Family Family by Laurie Frankel

A Five-Star Book Review

Family Family was an exceptionally poignant read for me. While I don’t have experience with adoption, my husband and I chose to blend our families more than a decade ago. We added step- to our titles alongside mom and dad. Navigating my role as stepmom alongside bio-mom wasn’t easy at first, and I’m not going to lie that there aren’t challenges still. Yet, 10 years later, I consider myself mom to all three, no hyphenate, even though I’m not blood-related to two of my kids. What matters is love, and that’s what I took away from Family Family.

Summary of Family Family (No Spoilers)

India Allwood is a Hollywood megastar. From high school to university stage to Broadway and now TV and film, India’s career was shaped not just by talent, hard work, and stacks of index cards, but also by her decisions as a pregnant teenager to place her baby in a closed adoption. Now, 16 years later, with many choices made in between, India does what no one in Hollywood wants her to do: She gives her real opinion about her recent movie, telling the world that, unlike her character’s experience, adoption can be a positive experience. A paparazzi maelstrom ensues, drawing in India’s adopted twins and many others from her past.

Family Family is about what happens before, during, and after choices are made, and how families aren’t just about blood, but about who we choose.

What I Enjoyed About Family Family

I read Family Family slowly, but that gave me time to savor the best parts of the book. Here’s what I loved the most.

• The timing and points of view: Ms. Frankel tells this story in present day and with flashbacks, giving us India’s point of view as well as that of several other characters. This helps to tell the whole story of how adoption impacted everyone and why that choice was the best for all involved.
• The characters: As the main female lead, India is a force in Family Family. I loved her determination and how she made decisions. But I loved other characters as well. India’s adopted daughter, Fig, was my favorite, as she wasn’t just a precocious pre-adolescent; Ms. Frankel formed this character from trauma and love and a viewpoint of a well-meaning child who loves her mother.
• The writing: As the title suggests, Family Family means different things to different people based on emphasis and inflection. The writing reflects this throughout. India, Fig, and other characters speak and think like this as well, repeating and turning phrases to mean something entirely different based on what words they’re emphasizing. I had to slow down to focus on this writing style, but I enjoyed it in the end because it reinforced the book’s themes about choices, the sliding-door phenomenon, and complex family relationships.

My Final Thoughts About Family Family

I loved this book for all the reasons I’ve shared above, but it was such a timely read as well. American women’s choices are being stripped away with the aftermath of the 2022 Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe V Wade. Girls, women, and their partners are faced with a completely different set of challenges than India because politics are involved. While she chose adoption over abortion, that choice was hers, and Family Family explains why it was the right one for her. In reality, that choice is now threatened. I haven’t had that experience before, but I think this book handled the nuances of unexpected/unwanted pregnancy carefully and with grace.