Family Family by Laurie Frankel

Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Length: 400 pages
Audiobook Length: 12 hours and 30 minutes
First Published: 2024

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Rachael’s Review

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Henry Holt & Co. through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

While promoting her latest movie, actress India Allwood sparks a media firestorm when she complains that the project only shows the tragic side of adoption. India knows the blessings adoption can bring as both an adoptive mom and as a teenage mom who placed a child for adoption. Now that child is sixteen, excited to meet her birth mother and willing to help – only to make the media firestorm worse. Family Family takes on adoption in a nuanced way, reminding us that, no matter how it was formed, every family is complicated.

The world likes to make issues black and white when reality is much more shaded. Which is why I quite enjoyed Frankel’s nuanced look at adoption. Frankel tackles the stereotypes of adoption head-on, neither glorifying it or vilifying it, reminding us that because something is often the case doesn’t mean it’s always the case. India Allwood’s backstory provided an interesting an unique perspective and the entire story had a heartwarming tone that made it a quick read.

Publisher’s Description

Not all adoption stories are filled with pain and regret. A propulsive, sharply funny and strikingly tender novel.

India Allwood grew up wanting to be an actress. Armed with a stack of index cards (which, torn into pieces, also function as make-shift confetti) and a hell of a lot of talent, she goes from awkward 16-year-old to Broadway ingenue to tv star.

But while promoting her most recent project, a film about adoption, India does what you should never do ― she tells a journalist the truth: it’s a bad movie. Like so many movies about adoption, it tells only one story, a tragic one. But India’s an adoptive mom herself and knows there’s so much more to her family than tragedy. Soon she’s at the center of a media storm, battling accusations from the press and the paparazzi, from protesters on the right and advocates on the left. Her daughter Fig knows they need help – and who better to call for help than family?

Because India’s not just an adoptive mom. She also had a baby she gave up for adoption her senior year of high school. That baby is now sixteen, excited to meet her birth mother and eager to help, but she also has an agenda and secrets of her own. It turns out what makes a family isn’t blood and it isn’t love because no matter how they’re formed, the hallmark of true family is this: it’s complicated.