This is a nuanced and deeply felt novel about the burden and gifts of familial love. It is an impassioned story of love and betrayal within a Muslim Indian American family living in Northern California. Fatima Farheen Mirza beautifully depicts the simmering tension within this family dynamic. Her writing is filled with psychological insights about the struggle between respecting one’s family and forging one’s own path.

The novel opens with a wedding. Layla and Rafiq’s oldest daughter, Hadia, is marrying a man she loves rather than allowing her parents to select her husband. They have come to peace with her decision but feel trepidation about their prodigal son Amar. After three years of not speaking to his family, Amar has consented to attend Hadia’s wedding.

Layla and Rafiq poured their love, time and resources into their children. They are devout Muslims passionate that their three children should respect and follow their religious life. But their American born children have broader perspectives on what they want. The two sisters were able to work around their parents with finesse, but Amar was brash, bright, and persistently questioned his parents’ authority and the edicts of Islam.

The novel is filled with flashbacks to when the three siblings were young. Amar’s return provokes the five family members to reflect on the large and small events that caused his dramatic departure. His three-year absence has caused pain and shame within their family and within their community. Layla and Rafiq recall their interactions with Amar and realize that their religious rigidity shaped his belligerent behavior and the problems that ensued. Though real love and good intentions existed, Layla and Rafiq’s limitations and betrayals tore the family apart.

Though the novel’s beginning was confusing due to the shifting narration, Mirza’s dissection of this family’s dynamic is impressive. With depth and understanding she seeks to answer the question: Why did these characters behave the way they did individually and within their family? She was only 27 years old when this novel was published. A Place for Us is a notable achievement, 4/5.

Terah Shelton Harris’ novel about racial injustice and family dynamics is absorbing. Long After We Are Gone explores the complexity of family bonds and the agility required to meet family expectations without losing oneself.

When King Solomon passes, his four adult siblings gather to bury him and settle his estate. His death forces the siblings to confront their own demons and the injustice of discrimination and bigotry. Set in present-day North Carolina, the four Solomon siblings seek to honor their father’s last words: “Don’t let the white man take the house.” The house to which he refers was built by Solomon in 1782. But with Solomon’s passing, development companies want to buy the house and the two hundred acres of land using a legal loophole called “heir property.” Because Black families didn’t trust the white court system, many families didn’t write wills. So, “heir property” is the mechanism by which descendants inherit an interest in the land, but their ownership does not constitute a clear title. If one “heir property” owner is willing to sell, the entire property becomes vulnerable to purchase. Their father’s brother wants to sell.

After receiving an eviction notice, the four Solomon siblings, Junior, Mance, Cecily, and Tokey, must wrestle with their need for money and loyalty to their father’s dying wish. The siblings can’t unite and plan until they are truthful with one another. The secrets and lies they have told themselves and each other emerge. After years of superficiality and silence, King’s children communicate honestly and begin to fight for their ancestral home.

The emotional baggage they each carry is heavy and unique. In addition, the siblings are haunted by their mother’s absence, whose name their father never uttered. But after King’s death, they learn about her life and become more open to speaking their truths. Hovering over this crisis is the trauma and injustice their ancestors experienced living on this land during slavery, Civil War and the cruel Jim Crow laws.

Some stereotypes and caricatures distract from the narrative. And yet, Long After We Are Gone is a story about balancing familial expectations with the need to be true to oneself. The surprising ending might be too simple and fast. Nonetheless Terah Shelton Harris’ novel is a compelling story of reconciliation and redemption. 4/5

After reading many books about the Nazi occupation of Paris during WWII, I turned to Catherine Newman’s humorous new book Sandwich for a change of pace. It is a fun summer story about a family’s annual weeklong summer vacation in a rental house on Cape Cod. This story will resonate with those fortunate enough to rent the same vacation house year after year.

Rachel (aka Rocky) and her husband Nick, and their two kids, Willa and Jamie, have rented a house in Sandwich, Massachusetts, for two decades. Willa and Jamie are now in their early twenties and no longer live at home with their parents. This year, Jamie’s girlfriend Maya joins the family. When they all arrive on Saturday and look around the house, Willa says, “It is weird that I’m kind of offended when they replace stuff? Like they didn’t even consult us.” Anecdotes like this one are scattered throughout the story.

Rocky, the narrator, is sentimental about the passing of time and emotional about her growing kids. She anticipates this week with exuberant joy as she reflects on the family moments and milestones of summers past. While grappling with her declining middle-aged body and mind, Rocky is literally sandwiched between her almost grown-up kids and her aging parents. On Wednesday, when Rocky’s parents arrive at the beach, Rocky says, “They are so adorable, these white-haired people—that I cry a little when I see them.”

Neurotic and emotional, Rocky is laugh-out-loud funny as she talks about melancholy, marriage, and menopause. Her husband Nick is a loyal partner and foil. And over the week, long held secrets wash onto the family’s shore.

The story does not provide insight into how Rocky became who she became. So, when the second half shifts to pregnancy, abortion, and the Holocaust, the dialogue feels a bit disjointed and incomplete. Despite that, the book deftly touches on the passing of time, aging parents, adult children, and the evolution of family relationships. There are moving moments and hysterical reflections. Sandwich is a great summer read. 4/5