Familial dysfunction writ large, a sad tale of stifled lives, opportunities grabbed that foreclose other ones, or that are lost, misshapen love, marriages that go awry, and heartbreak. There is a slight comedic tone, or that’s how I read it, which keeps the novel from being too weighted down by all the miseries. The Cohen women are the main draw - matriarch Frieda whose saving grace is the love she had for her husband, Rudy, a gentle Holocaust survivor, whose kindness and calm belied his experiences and the truths about himself. Their daughters: Shelly, with her brains, Nancy with her looks. The death of Rudy spins them away from one another, and yet. Covering decades and moving among the characters, their complicated relationships with one another continue to affect them, no matter the lives they make or mess up.

Thanks to Ecco and Netgalley for the arc.

A deeply moving portrait of a family of women--utterly addictive and full of complexity, contradiction, beauty, revelation.

“A Reason to See You Again” is the delightful new novel by Jami Attenberg.

One of my favorite topics to read (which says a lot about me) is about family dysfunction and this book is an example of how to an author brilliant can create a memorable family, warts and all. Here, we meet the Cohens, and in particular, the Cohen women. The reader is fortunate to spend upwards of four decades with matriarch, Frieda, and her two daughters, Nancy and Shelly. Throughout that time, they face adversity, including alcoholism and broken marriages. Your family may almost kill you, but they also love you, and this book is a great example of that.

Four and a half out of five stars.

Thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for a chance to read and review this memorable book.

“A Reason to See You Again” by Jami Attenberg was a very thought provoking book. It is the story of three generations of very strong women who grew up in a difficult and dysfunctional family. The father is a Holocaust survivor and a closeted gay man. The mother angry and an alcoholic. It is a story of mothers and daughters and the ability to achieve success despite incredible adversity. I am still thinking about this book as it has caused me to think about many people in my life who grew up in less than perfect households but have gone on to become successful and loving adults. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Ecco for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ecco for providing me with this ARC.

I love Jami Attenberg’s complicated families and the Cohens are definitely complicated. Love that this mostly centered women, and likes how the story. Over forward through time. A couple of times we spent more time than I wanted to with characters I viewed to be tangential. And there’s a sadness to the story—not a critique, just a vibe. Maybe save for a rainy, melancholy moment.

I really like Jami Attenberg, she's a good storyteller. I've enjoyed some of her previous novels like "Saint Mazie" and "All Grown Up". Even though I enjoyed her upcoming release, "A Reason to See You Again" - it wasn't my favorite of her works. I am naturally drawn to family dynamics and dysfunctional relationships. This book has all of that and more, but something was missing, and I can't put my finger on what it could be. I'm not sure if I enjoyed the change in narrative throughout the novel. One minute, we are in Nancy's head, and the next we are in Shelley's within the next paragraph. It made for a confusing read all narrative jumps and time shifts. This novel spans 40 years in the life of the Cohen family, and it's interesting but I was slightly distracted. There's so much going on and so incredibly fast, it was all a little too much. I will say the writing is good and I will definitely read more from this author in the future. It's a mixed bag. The cover art is absolutely precious.

Thank you, Netgalley and Ecco for the digital ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Kindle ARC. I've read several of Jami Attenberg's books and continue to enjoy them. A Reason to See You Again is about a Jewish mother and two daughters - how they float in and out of each other's lives and the men that come and go while the women figure out their own issues. Broken marriages, mother/daughter tension, a reckoning all in the story. A narrative that is relatable to anyone who comes from a dysfunctional family - and I would imagine that is a lot of us.

Complex family relationships - check! Great storytelling - check! Give this one a go. I was invested in the outcome immediately. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Jami Attenberg has become one of my comfort authors; if I'm having trouble being disciplined in my reading--mind wandering, etc., I know I can pick up one of her books and become instantly immersed. Her novels aren't plot-heavy. She creates fully fleshed-out, realistic characters and lets them loose in the world she's created. There are no heroes or villains--just people.

Though the story mainly focuses on a mother and her two daughters, Attenberg alternates whose point of view the story is told from. She does this so deftly that you're never really left wondering what another character is doing. Either you can figure it out by the information given, or it's easily understood based on what we've come to know about each of them. She trusts her readers to complete the missing pieces, and we do.

Another winner from Attenberg.

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!