Thanks to Netgalley and Ecco for the ebook. Rudy Cohen, a Holocaust survivor, is now living in America, married, with two daughters. With Rudy’s early death, the remaining members of the family scatter to make their own lives. His wife works as a home health aid, eventually landing in Miami. One daughter marries a business man who she never really trusts and the other, always a scholastic standout, enters the world of cellphones in their early days. We see short chapters that jump along for forty years as the woman argue with each other and live their separate lives, only to find themselves back together once again.

Oh, what a woman’s novel. Freida, Nancy and Shelly, a mother and her daughters, loving? Not loving ? Rivals? A family? Yes! The book follows these women staring with their difficult life, dealing with a father who was a Holocaust survivor and a secreted gay man. A mother who is unthinkingly cruel as she drinks in her own self-destructive way. Phew, that’s a lot to begin with.

Attenberg takes us through their lives, marriages and liaisons. Shelly, brilliant, becomes a pioneer in computer technology. Nancy and her unconventional marriage. Jessica, Nancy’s daughter who has struck out on her own path. Frieda who winds up in a stable relationship in Florida. The book is so well written that the reader is engaged in all their lives. As readers, we have enough information to visualize each character.

I really enjoyed this book. I cared about all the characters. I would certainly recommend this to reading groups, especially women’s groups. So much material ready for discussion.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this rich and thoughtful novel about a family of women.

I was SO excited to receive this book, because Jami Attenberg’s All Grown Up is a favorite of mine - and this book did not disappoint. The story is told in vignettes, primarily from the point of view of three generations of smart, complex, compelling, and complicated women. The main theme running through the book, in my opinion, is the complicated relationships they have with one another. (There are also a few chapters, which I enjoyed, that are from the point of view of other characters.)

Normally when I really enjoy a book, it’s partially because I see myself in the characters. Strangely, I didn’t really see myself in any of these characters, but I still very much enjoyed my time with them. This book was a study in the human experience. Who doesn’t relate to feeling a little bit lost, a little bit lonely?

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a strong character-driven story. I found it engaging and moving, and it made me think and the relationships I have with the people in my life.

Now, on to the rest of Jami Attenberg’s backlist!

A Reason to See You Again begins shortly before the death of Rudy Cohen, a Holocaust surviver, husband to Frieda and father to daughters Nancy and Shelly. It is a dark story, full of unfulfilled dreams, disappointments and bitterness. Rudy was gay and suppressed his desires for most of his life. Frieda, tragic because she sensed she wasn’t loved, is an unlikeable woman, an alcoholic who heaped verbal and emotional abuse on her daughters. Nancy marries young to a husband who is a serial cheater. Shelly, intelligent and creative, becomes a workaholic at a startup technology company in Seattle. The unhappiness continues for the next forty years.

The only beauty in this sad story is author Jami Attenberg’s prose. It pulls you in like a riptide and submerges you in the Cohen family’s sorrow. A Reason to See You Again is depressing and makes you hope it is not at all autobiographical. But that writing and those descriptions…4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ecco and Jamie Attenberg for this ARC.

Another wonderful novel by Jamie Attenberg from the opening scene of game night with the family I knew I was going to be drawn in by this dysfunctional family. So well written a story that unfolds with characters that will surprise you and keep you turning the pages.#netgalley #eccobooks

I love Jamie Attenberg but--this book starts with a fairly normal Jewish family that gets weirder and more difficult to understand over the next 40 years.
The father, a Holocaust survivor is actually gay, the mother is a drunk, and the bright and beautiful daughters are rarely satisfied with their lives.
Nancy, Shelly and granddaughter Jess have varied but generally unsatisfactory relationships.
The book is very well written saga of a dysfunctional family.

I am also a middle-aged woman from a dysfunctional Jewish family and I can fully confirm the accuracy of this book.
L’Chaim!