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Family Drama
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A vibrant debut and powerful meditation on family, motherhood, and the cost of holding on to your dreams, reminiscent of Ann Napolitano.
It’s 1997, and snow is blanketing a New England beach. Two befuddled seven-year-olds watch as their mother’s body is tipped overboard a crumbling boat. A Viking funeral, followed by a raucous wake. A send-off fit for soap opera star Susan Bliss.
Fifteen years earlier, Susan is a blazing, beautiful young woman, passionate about her art. It’s impossible not to fall in love with her, and so Alcott, a practical professor, does—hopelessly. And so begins the love story of Susan’s two-paneled life, an unconventional, jetlag-filled arrangement that takes her back and forth between her home in New England as a wife and mother to young twins, and the bright lights of soapy Los Angeles.
In the present, Susan’s twins grow up in the shadow of her all-consuming absence. Sebastian, a sensitive artist, cleaves to her memory, fascinated with the artifacts of her starry past. Viola, resentful of her mother’s torn allegiances, distances herself from the memories of her. But when Viola runs into her mother’s old costar Orson Grey—now a renowned Hollywood star—she finds herself falling deeply in love with him and begins to put together the pieces of a mother she never really knew.
Sharp, assured, and beautifully written, Family Drama is a story told in double-helix, with intertwined timelines that explore the different versions of ourselves we share with the world and with each other.
It’s 1997, and snow is blanketing a New England beach. Two befuddled seven-year-olds watch as their mother’s body is tipped overboard a crumbling boat. A Viking funeral, followed by a raucous wake. A send-off fit for soap opera star Susan Bliss.
Fifteen years earlier, Susan is a blazing, beautiful young woman, passionate about her art. It’s impossible not to fall in love with her, and so Alcott, a practical professor, does—hopelessly. And so begins the love story of Susan’s two-paneled life, an unconventional, jetlag-filled arrangement that takes her back and forth between her home in New England as a wife and mother to young twins, and the bright lights of soapy Los Angeles.
In the present, Susan’s twins grow up in the shadow of her all-consuming absence. Sebastian, a sensitive artist, cleaves to her memory, fascinated with the artifacts of her starry past. Viola, resentful of her mother’s torn allegiances, distances herself from the memories of her. But when Viola runs into her mother’s old costar Orson Grey—now a renowned Hollywood star—she finds herself falling deeply in love with him and begins to put together the pieces of a mother she never really knew.
Sharp, assured, and beautifully written, Family Drama is a story told in double-helix, with intertwined timelines that explore the different versions of ourselves we share with the world and with each other.
320 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication February 3, 2026
44 people are currently reading
17951 people want to read
About the author
Rebecca Fallon
1 book82 followersRebecca is a New England born Londoner. She studied at Williams College and the University of Oxford. She is the author of Family Drama, arriving in 2026.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
November 23, 2025
This debut novel starts out in 1997, with seven year old twins Sebastian and Viola watching as their mother’s body is tipped overboard from a boat in a Viking funeral in Boston on a snowy day.
Their mother, Susan Bliss was a beautiful soap opera star, very passionate about her acting career.
She had married a young professor, years earlier… Alcott, and they lived in a beautiful historic home he bought in Boston with dreams of raising a family there.
This story is about her constant drive for success even as she gets pregnant and is raising her young family while traveling back and forth from Boston to California.. how it effects each member of the family, and her close relationship with a fellow actor, Orson.
This timeline goes back-and-forth through her early years in the 80s and then when she gives birth and the kids are starting to grow through the 90s, her illness and death, and then in the early 2000’s as the twins are grown and moving on.
How her absence has affected all of them through their lives.
A good debut!
Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review!
Their mother, Susan Bliss was a beautiful soap opera star, very passionate about her acting career.
She had married a young professor, years earlier… Alcott, and they lived in a beautiful historic home he bought in Boston with dreams of raising a family there.
This story is about her constant drive for success even as she gets pregnant and is raising her young family while traveling back and forth from Boston to California.. how it effects each member of the family, and her close relationship with a fellow actor, Orson.
