When do you realize that your family isn't like other families?

Jayne Linden grew up outside of Baltimore in a blended family: daughter of Margaret, sister to Bunny, and half-sister to two older brothers from Margaret's first marriage. Jayne's father Joseph was an important man in their community and as his wife Margaret was expected to do a great deal for the community, aware that given her more humble origins her efforts would be watched and judged by other women. Jayne was determined to get away and to lead a life vastly different from her mother's, and headed to Radcliffe for college. While she was a student there sixteen year old Bunny ran away from home, for which Jayne would feel guilty for years...had she not left home, might Bunny have never left? Jayne married Rodger, an ambitious journalist-in-the-making with a passion for social justice, and somehow ended up in a role not that different from her own mother's after all. When Bunny arrived at their doorstep with three children in tow Jayne welcomed them in, and soon thereafter Bunny left the children behind and headed off to try to heal herself. Jayne became a mother overnight, and would soon welcome two children of her own...another blended family. Bunny's eventual reappearance years later threatens to unravel the lives of Jayne, Rodger and the five children. Family secrets and traumas can travel through generations when the problems aren't addressed or even acknowledged...will the next generation have the courage to uncover what has long remained in the shadows?
Author Nicola Kraus, perhaps best known as one of the co-authors of The Nanny Diaries, has here written a poignant tale of a family that keeps repeating patterns of behavior in ways that leave lasting scars on the different members. This is not an easy, lighthearted read...it deals with themes of betrayal, abuse, divorce, addiction, race, and identity. The characters, particularly those of the women, are well-drawn...Margaret, compensating for her own perceived inadequacies and clinging fiercely to her new social status; Jayne, who wants desperately to be seen and appreciated for who she is and what she does; Linden, whose childhood becomes fodder for tabloid stories (think Mia Farrow/Woody Allen) and can never escape that image of who she is; and Sage, who is old enough to appreciate how much Jayne has done in giving her a loving and stable home yet wants her own mother more. The plot unfolds at a steady clip, with the narrative flowing from one decade to another and from one character's point of view to another's as well. It is at times bleak, often haunting, and yet is testament to the belief that even those damaged by the actions of others can find healing and peace. It is a well-crafted story that quickly pulled me in to the lives of the Linden and Donoghue families and held me in their midst until the end. Readers of Caroline Leavitt, Ann Patchett and Anne Tyler will find this an excellent addition to their reading list, as will anyone who enjoys a well-written tale of the dynamics of families, especially those that are not quite the ones depicted in the paintings of Norman Rockwell. Many thanks to NetGalley and Little A for allowing me access to a copy of this moving tale in exchange for my honest review.

2 out of 5 Stars!

When Bunny Linden abandons her three children with her older sister, Jaune, she hopes Jayne will be the mother she never was. Bunny says she will be back in a few months, but then months turn into years. Jayne and her husband, Roger, strive to give the children stability and love. This is reinforced when they welcome a child of their own. But after a decade, Bunny resurfaces and sets a chain of events in motion. As the children turn into adults, they set out to solve a family mystery. What happened to their parents, and who is to blame for the destruction of their family unit?

I was really excited about “The Best We Could Hope For” by Nicola Kraus, as the cover and synopsis really caught my attention. There were so many questions surrounding what happened, and I was really curious to know the outcomes of the children’s lives. While reading this novel, I felt like it was hard to follow and didn’t have a clear direction, which left me confused throughout.

I think this book is really made for a specific person who connects with the Linden family and their story. Personally, I did not really connect with the themes in this novel and the family dynamics at play. There were a lot of hard topics to read about, so I would recommend looking up trigger warnings if you think you would benefit from them.

I had a hard time really liking the characters. Linden and Jayne are the ones that come to mind. I think they were very hard characters to connect with, with strong personalities and the need to control situations. The other characters were odd too, and didn’t have much of a backstory, which made it hard to understand their motives. Even though this story spans over decades, I felt like I couldn’t really understand their characters and see them grow overtime.

Pick up “The Best We Could Hope For” by Nicola Kraus on May 1st, 2025!

