From critically acclaimed New York Times best-selling author Jami Attenberg comes a novel of family secrets: think the drama of Big Little Lies set in the heat of a New Orleans summer. “If I know why they are the way they are, then maybe I can learn why I am the way I am,” says Alex Tuchman of her parents. Now that her father, Victor, is on his deathbed, Alex—a strong-headed lawyer, devoted … strong-headed lawyer, devoted mother, and loving sister—feels she can finally unearth the secrets of who Victor is and what he did over the course of his life and career. (A power-hungry real estate developer, he is, by all accounts, a bad man.) She travels to New Orleans to be with her family, but mostly to interrogate her tight-lipped mother, Barbra.
As Barbra fends off Alex’s unrelenting questions, she reflects on her tumultuous life with Victor. Meanwhile Gary, Alex’s brother, is incommunicado, trying to get his movie career off the ground in Los Angeles. And Gary’s wife, Twyla, is having a nervous breakdown, buying up all the lipstick in drugstores around New Orleans and bursting into crying fits. Dysfunction is at its peak. As family members grapple with Victor’s history, they must figure out a way to move forward—with one another, for themselves, and for the sake of their children.
All This Could Be Yours is a timely, piercing exploration of what it means to be caught in the web of a toxic man who abused his power; it shows how those webs can entangle a family for generations, and what it takes to—maybe, hopefully—break free. With her signature “sparkling prose” (Marie Claire) and incisive wit, Jami Attenberg deftly explores one of the most important subjects of our age.
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Jami Attenberg’s work is so deeply attuned to humans and our imperfect attempts to love each other. All This Could Be Yours is populated by Attenberg’s pitch-perfect characters; flawed, recognizable people dealing with big topics u2060— death, family, sex, love u2060— and Attenberg handles it all with an expert touch and a keen sense of what, despite all the sadness and secrets, keeps people connected, striving for moments of beauty and tenderness in a dark world.
No one understands the contradictions of the human heart and how our grace and our failures reverberate through our families better than Jami Attenberg. And no one writes about our grace and failures with humor and compassion better than her either. Also — this book’s structure is brilliant.
Fascinating and deeply-flawed characters; and I loved the different points of view. “Dysfunctional family” hardly begins to cover it. This was a thoroughly intriguing read.
Absorbing and dramatic–puts the fun in dysfunction!
A tale of a dysfunctional family that I gobbled up. In Attenberg’s latest novel we witness the fall out of a terrible father and an equally terrible, albeit not criminal, mother. What ensues is a weird kind of pseudo vigil while waiting for a bad man to die. The situations the characters found themselves in were unique, disastrous, and masterfully portrayed. Post-Katrina New Orleans is a wonderful setting in which to explore how we survive terrible parents and circumstances.
Set against the vivid backdrop of New Orleans, Jami Attenberg’s extraordinary new novel All This Could Be Yours is a deep dive into fractured family dynamics. In alternating voices, Attenberg expertly weaves together a chorus of love, betrayal and inheritance, each chapter a prism turned, revealing a new spectrum of secrets. Interspersed are gorgeous excavations into fleeting moments with strangers — the checkout clerks and ferry conductors passing through our lives — connecting this singular family into the larger web of life, where everyone is worthy of understanding and no one is without a soul.
Family dysfunction galore! This is an expertly woven story of the lives affected by an abhorrent man. His toxicity effects not only his family, but everyone who encounters them as well. The full circle narrative features a lot of ‘aha, I see what you did there’ moments as the character’s stories interrelate to create an unputdownable read.
An ambitious and utterly delectable novel about families and their secrets that opens up, pleasurably, like a set of nesting dolls.
Jami Attenberg writes with an unflinching and generous spirit that brings to mind Grace Paley. All This Could Be Yours traces the lasting turmoil of a flawed marriage, and is another marvel of intelligence, humor, and soul.
Attenberg crafts families with stunning nuance and depth. She pays tribute to unseen New Orleans with a gaze on the powerful and the downtrodden. Her characters are unforgettable, their predicaments are captivating and their journeys shed light on the inner workings of America.
I saw Elin Hilderbrand gushing about this book on her social media and knew I had to give it a try. I’m also from New Orleans so the books location was also appealing. All This Could Be Yours is phenomenal! Family secrets are discovered and lots of drama ensues within the plot. This book is filled with big reveals and lots of flashbacks from multiple character’s points of view. You won’t want to put this one down!