This timeline goes back-and-forth through her early years in the 80s and then when she gives birth and the kids are starting to grow through the 90s, her illness and death, and then in the early 2000’s as the twins are grown and moving on.
How her absence has affected all of them through their lives.
A good debut!
Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review!
August 8, 2025
A breathtaking debut novel sure to grip you with its family drama of a bicoastal marriage, young kids trying to understand their larger than life mother and their stoic father.
Pubs 2/3/26
Susan meets Alcott Bliss after her performance as witch in a play about the Salem Witch trials. The play is in a local museum not Broadway but that doesn’t deter Susan for her goal of a Hollywood actress. Al and Susan marry and enjoy their lives in New England until Susan lands a spot on a daytime soap filmed in Hollywood. Al doesn’t want to leave his Professor role at a NE college so Susan commutes between the two coasts.
All is fine until she becomes pregnant with twins. She wants these babies but not now! She’s afraid she’ll lose her job. The studio manages to hide her baby bump while she continues filming. Her costar, Orson, helps coordinate all departments in aiding Susan in her quest to continue. After her maternity leave she returns to the show and the bicoastal commute much to Al’s disappointment.
Although her kids, Viola and Sebastian, miss her the family routine continues; until Susan gets sick. Chemo takes its usual toll and reduces her physically and mentally. She passes when the twins are just seven years old. Naturally, they’re confused and frightened as they witness their mother’s burial at sea.
We follow the twins into adulthood with vastly different paths. Sebastian doesn’t understand his father and moves in with his Aunt Sadie, his mother’s sister. He’s obsessed with finding every detail about his mother. Viola moves to England and pursues degree after degree, safe in academia. Then she runs into Orson and falls deeply in love.
I can’t sing the praises of this incredible debut novel enough. Tackling emotions, gender roles, parenting and grief immeasurably well. Please don’t miss it.
Thanks Edelweiss and Simon and Schuster.
Pubs 2/3/26
Susan meets Alcott Bliss after her performance as witch in a play about the Salem Witch trials. The play is in a local museum not Broadway but that doesn’t deter Susan for her goal of a Hollywood actress. Al and Susan marry and enjoy their lives in New England until Susan lands a spot on a daytime soap filmed in Hollywood. Al doesn’t want to leave his Professor role at a NE college so Susan commutes between the two coasts.
All is fine until she becomes pregnant with twins. She wants these babies but not now! She’s afraid she’ll lose her job. The studio manages to hide her baby bump while she continues filming. Her costar, Orson, helps coordinate all departments in aiding Susan in her quest to continue. After her maternity leave she returns to the show and the bicoastal commute much to Al’s disappointment.
Although her kids, Viola and Sebastian, miss her the family routine continues; until Susan gets sick. Chemo takes its usual toll and reduces her physically and mentally. She passes when the twins are just seven years old. Naturally, they’re confused and frightened as they witness their mother’s burial at sea.
We follow the twins into adulthood with vastly different paths. Sebastian doesn’t understand his father and moves in with his Aunt Sadie, his mother’s sister. He’s obsessed with finding every detail about his mother. Viola moves to England and pursues degree after degree, safe in academia. Then she runs into Orson and falls deeply in love.
I can’t sing the praises of this incredible debut novel enough. Tackling emotions, gender roles, parenting and grief immeasurably well. Please don’t miss it.
Thanks Edelweiss and Simon and Schuster.
August 15, 2025
Wow. This was a hell of a debut novel. "Family Drama" follows the lives of soap star Susie Byrne, her stoic husband Al, and their twins Viola and Sebastian. In it, we experience the way Susie and Al attempt to balance their marriage and individual dreams, navigate death and grief, and confront choices that leave significant ripples in the lives of their children and those around them. We follow Viola and Sebastian as their own grief and processing surrounding their mother's premature death causes family conflict, motivates decisions, and deeply affects their own relationships.
Rebecca Fallon did an amazing job crafting dynamic, flawed, lovable characters. Past and present were woven beautifully without feeling trite or too on-the-nose. Her commentary on love, life, and legacy felt thought-provoking and impactful. I loved this one!
