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This is Not About Us

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Pub Date 5 Nov 2026 | Archive Date Not set


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Description

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 and ballet recitals – their children do not want to get involved. As for their grandchildren? Impossible.


Sharply observed and laced with humour, 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...


Advance Praise

‘I loved this novel and its superbly drawn characters. Allegra Goodman is a writer of tremendous insight and wit’ - Kate Atkinson


'I've been an Allegra Goodman fan for years' - Lily King


'Appealing, generous and wise' - Tessa Hadley


‘Goodman is brilliant at capturing the clutter of both interior and exterior life’ - Los Angeles Times


'A nimble, heartfelt, acutely written collection that forms one wonderfully cohesive unit. As Goodman unpacks the little squabbles and triumphs of the Rubinsteins, an expansive Jewish clan in the Northeast, something big emerges. It’s a wise, witty exploration of a contemporary American family, and a deliciously readable book’ – New York Times Book Review


'When I finished This Is Not About Us – I kid you not – I read it a second time … [Goodman] holds fast to the gifts that have marked her since her earliest books: psychological acuity, humour and an abiding curiosity about the volatile chemistry of people bound together by affinity, profession or blood’ – Maureen Corrigan, NPR


'Goodman, always talented, is now a virtuoso, limber and graceful. She handles her sprawling cast with a sure, light touch, and her bantering dialogue is never trivial or canned ... a welcome addition to any shelf of Goodman’s work’ – The Washington Post


‘Goodman finds the right measure of sugar in this novel-in-stories depicting three generations of Rubinsteins, an East Coast Jewish-American clan tenuously bound by love, ritual and guilt trips … Goodman’s mature and deftly written book suggests that, in family as in art, there is no such thing as uncomplicated happiness’ – The Wall Street Journal


‘Allegra Goodman has written many wonderful novels, but her eleventh, This Is Not About Us, is her crowning glory’ – The Boston Globe


‘In this vibrant collection of linked stories … Allegra Goodman dissects the foibles and fantasies of her cast, from the three founding sisters to their offspring and offspring’s offspring’ – Time Most Anticipated Books of 2026


'Allegra Goodman's utterly charming new book is carving out new territory in the genre of linked short stories ... A volume that builds and surprises on many fronts, the cacophony of love and discontent reifying into filigreed depictions of the familial ties that bind’ – Vogue Best Books of 2026 Preview


‘A compelling, love-laced portrait of several generations of a family much like yours, mine and just about everyone's’ – People Magazine

‘I loved this novel and its superbly drawn characters. Allegra Goodman is a writer of tremendous insight and wit’ - Kate Atkinson


'I've been an Allegra Goodman fan for years' - Lily King


'Appealing...


Available Editions

EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9781800757325
PRICE £16.99 (GBP)
PAGES 304

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Average rating from 12 members


Featured Reviews

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This Is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman is such a good read I was sorry to have finished it. The characters are so well-drawn that you become totally invested in all the different family members and their interactions and dynamics.

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This Is Not About Us is a calm and thoughtful coming of age novel that follows Jess as she navigates ambition, desire and the uncertainty of early adulthood. Allegra Goodman writes with a precise and empathetic voice, creating a story that feels intimate and quietly intense. The atmosphere of the Eighties adds warmth and texture, and the focus on emotional growth gives the book a steady and engaging rhythm.

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a story full of stories across a family and all the messy things that come in between. Allegra captures the every day and somehow makes a beautiful story out of it. and of course between families and people you love the every day and all the other bits that comes with it becomes powerful. in this story a family goes through it and it feels almost cruel to watch them do so. because this is a story of three sisters, who then become two when one of them dies. and somehow the little becomes big and the feud becomes what will push them apart. and isn't it always the way with families, with the most powerful kinds of love. that grudges and pains somehow seems closer, worse, and in these cases more hurtful.
in the different chapters we get another perspective. and isn't it always the way where you can go through something in the same time as others and of course we all feel and experience different just by being different humans.
.what makes this book for me is in all the moments captured. the quiet and the moving parts. it makes it so powerful that all human relationships is going on here and Allegra just nails bringing them to life. so i felt what they were going through. and you feel really familiar with parts that you can see comes through and for all families.
the title comes to mean a lot when you see where and who the next part of the books get given. this is not about us made me chuckle and hurt for them. the things we carry through, which side of the family are you on. and do we even know how this started? i found myself so moved by this book but also reflecting a lot more than i thought i would.

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I enjoyed this slice of life book so quickly. Will definitely read more from this author in the future. Character driven story.

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