"This Is Not About Us" | Reviewed by Chris Stuckenschneider

Author Allegra Goodman won abundant fans with her historical fiction novel, “Isola,” lauded by many when it was published last year. Goodman succeeds again, her talent for storytelling on display in “This Is Not About Us,” a new novel on many must-read-lists for 2026.

The narrative opens with three Jewish sisters—Helen, 80, Sylvia, 78, and their sister Jeanne, 74, who’s in hospice. As they stand watch over their dying sister, Helen and Sylvia have conflicting emotions. They remember the sweet past, and caring for their little sister, a bright light in their lives. At the same time, they give thanks they’re in good health and not at death’s door.

Though one might imagine Jeanne, a dying “husk” of a woman, as kind and gentle, that doesn’t describe her in the least. Jeanne’s occasionally humorous thoughts and rude words paint a picture of a woman far from milk-toast meek. Imminent death isn’t softening the curves of Jeanne’s sharp edges. She professes to be an atheist and chastises her son for pacing about the room. Why so many in her extended family feel it necessary to visit is irritating to Jeanne. At first it was okay, but now she really just wants to be left alone.

Jeanne is opinionated and outspoken with her two sons and their wives, and with her sisters’ families. She knows what she wants in terms of her “death” wishes, no funeral, no burial, which is against Jewish tradition and expectations Helen has of more traditional plans. Still Jeanne hangs on to life, the family wondering how she continues to draw breath. She rallies and then rallies again—stress mounting between Helen and Sylvia who disagree about honoring Jeanne’s death wishes, and compete to please her and the rest of the family with homemade treats.

Sylvia had always been the better baker, but when she stoops to baking an apple cake, using a recipe Helen gave her 20 years ago, enticing all with its flavor and crumb, it’s the last straw. A longstanding feud starts, the two not speaking when Jeanne’s ashes are scattered into the ocean, or for years afterward.

Ensuing chapters focus on family members of the three sisters, a compilation of detailed narratives. Each person, young and old, has a story to tell, offering readers the opportunity to get to know the unique individuals that make up the whole of this family. The characters make bad decisions, grow in maturity, and are painfully realistic as they deal with the stresses of day-to-day-life, and one another. At the end of the book, the characters readers have come to know reunite at a family celebration.

It’s the authenticity of “This is Not About Us” that makes this novel shine. Goodman writes honestly about how little things gone awry often separate blood relatives for decades, and about how familial love, tolerance and acceptance can override difficult situations, harsh words, and misunderstandings that often arise, often for the silliest of reasons. Readers may see themselves in this identifiable novel, and feel a bit squirmy with the recognition. Still, it’s worth feeling a bit uncomfortable because there’s much to learn from this brilliant, and at times humorous, must-read.

Buy the book.