Rebecca Fallon did an amazing job crafting dynamic, flawed, lovable characters. Past and present were woven beautifully without feeling trite or too on-the-nose. Her commentary on love, life, and legacy felt thought-provoking and impactful. I loved this one!
July 29, 2025
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book was written like a work of art and the past and present switch makes it easy to follow and understand. I love that we see Susan’s life and how she navigated being a soap opera actress and a wife and mom. I absolutely fell in love with her character and her passion in life oozes from the pages. But I was fascinated at what we are shown with her children and what life was like for them growing up with her being so caught up in her career. This book did a fantastic job of showing how it shaped their lives and how they learn more about her even after she’s gone. This book was so beautiful and it is truly a treasure.
January 9, 2026
Family Drama is a debut novel that is getting a lot of attention. I was excited to pick it up and read it in nearly one sitting.
I'm often drawn to stories about the challenges and struggles women face when "trying to have it all." For that purpose, I really did resonate with Susan's story, however, I wanted more focus on her and her ambitions, role as a mother and wife and actress, and how she managed her seemingly dual lives. I felt like there was a real opportunity to highlight true feminism, female success, and motherhood, but that messaging ended up being overshadowed.
This novel has two tracks - Susan's life where she meets her husband, falls in love, her acting career, and juggling it all to become a mother. Susan the wife and mom lives in Boston but Susan the actress lives in LA. Each weekend, she flies back and forth, slotting herself into whichever role she was playing at the time. While this challenge was certainly addressed, it felt slightly glossed over. A personal accounting of a day-in-the-life could have really driven the point home or helped the reader feel the exhaustion that must have been weighing her down.
The second story focuses on Susan's family and primarily her kids after she passes away at a young age. Unfortunately, this is where the book really lost me and digressed from a more important message. I struggled with Viola's relationship with Orson. It was uncomfortable from their very first encounter when she was age 7 and only progressed from bad to worse from there. I wasn't invested in their relationship, didn't feel any real chemistry between them, and felt like too much of their story was implied rather than shared which was a point of weakness for much of the story.
While this was a fast read, it felt choppy. It jumped from one character to another or one scene to the next without clear transitions and too many details were glossed over or left out entirely.
I really wanted to love this novel and had the focus been on Susan, I think I could have. But ultimately, this book was not for me. There was plenty of potential and I'll be curious to see what Fallon writes next! Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the copy.
I'm often drawn to stories about the challenges and struggles women face when "trying to have it all." For that purpose, I really did resonate with Susan's story, however, I wanted more focus on her and her ambitions, role as a mother and wife and actress, and how she managed her seemingly dual lives. I felt like there was a real opportunity to highlight true feminism, female success, and motherhood, but that messaging ended up being overshadowed.
This novel has two tracks - Susan's life where she meets her husband, falls in love, her acting career, and juggling it all to become a mother. Susan the wife and mom lives in Boston but Susan the actress lives in LA. Each weekend, she flies back and forth, slotting herself into whichever role she was playing at the time. While this challenge was certainly addressed, it felt slightly glossed over. A personal accounting of a day-in-the-life could have really driven the point home or helped the reader feel the exhaustion that must have been weighing her down.
The second story focuses on Susan's family and primarily her kids after she passes away at a young age. Unfortunately, this is where the book really lost me and digressed from a more important message. I struggled with Viola's relationship with Orson. It was uncomfortable from their very first encounter when she was age 7 and only progressed from bad to worse from there. I wasn't invested in their relationship, didn't feel any real chemistry between them, and felt like too much of their story was implied rather than shared which was a point of weakness for much of the story.
While this was a fast read, it felt choppy. It jumped from one character to another or one scene to the next without clear transitions and too many details were glossed over or left out entirely.
I really wanted to love this novel and had the focus been on Susan, I think I could have. But ultimately, this book was not for me. There was plenty of potential and I'll be curious to see what Fallon writes next! Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the copy.
November 9, 2025
Book Report: Family Drama by Rebecca Fallon
In Family Drama…we meet two Susans…Susan Bliss a young mother tucked away in New England and Susan Byrne a luminous soap opera star in LA 🌊🎬Across decades and coasts…her twin children grow up haunted by the pieces of their mother’s double life. What unfolds is a breathtaking story of identity…art…love and legacy. Told in interwoven timelines that feel like memory itself.
