FAMILY DRAMA by Rebecca Fallon

5 stars

This novel still has me seething about the shut-down, denialism of a husband and father who refuses to celebrate or facilitate his wife’s soaring soap opera stardom. Starting in the 1980’s between Salem, Massachusetts and Hollywood, Susan Byrne wants desperately to have a Hollywood career along with a stable family life. She falls for Alcott (Al) Bliss, a classic, tenure-track Harvard professor who’s smitten with her but also determined to hold onto his classic New England conservative lifestyle. He moves them from Boston, where commuting to California would be so much easier for Susan, to rural Salem near his judgy Brahmin mother. When Susan lands a role in a long-running soap opera, she finds she must bifurcate her life between stodgy Salem and party-hearty Hollywood, with an exhausting weekly commute between the two.

Add unexpected twins into the mix, and Al hopes Susan will just settle down into being a full-time traditional housewife and mother. He’s not willing to consider moving out to California with her, as any other academic institution would be beneath him. And when Susan wants to jump start her TV acting career again, he could not be more put upon. The twins, Sebastian (Seb) and Viola (Lola) adore their mom but are too young to understand her absences. When Susan gets breast cancer and moves home to be cared for, Al secretly relishes her giving up her career. And when Susan dies, Al burns all the tapes of her TV shows and speaks not a word to the kids about their Mom’s TV life.

All this simmers and boils to a head, creating much family drama as Seb and Lola age and try to reconcile their grief. Their lives intersect with their Moms’ loving sister, who Al had banished from their lives after Susan’s death as well as Susan’s close acting friend Orson.

The writing’s smart, the characterizations deep and radiant, and the wrestling with memory and grief profound. And I’m still reverberating with resentment at Al’s behavior to both Susan and his children.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.