ALL THAT SHE BRINGS | Kirkus Reviews

When a household convenes at their Cape Cod summer time dwelling for a marriage, previous secrets and techniques threaten to spoil every little thing.

Sarah Danhauser is shocked when her beloved stepdaughter pronounces her engagement to her boyfriend, Gabe. In any case, Ruby’s solely 22, and Sarah suspects that their relationship was fast-tracked due to the time they spent collectively in quarantine through the early days of the pandemic. Sarah’s mom, Veronica, is thrilled, largely as a result of she longs to have your complete household collectively for one final celebration earlier than she places their Cape Cod summer time home in the marketplace. However attending to Ruby and Gabe’s marriage ceremony would possibly show harder than anybody thought. Sarah can’t determine why her husband, Eli, has been so distant and distracted ever since Ruby moved dwelling to Park Slope (bringing Gabe together with her), and he or she’s afraid he could also be having an affair. Veronica is afraid {that a} long-ago dalliance would possibly come again to chunk her. Ruby isn’t positive the best way to course of the conflicting emotions she’s having about her upcoming nuptials. And Sam, Sarah’s twin brother, is a latest widower who’s coping with some fairly huge romantic confusion. As your complete prolonged household, together with Gabe’s family members, converges on the summer time home, secrets and techniques change into unattainable to maintain, and it rapidly turns into clear that this won’t be the proper gathering Veronica was envisioning. In the event that they make it to the marriage, will their household survive the aftermath? Weiner creates a narrative with all of the misunderstandings and miscommunications of a screwball comedy or a Shakespeare play (suppose A Midsummer Night time’s Dream). However the stunning, over-the-top actions of the characters are grounded by a practical and transferring take a look at grief and ambition (significantly for Sarah and Veronica, each of whom quit demanding inventive careers early on). At occasions the flashbacks can decelerate the story, however even when the characters are mendacity, dishonest, and hiding from one another, they nonetheless look like an actual and loving household.

An alternately farcical and poignant take a look at household bonds.