Did I just find my favorite book of 2026?! 😭 I feel like I need a minute to recover but also…I just want to talk about it with everyone. Each character felt alive…flawed and achingly human. There were sentences that literally took my breath away. My copy is absolutely destroyed…tabbed…dog eared…highlighted within an inch of its life.
The structure…moving through time and emotion rather than chronology…perfectly mirrored the messiness of real life. Fallon captures those pinpoint moments where love…loss and ambition collide. It’s a story about how we become multiple versions of ourselves and how the people who love us are left to piece us together.
🌟 Some lines I can’t stop thinking about:
“Her face was open, an orchestra of feeling.”
“…it’s hard to repeat things in life, you know?”
“Humans are bad…at giving other people space to be complicated.”
“What you miss is an absence, what I miss is a person.”
“The new word mom, applied to herself. A soft, insipid word - not enough, not remotely, to capture the conquering flood of everything between herself and this little person.”
“They need her milk, her arms, her voice singing and playing, her face making faces they can mirror, her pushing them in the fresh afternoon air, her mantra to them: You can be anyone you want to be. But doesn't it ring hollow against the new narrowness of her world? Isn't it her duty to show them; to astonish them with her own powers of transformation, to demonstrate that it is possible to do all things, be all things?”
“This is real life, she thinks. It's loving the right person at the wrong time, it's incompatibility and doubt. It's the constant condition of mis-understanding, and the thousand ways people will prove you wrong.”
Thank you Simon and Schuster and my favorite independent bookstore Beach Books for putting this one on my radar.
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Lyon.brit.A...
In Family Drama…we meet two Susans…Susan Bliss a young mother tucked away in New England and Susan Byrne a luminous soap opera star in LA 🌊🎬Across decades and coasts…her twin children grow up haunted by the pieces of their mother’s double life. What unfolds is a breathtaking story of identity…art…love and legacy. Told in interwoven timelines that feel like memory itself.
Did I just find my favorite book of 2026?! 😭 I feel like I need a minute to recover but also…I just want to talk about it with everyone. Each character felt alive…flawed and achingly human. There were sentences that literally took my breath away. My copy is absolutely destroyed…tabbed…dog eared…highlighted within an inch of its life.
The structure…moving through time and emotion rather than chronology…perfectly mirrored the messiness of real life. Fallon captures those pinpoint moments where love…loss and ambition collide. It’s a story about how we become multiple versions of ourselves and how the people who love us are left to piece us together.
🌟 Some lines I can’t stop thinking about:
“Her face was open, an orchestra of feeling.”
“…it’s hard to repeat things in life, you know?”
“Humans are bad…at giving other people space to be complicated.”
“What you miss is an absence, what I miss is a person.”
“The new word mom, applied to herself. A soft, insipid word - not enough, not remotely, to capture the conquering flood of everything between herself and this little person.”
“They need her milk, her arms, her voice singing and playing, her face making faces they can mirror, her pushing them in the fresh afternoon air, her mantra to them: You can be anyone you want to be. But doesn't it ring hollow against the new narrowness of her world? Isn't it her duty to show them; to astonish them with her own powers of transformation, to demonstrate that it is possible to do all things, be all things?”
“This is real life, she thinks. It's loving the right person at the wrong time, it's incompatibility and doubt. It's the constant condition of mis-understanding, and the thousand ways people will prove you wrong.”
Thank you Simon and Schuster and my favorite independent bookstore Beach Books for putting this one on my radar.
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Lyon.brit.A...
December 17, 2025
This story starts out with 7 year old twins, Sebastian & Viola, watching their dead mother being buried at sea. Their mother, Susan, was a soap opera star, who married a young professor, Al. Their marriage spent lots of time apart with her pursuing her acting career in LA, while he was working towards being a tenured professor on the East Coast. Once she became pregnant & gave birth to the twins, Al was certain that she would want to quit her acting career and stay home with the kids. And it was fine for a while, but then Susan started feeling the pull to return, so they continued their separate lives again. Then she is diagnosed with cancer and dies when the twins are 7. The story goes back & forth between the early years of Susan & Al and then the later years of how the twins’ lives end up over all the years without their mother and especially upon learning of how famous she was when they had no idea of that, as they were sheltered from her career. A lot of dysfunction occurs between their father and them and even between each other. This was a good debut.