Thank you to Little A Publishing, Nicola Kraus, and Netgalley for a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

One family enveloped in secrets, generational trauma, abandonment, grief, loss, and suffering, along with the drama and dysfunction that seems to go hand-in-hand through three generations. So much unbelievable crazy enfolds over the decades, including forbidden love that’s not limited to just one, but two generations. You can really tell that Kraus is a native New Yorker. She has so perfectly laid out the differences of residing in New York City’s upper East from West sides, and the role that plays in these individuals lives. There’s 80s-90s culture.. doc martens, remember them.. a bitter divorce with a terrible bad thing put on a child, by her mother that most likely wasn’t true, and I still feel wasn’t wrapped up with any real closure. It’s a complex story involving relationships, questioning what really happened before, and how we carry things and pass them on to the next generation. 4 stars — Pub. 5/1/25

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a hard read, but in a way that reflects real life. Characters behave in ways you'd rather they didn't, and you're only getting parts of the story. I appreciated the way Krauss depicts family, the tension between being pulled toward each other and pushing each other away.

The Best We Could Hope For by Nicola Kraus is a dark, devastating, and deeply engrossing exploration of how childhood trauma echoes through generations until someone decides to break the cycle.

In just over 230 pages, Kraus manages to cover an extraordinary span of time—from 1940s Maryland to 2010s New York—without ever feeling rushed or shallow. The structure is ambitious, with shifting timelines and points of view that offer a well-rounded, emotionally layered look at a deeply dysfunctional family. The writing, while initially jarring in its brevity and surface-level tone, ultimately reveals itself as purposeful—mirroring how much of this story is about what goes unsaid.

At the center of the novel are two sisters: Jayne, the responsible and composed one who does everything “right,” and Bunny, the free spirit who runs away and eventually abandons her three children with Jayne. What follows is a quietly devastating portrait of inherited trauma, family secrets, and the unintended consequences of even well-intentioned choices. There were moments that felt raw and real—some almost too painful to read—but that emotional weight is what gives the book its impact.

None of the characters are particularly likable, and that feels intentional. They’re complicated, hurt people doing their best (or failing to). And while I occasionally wished for more depth—especially from side characters or Bunny’s point of view—I appreciated the nuance Kraus brought to each decade, from cultural references to evolving attitudes toward mental health, parenting, and identity.

There were a few choices I didn’t love (a couple deaths felt like narrative shortcuts), and I was left wanting more from certain threads. Still, this is a compelling, well-crafted novel that tackles heavy subject matter with sensitivity and grace. The kind of book that leaves you asking big questions: about forgiveness, silence, survival, and whether doing our best is ever really enough.

It’s not for the faint of heart, but if you’re drawn to intergenerational family dramas with emotional weight, this one is worth your time.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The feelings of this one reminded me a lot of The Paper Palace. It was dark, and wide-spanning but interesting. I kept hoping for something more that was just out of grasp. If you like long spanning family dramas, this one is for you!

The Best We Could Hope For comes out next week on May 1, 2025, and you can purchase HERE!

More importantly she'd never wanted to be one of those tortured-artist types who drive everyone crazy while they nurture their art like it's an exotic plant that they keep alive under their coat. Her mother hates those people. When they were children, Jayne would come home from some museum gala, fuming as she tossed her beaded silk wrap on the couch.

"He ate the salad with his hands!" she'd vent at Lin, who was still awake, reading on the living room rug. "Like he was raised in-what's worse than a barn? I don't care how brilliant you think you are, there are rules!"

This was a sad look into how generational trauma can impact families. I wasn't expecting this one to be so dark but I appreciated it for its honesty. I can't say that I connected with every character but it felt true to itself so I respect it for that. Just overall very sad.

4.5 stars and I almost DNF because this story wrecked me! But I'm so glad I finished it because it does end up hopeful in the conclusion.
While Jayne is off at college in 1957, her 16 year-old sister, Bunny, runs away from home. Years later, she shows back up with 3 children in tow and winds up leaving them with Jayne and her husband, Rodger, a rising investigative journalist. Jayne has 2 children of her own with Rodger and they build a stable family unit for a while.
But Bunny comes back into their lives setting off a devastating chain of events for all. Years later, the children will have to sift through all this generational trauma to find the truth of their family.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Little A for this digital e-arc.*

I've read a lot of family dramas and generally appreciate reading about families really messed up. And The Best We Could Hope For definitely has a messed up family. Jayne and Bunny are sisters who haven't seen in each other in years before Bunny shows up at Jayne's with three kids. Jayne had married her college sweetheart but had been unable to conceive, when Bunny leaves her kids with her, she jumps in to motherhood. But when Bunny shows up many years later, Jayne's life starts unraveling.

