'FAMILY DRAMA'.......THE TURBULENT PAST AND PRESENT LIVES OF A SUPERSTAR AND HER FAMILY.......

  Family Drama by Rebecca Fallon (release date 02/03/26)

     Here's one to look out for at your favorite bookstore..... of which we can give you an honest review thanks to an advance copy provided to SQ by NetGalley and Simon & Schuster

     I stand in awe of any book than can so fully immerse you in its ambitious, sweeping storyline and fascinating characters, that you lose yourself in the escalating drama and heartbreak of it..........especially when its shifting timelines move you between past, present and succeeding generations.

     For me, "Family Drama" checked all the boxes for that kind of reading experience.

     It's a family saga that begins with the romantic union of two people who make the most unlikely of couples - struggling young Boston actress Susan and college professor Alcott. Susan has bigger dreams than re-enactments of the Salem witch trials, and hits that impossible stroke of luck every actor dreams of - a starring role in TV's most popular, most watched soap opera. Hollywood glamor and stardom beckon her while Alcott only wants to remain in Boston to pursue his academic publishing career and the tenure that goes with it.

     And herein lies the lifelong strife in Susan and Alcott's relationship as through the years they attempt a bicoastal .marriage. Susan's growing superstardom and celebrity lead to endless cross country plane flights as she takes on the mounting pressures of trying to achieve a have-it-all life with Alcott. A life that includes family, career.....and then motherhood. The birth of their twins Sebastian and Viola eventually forces Susan into a pivotal decision about her dual lives.......until a cruel twist of fate takes her choice away from her.

     With Susan dying young while her children were still toddlers, Sebastian and Viola have grown up trying to piece together memories of their legendary mother.. It's a quest Alcott chose not to encourage, leaving him deeply estranged from Sebastian. But Susan, as a college student in London, has taken her own path to build a memory of her mother. She's met and fallen for, of all people Susan's co-star (and rumored lover) Orson, who's aged into a worldwide famous A-List movie star..

     The book truly lives up to its title as a family drama that far eclipses any turns of plot to be found in Susan's TV famous TV show. And author Rebecca Fallon spins her decades long tale with prose that incisively goes right to the heart of her characters. While I'm by no means a regular reader of literary fiction, this book completely captivated me from start to finish........and I recommend it to everyone.

     5 stars (*****).