Thank you to NetGalley & Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.
Thank you to NetGalley & Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.
January 6, 2026
2.5 stars. I generally love family dramas so I was surprised to be totally and completely bored with this one. There are multiple timelines - one detailing Susan’s rise to fame as a soap opera star, her unraveling marriage, her struggle to be present for her kids while needing the outlet of her acting far away from them; one that sort of jumps from year to year between the kids and her husband after her death from cancer (not a spoiler…this happens in the first chapter). I was definitely more engrossed in the chapters about Susan’s life than I was with the kids. When it got to the kids’ lives, specifically Viola’s love affair, I just could not stay interested. That whole thing was odd and just dragged. I guess I understand what she was looking for in that relationship but it just kind of made me slightly uncomfortable. The writing is good, I think, but also literary in a way that I was sometimes confused by. There were a good number of portions that I just skipped over thinking, “I’m honestly not sure what is being conveyed here and I don’t have the energy to analyze it.” I don’t think it’s a bad book, but I did not connect with it and for someone who finishes a book every other day or so, the fact that it took me nearly a month was excruciating.
January 18, 2026
Absolutely loved this book. Its characters and relationships are brilliant, so strongly written and developed. It has some spot on reflections about how hard it is to balance motherhood and careers, time with our children and time pursuing our dreams. What a fantastic debut, looking forward to more from this author.
October 8, 2025
Rebecca Fallon’s Family Drama alternates between Susan Bliss and her fight to have a career and family before losing a battle with cancer, and the lives of her children Viola and Sebastian, and their attempts to reconcile her loss and who they are in the years that follow.
Susan’s biggest challenge in attempting to have it all is having a husband she loves that is a professor on tenure track at a college in Massachusetts when she has the opportunity to join a soap opera that films in California. Not unfairly so, neither one wants to give up a career that has meaning to them, but it puts them in an extreme long distance relationship, with Susan going back to the East Coast on weekends. In an industry that’s unforgiving of life changes, she faces another difficult decision when she becomes pregnant with the twins.
Susan finally gets to a point where she’s ready to steal away with the children to California, but her cancer diagnosis quickly follows, upending not just her life but her dreams.
Years later her children are struggling with who they are and what the’ve missed out on by not having their mother in their lives. Viola aligns with her father and being an overachiever until she reconnects with a man from Susan’s past, while Sebastian rebels and turns away from his father for a relationship with Susan’s sister Sadie and keeping the memories of his mother alive. Their diverging stances drive the twins further and further apart, fracturing a relationship that will need compromise if it has any hope of being repaired.
I can’t say that I loved this book, or that I ever truly felt like I was experiencing events fully invested from any of the POVs. And I say that as a woman that lost her own mother to cancer relatively early in life.
That being said, I think it is an excellent story for book clubs to read because there is so much to unpack and discuss. What do Susan and Al do about their careers and relationship? When Al is the primary caregiver is it right for Susan to take their children away from them because she loves them and feels like she’s missing milestones in their lives? What would the family have turned out like if Susan hadn’t died? Was Al right to not find ways to keep Susan a part of Sebastian and Viola’s childhood? Were the coping mechanisms of Al, Viola and Sebastian healthy?
There are some of these that it’s easy for me to answer and others that were impossible. I tend to like stories that have closure. In Susan losing a battle with cancer, there’s a whole storyline here that doesn’t really have that, but it creates the second storyline where the people she leaves behind need to find it to be able to move on as fully functioning individuals.
A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Susan’s biggest challenge in attempting to have it all is having a husband she loves that is a professor on tenure track at a college in Massachusetts when she has the opportunity to join a soap opera that films in California. Not unfairly so, neither one wants to give up a career that has meaning to them, but it puts them in an extreme long distance relationship, with Susan going back to the East Coast on weekends. In an industry that’s unforgiving of life changes, she faces another difficult decision when she becomes pregnant with the twins.