The premise was good and the writing was fine but very standoff-ish. There was just very little emotion in the writing, just factual...this happened then that happened. I never felt invested in the characters, and even at the end, I just didn't really care how it ended. It felt at times that the author was trying to win a prize with the writing using phrases and words that are not in our everyday conversations.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

At the heart of this novel is family. Jayne and Barbara are sisters, and the story revolves around them. A huge arching circle around them as it's hard to draw them in close together. Barbara is the free spirit and spontaneous with her decisions where Jayne carries the world on her shoulders and is calculated about the decisions she makes.

Jayne takes in her sister's children until she can get her life sorted out. Truly, a selfless act. Finally, Barbara returns years later and sees how well adjusted they are. She sets the lives of many into chaos. The narrative takes a turn here with the children and their lives. I especially liked Lin's character. Secrets are many with trauma attached. At what point is trauma dealt with to protect following generations? There's a lot going on in this novel that spans decades.

Pick this one up for the family drama, if that's your thing. TW for sexual abuse. You won't be disappointed. Thanks to NetGalley and Little A for an early copy.

This is a very deep and dark family drama. Sometimes the best books are about dysfunctional families. Not every family is picture perfect. And, most people do not want to read about people who live in Happyland. But, this family goes above and beyond dysfunctional.

To start with, the premise is interesting, that's why I chose to read this. The plot centers around 2 sisters. The younger one takes off in her teen years and is not heard from for many years. After living a “hippie” lifestyle, she returns to her sister with a couple of children. But, it goes downhill from there. And, it gets quite disturbing.

It is the writing style that turned me off. There is no depth to it. Each chapter seems to be like an outline for the finished product to come later. Almost “point form”. And, each chapter seems to jump ahead a year or more. The characters seem to be shells, soulless.

I see that the book is endorsed by a few of my favourite authors. And, the majority of the reviews are favourable. But, this book is not for me. Not every book is for every reader.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.

This is one of those books that is difficult to say I enjoyed (I did), mostly because I was deeply emotionally disturbed by much of the story, though I finished it in two days. The title of this book should give readers a clue about the dark despair that weaves through this novel, as the characters deal with the secrets and hurts that surround their lives. The Best We Could Hope For is written with sensitivity, casting no judgment on any of the parties involved in the trauma that is passed between generations, and in fact, helped me better understand how this can happen.

I love family drama, which is abundant in this novel. The traumas inflicted upon the children of one generation and how they play out as the next is being raised makes for a fascinating trainwreck which made for entertaining though not light reading.

Thank you to Netgalley and Little A for the digital ARC of The Best We Could Hope For by Nicola Kraus. The opinions in this review are my own.

Family trauma begets family trauma.

The Best We Could Hope For by Nicola Kraus is a haunting and layered exploration of family, legacy, and emotional debris passed from generation to generation. It follows the story of two sisters, Jayne and Bunny Linden, and the children entangled in their wake.

Jayne is in college when her younger sister, Bunny, vanishes from their troubled childhood home. Years pass in near silence, until Bunny reappears unannounced, with three children in tow, each with a different father from her drifting life across the U.S. and Mexico. Recognizing that she can’t be the mother her kids need, Bunny abandons them, leaving Jayne and her husband Rodger to step in.

Jayne and Rodger built the kind of home Bunny never could, one filled with warmth, stability, and care. When they have their own daughter, Linden, life feels nearly idyllic. But just as suddenly as she left, Bunny returns a decade later, and her reappearance is the beginning of the end. What follows is a cascade of unraveling: a painful divorce, fractured relationships, and a family splintered beyond repair.

As the children grow into adulthood, the ghosts of their upbringing begin to surface in unexpected ways. What happened in their childhood? What parts were shaped by pain, and what by perception?

Kraus, best known for The Nanny Diaries, delivers something entirely different here—a dark, immersive narrative about generational trauma and the emotional sleight-of-hand families can play. While stories of inherited pain are nothing new, what sets this novel apart is its masterful pacing and its refusal to offer simple answers. The truth is always out of reach, distorted by time, memory, and denial.

The narrative leaps across time and space precisely, each moment rich with sensory and emotional detail, particularly for those familiar with New York. The opening chapter, with Lin in a Brooklyn shop, is so vivid I could swear I’ve been there, overpaying for sage to cleanse a room that held too much.

This isn’t a light, wine-and-book-club kind of read. It’s a spiderweb of hurt and history, showing how every thread connects and entangles each family member.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this poignant novel.

