This Is Not About Us

About this item

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