copy!
I am grateful to have had another Allegra Goodman book to read, I have loved her style of writing ever since I read Kaaterskill Falls and this was very reminiscent of that same style. I love a good dysfunctional family trope, especially a Jewish family which Goodman captures their nuances pretty well.
I will sometimes get frustrated by this trope (just communicate better!) but this wasn't that way for me. I think it's because all the characters knew how to show that they really were good on the inside, and just didn't know how to always show it, put down their ego, etc. But you really got a good glimpse of how good every character was, and that made me want the family to succeed, and made me want to have the same family!
I am grateful to have had another Allegra Goodman book to read, I have loved her style of writing ever since I read Kaaterskill Falls and this was very reminiscent of that same style. I love a good dysfunctional family trope, especially a Jewish family which Goodman captures their nuances pretty well.
I will sometimes get frustrated by this trope (just communicate better!) but this wasn't that way for me. I think it's because all the characters knew how to show that they really were good on the inside, and just didn't know how to always show it, put down their ego, etc. But you really got a good glimpse of how good every character was, and that made me want the family to succeed, and made me want to have the same family!
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