This book kept me reading as I got to know each person, and then as it started to unravel what was really going on, it was more intriguing.
I received an ARC from Little A through NetGalley.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

I am not sure why but this book did not work for me. However, as I always say when I don't like a book, just because I did not like the book, it doesn't mean that someone else won't like it. It also doesn't necessarily mean that I may not like another book by the same author. Or even that I may not like the book if I try it again in the future...

There’s something so complex about family sagas that always leaves me reflecting.
This moving story about secrets, strong women, and family bonds was both heartbreaking and beautiful, filled with depth and emotional richness.
It’s a powerful exploration of love, loss, and the ties that bind us, making it a truly unforgettable read.

This book reminds me of a character case study of what pre-conceived societal conformity can do to a person's life. Nicola Kraus' style in this novel is also a little reminiscent of Ann Patchett's in Tom Lake for me.

It's a book about how decisions are long lasting; in fact, spanning generations. We begin in 1943 when Jayne is a very young girl. We end in present day when Jayne's daughter, Linden, is in her early 40s.

Jayne's family seems to have it all. Her mother, Margaret, heads nearly every charitable organization in Cherry Hill. Along comes Jayne's younger sister, Barbara (aka Bunny), a beautiful little bouncing blonde who is everyone's favorite.

Fast forward to Jayne's college years where she meets nerdy, enigmatic Rodger, who will later not only become Jayne's husband, but also an up and coming author. After college, where Jayne basically attended for her Mrs. degree, she is one day unexpectantly visited by her younger sister, Bunny, who by this time has become a "free spirit," leaving home at 16 never to return. Bunny just needs to "find herself" after living in commune after commune. She asks Jayne to look after her three young children, all by different fathers, and Bunny is not seen again for years.

Jayne does what she is expected to do - she becomes the "perfect" mother not only to her sister's three small children, but also to the two that she and Rodger eventually add to the brood.

Even though the book is deep in character analysis, we have so much going on with its intricate plot - there is an affair; there is alleged abuse; we have a nasty divorce involving a trial over child custody.

I feel that the book hinges upon the premise of how expectations can be so detrimental that it can take generations to break free from them. How impressions from our childhood can have such an impact, whether it be consciously or subconsciously. Some of these inherent traits are passed from generation to generation, some good, many not so good.

Kraus' writing is indicative of paring an apple as her prose peels away layer after layer of a character's personality.

Thank you to Netgalley and Little A for this engaging ARC that will make the reader want to get to the truth. It drops May 1, 2025.

Sometimes a novel comes along that reminds me of those I read in the '60's and '70's, verging on romanticism, family sagas replete with secrets and miscues, but which only could have been written in the world of today. Utilizing picturesque metaphors and making the most of lives lived in New York City, even the difference between the upper west and east sides, Nicola Kraus has used her experience to craft such a novel that holds the reader until the final page is turned.

This book is about life. Two sisters, Barbara (Bunny) and Jayne, start the book. Jayne seems to do everything expected, grows up and marries. Bunny flies by the seat of her pants and ends up with three kids, no husband and not much of a way to take care of the children. Bunny leaves the children with Jayne and her husband Rodger. Just leaves. Don’t worry, she returns years later and completely turns the world of Jayne, Rodger and the children upside down. Days turn to months, months to years and this return is still affecting everyone. The book will follow the family until the children are grown and we see an ending to the upheavel Bunny created.

I throughly enjoyed this book. I was dying to know how it would end and only stopped to sleep and go to work. There’s a lot packed into a few pages.

This has very dark themes and trauma.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. i had actually requested the book because Kraus co-authored The Nanny Diaries. based on my interest in historical fiction in mostly decades I'm familiar with - or my mother grew up in, I chose this book.

The length appears to be under 300 pages but felt much longer to me, perhaps because it dragged until the ending. The author said it took her 8 years to write this book, I wish more editing had gone into the first 75%. Part of it is a pet peeve of mine when a good chunk of a story is a characters introspective thoughts vs. action. Without giving anything away, there should be trigger warnings for sexual abuse. it's not even who it seems based on accusations.

We get Jayne and her daughter Linden's point of views mostly although it's not obvious who is driving the story. I did like references to cultural moments in the 80s & 90s, especially those Doc Martens. Linden went through most of her young life thinking one thing because of her mother, and a really terrible thing at that, and the epilogue doesn't necessarily give needed closure as much as another punch in the gut.

I saw this book was chosen as an Amazon 1st reads, if you are reading reviews to decide what book to pick, you may want to choose something else.
2.25☆ mostly for the writing first 20% and last 15%. book widely available May 1st 2025.