Susan finally gets to a point where she’s ready to steal away with the children to California, but her cancer diagnosis quickly follows, upending not just her life but her dreams.
Years later her children are struggling with who they are and what the’ve missed out on by not having their mother in their lives. Viola aligns with her father and being an overachiever until she reconnects with a man from Susan’s past, while Sebastian rebels and turns away from his father for a relationship with Susan’s sister Sadie and keeping the memories of his mother alive. Their diverging stances drive the twins further and further apart, fracturing a relationship that will need compromise if it has any hope of being repaired.
I can’t say that I loved this book, or that I ever truly felt like I was experiencing events fully invested from any of the POVs. And I say that as a woman that lost her own mother to cancer relatively early in life.
That being said, I think it is an excellent story for book clubs to read because there is so much to unpack and discuss. What do Susan and Al do about their careers and relationship? When Al is the primary caregiver is it right for Susan to take their children away from them because she loves them and feels like she’s missing milestones in their lives? What would the family have turned out like if Susan hadn’t died? Was Al right to not find ways to keep Susan a part of Sebastian and Viola’s childhood? Were the coping mechanisms of Al, Viola and Sebastian healthy?
There are some of these that it’s easy for me to answer and others that were impossible. I tend to like stories that have closure. In Susan losing a battle with cancer, there’s a whole storyline here that doesn’t really have that, but it creates the second storyline where the people she leaves behind need to find it to be able to move on as fully functioning individuals.
A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
November 15, 2025
Family Drama is an ambitious and beautifully written debut about love, loss, and the price of ambition. It follows a soap star mother who splits her life between Hollywood and New England, and the family left to make sense of her choices after she’s gone. I found the writing elegant and thoughtful, though I admit I might not have been in the right headspace for it—it’s heavy, reflective, and layered in a way that demands attention. Still, I’m genuinely fascinated by how Rebecca Fallon captures the way ambition can both build and unravel a life.
Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC!
Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC!
August 3, 2025
Family Drama by Rebecca Fallon is an ambitious, emotionally layered novel that straddles the line between glitzy soap-opera glamour and quiet New England melancholy. At its heart is Susan Bliss—soap star, mother, enigma—whose life and death shape the trajectory of her fractured family.
Fallon sets a striking opening scene: a Viking funeral on a snowy beach, two bewildered children watching their mother disappear into the water. It’s a bold start and full of promise. The novel then shifts between timelines and perspectives—tracing Susan’s passionate, bifurcated existence between L.A. stardom and New England motherhood, while also following her twins, Sebastian and Viola, into adulthood.
There’s a lot to admire here: vivid prose, clever structure, and emotionally sharp moments. Sebastian’s longing and artistic obsession with his mother feel tender and well-realized. Viola’s storyline—particularly her entanglement with her mother’s old costar—is messier, and sometimes uncomfortably so.
That said, Family Drama occasionally buckles under its own weight. The narrative momentum falters in places, and Susan herself—though often described as dazzling—feels more like a symbol than a fully inhabited character. The emotional payoff promised in the beginning is somewhat diluted by the novel’s more theatrical flourishes.
Overall, this is a solid, evocative read that touches on fame, family, memory, and identity. For fans of literary fiction with a dramatic flair, Family Drama is worth picking up—but be prepared for a slow burn rather than a soap-worthy explosion.
Thanks to Edelelweiss and Simon & Schuster for providing me with a copy of this book. It will be published on February 3, 2026.
Fallon sets a striking opening scene: a Viking funeral on a snowy beach, two bewildered children watching their mother disappear into the water. It’s a bold start and full of promise. The novel then shifts between timelines and perspectives—tracing Susan’s passionate, bifurcated existence between L.A. stardom and New England motherhood, while also following her twins, Sebastian and Viola, into adulthood.
There’s a lot to admire here: vivid prose, clever structure, and emotionally sharp moments. Sebastian’s longing and artistic obsession with his mother feel tender and well-realized. Viola’s storyline—particularly her entanglement with her mother’s old costar—is messier, and sometimes uncomfortably so.
