This is that rare bird: a literary page-turner. In this wonderfully written, multi-layered, fast-moving novel, Sweeney tells the story of the dysfunctional Plumb family. When the eldest blows their collective inheritance (by crashing someone else's Porsche, while drunk and high, direly injuring the 19-year-old waitress who was not his wife), the four Plumb siblings are forced to actually communicate for the first time in ages. They're also forced to grow up, and watching that painful process unfold on the page is highly entertaining (and a little cringe-worthy). I loved this for its depth, complexity, and supremely satisfying ending, but if you need characters you can root for, this isn't the book for you. Strongly reminiscent of Rules of Civility. For what it's worth, Amy Poehler and Ellie Kemper loved it. Heads up for language and racy content: I'd like to give this novel an 8-line edit.

A wistful novel about memory and the stories we tell ourselves, set in the world of the theater. When Flora finds her husband’s old wedding ring in the bottom of a file cabinet—the ring her husband told her he’d lost at the bottom of a lake—she knows something is horribly wrong. On the eve of her daughter’s high school graduation, Flora questions everything she thought she knew about her past. Interspersed with vivid flashbacks and reflective moments, Sweeney’s sophomore novel isn’t quite as plot-driven as her first, but I inhaled it. I love a reflective family drama, and this one set in the world of theater hooked me from the opening scene. Marin Ireland is now one of my go-to narrators; her voice struck just the right contemplative tone.

I'm happy to share this is our April 2026 MMD Book Club selection and author Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney will be joining us for a chat! This domestic novel unfolds in three parts: in 1977, two families who live across the street from each other in Rochester, New York dissemble and reassemble practically overnight. Neighbors Nina and Finn, unhappy in their respective marriages, divorce their spouses and remarry each other, leaving their teenage kids aghast and angry. Flash forward to 1994, when the now-grown children continue to struggle with the long-lasting aftershocks of that betrayal. And in 1998, the family comes together to confront a crisis and finally attempt to heal old wounds. I loved this for its perceptive family dynamics, realistic portrayal of what it looks like to turn your life upside down, and culinary details galore, including one chapter told entirely as a 1990s Food TV episode transcript. Recommended for fans of Anne Tyler and Sweeney's Good Company.