That said, Family Drama occasionally buckles under its own weight. The narrative momentum falters in places, and Susan herself—though often described as dazzling—feels more like a symbol than a fully inhabited character. The emotional payoff promised in the beginning is somewhat diluted by the novel’s more theatrical flourishes.
Overall, this is a solid, evocative read that touches on fame, family, memory, and identity. For fans of literary fiction with a dramatic flair, Family Drama is worth picking up—but be prepared for a slow burn rather than a soap-worthy explosion.
Thanks to Edelelweiss and Simon & Schuster for providing me with a copy of this book. It will be published on February 3, 2026.
August 4, 2025
“Family Drama” by Rebecca Fallon is an emotionally gripping debut novel that was hard to put down. The story revolves around a soap opera star who splits her life of fame and stardom on the west coast, and the reality of being a wife and mother of twins living on the east coast. It is told in dual time lines as it peels back the layers of flawed memories, and perspective’s through the eyes of her adult children after her death.
This is a powerful grief filled family saga filled with love, loss and the consequences of one’s life choices. I really enjoyed this book and it’s a must read for every book club.
Thank you NetGalley & Simon & Schuster for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
August 13, 2025
Three and a half stars rounded up to four. This is the story of Susie Byrne, her husband, Al, and their twins, Viola and Sebastian. Susie is a soap opera star who works in California, but her family live on the East Coast. She commutes back and forth.
The book is told from Susie's perspective and modern day. I felt that it was slightly colorless, and I didn't get to know the characters very well.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
The book is told from Susie's perspective and modern day. I felt that it was slightly colorless, and I didn't get to know the characters very well.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
December 3, 2025
I think a lot of readers of the genre will enjoy this more than i did - i really enjoyed the soap opera star angle of the story but the back and forth timelines kept me from fully connecting.
December 4, 2025
Thank you so much for sending me an ARC!
3.5!
I will admit before jumping in that with the switch of time lines did take me out of connecting to the story in a way I would have liked more, just as I was getting more settled and invested it would switch.
It's a slow burn filled with emotional family ties and connections, the difference between Viola and Sebastian's reaction to their mom's death was interesting and a nice touch to show their relationship and the way they deal with her passing differently and how we get to see Susan in all aspects of her life.
3.5!
I will admit before jumping in that with the switch of time lines did take me out of connecting to the story in a way I would have liked more, just as I was getting more settled and invested it would switch.
It's a slow burn filled with emotional family ties and connections, the difference between Viola and Sebastian's reaction to their mom's death was interesting and a nice touch to show their relationship and the way they deal with her passing differently and how we get to see Susan in all aspects of her life.
September 29, 2025
This book really is what the title suggests; all those little things that families experience during a lifetime. Written through multiple timelines and from multiple POV the characters fall love. They fall out. They get ill. They move house, they even move countries. I found the narrative sometimes difficult to follow and at times over wordy because it jumps about so much but on the whole an interesting read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.
September 4, 2025
There is no doubt that this is a stunningly beautiful book about love and loss and grief and childhood and death and family and the things that really matter in life. I highlighted liberally as I read - there are so many lines that resonate with me. That said, FAMILY DRAMA is also cripplingly sad.
Susan is a woman who knows who she wants to be, but the two things she loves most in her life conflict with one another. She is a successful and beloved soap opera actress, and she loves everything about her job. But she’s also a mother to twins Viola and Sebastian, married to a kind man who loves her. Susan’s life is split in two as she flies to LA during the week to work, and back home to New England to be with her family during the weekends.
The best word I can use to describe this book is melancholy. The opening scene sets the tone for the rest of the book. Susan is dead when the book begins, so although many chapters are from her point of view, the reader feels as if they’re trying to put together a puzzle to find out who she really was through the eyes of her children, husband, and friends.
Several times, I had difficulty figuring out which character’s viewpoint I was reading. There were no chapter breaks or spaces between viewpoints in quite a few places. This could have been due to a formatting issue with the digital ARC, but it was distracting enough to take me out of the story at times.
Overall, I gave FAMILY DRAMA three and a half stars. It’s certainly beautifully written and meaningful, but it lacked that indefinable spark that I look for in a book I love.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the the early digital ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.
Susan is a woman who knows who she wants to be, but the two things she loves most in her life conflict with one another. She is a successful and beloved soap opera actress, and she loves everything about her job. But she’s also a mother to twins Viola and Sebastian, married to a kind man who loves her. Susan’s life is split in two as she flies to LA during the week to work, and back home to New England to be with her family during the weekends.
The best word I can use to describe this book is melancholy. The opening scene sets the tone for the rest of the book. Susan is dead when the book begins, so although many chapters are from her point of view, the reader feels as if they’re trying to put together a puzzle to find out who she really was through the eyes of her children, husband, and friends.
Several times, I had difficulty figuring out which character’s viewpoint I was reading. There were no chapter breaks or spaces between viewpoints in quite a few places. This could have been due to a formatting issue with the digital ARC, but it was distracting enough to take me out of the story at times.
Overall, I gave FAMILY DRAMA three and a half stars. It’s certainly beautifully written and meaningful, but it lacked that indefinable spark that I look for in a book I love.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the the early digital ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.
September 10, 2025
Rebecca Fallon’s Family Drama is a beautifully written debut that traces the life and legacy of Susan Bliss, a soap star living between Hollywood glamour and her New England roots. Told through shifting perspectives and timelines, the book paints an intimate portrait of a family shaped by secrets, ambition, and the complicated ties that bind them together. The writing is vivid and immersive, pulling me into both the glittering world of television and the quieter, more poignant moments of family life.
While the story wasn’t exactly a page-turner, it was great in its own right - anchored by powerful themes of loss and a mother’s love that felt both tender and heartbreaking. The conclusion comes quickly, almost abruptly, but that suddenness underscores the emotional impact of a loved one leaving us so soon. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC—Family Drama is a thoughtful, moving read that will stay with me.
While the story wasn’t exactly a page-turner, it was great in its own right - anchored by powerful themes of loss and a mother’s love that felt both tender and heartbreaking. The conclusion comes quickly, almost abruptly, but that suddenness underscores the emotional impact of a loved one leaving us so soon. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC—Family Drama is a thoughtful, moving read that will stay with me.
September 16, 2025
Family Drama by Rebecca Fallon is about a young woman, named Susan, who begins as an actress who knows she is destined for stardom. Little did she know when a man, Al, walks into her theatre dressing room that she would marry him. This marriage created a new life for her in his world away from a stage. Susan begins to live in both worlds, the one world is her first love of acting, the second is the life to live as a wife. Can she live in both worlds? Does the actress succeed to blend into the family life? You learn of her struggles with the battle of loving both lives she's creating and those in both worlds around her. Sometimes the book is a little hard to follow at first, but it is a lovely story that is enjoyable to its end. I give this book 4 stars.
August 11, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC!
The cover is what drew me to request this ARC and I was not disappointed. Opening up with a Viking funeral for a soap star who died during her prime leaving behind a professor husband and a set of twins. Love the nod of the twins’ names for Twelfth Night.
I cannot imagine being a mother on the weekends and a soap star during the week…
The cover is what drew me to request this ARC and I was not disappointed. Opening up with a Viking funeral for a soap star who died during her prime leaving behind a professor husband and a set of twins. Love the nod of the twins’ names for Twelfth Night.
I cannot imagine being a mother on the weekends and a soap star during the week…
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
FAMILY DRAMA
BY: REBECCA FALLON
About 3.5 Stars!
I rated this as my honest opinion of "FAMILY DRAMA," is a debut written by REBECCA FALLON, which the "Double Helix," style of the way this story is written disappointed me even though the concept of the story was powerful, it felt distant to me at times. I am an outlier with this ARC, except for one other reviewer who gave this an additional star. I'm just not a fan of the choppy execution to which as an experienced reader who has been doing reading and reviewing for over ten years this lacked a coherence in how the writing that had distanced me from the how it unfolded. It always makes me feel sad when I rate a book so low since I know how much heart a new author puts into writing a first novel, and I really think the premise was intriguing it wouldn't be honest if I didn't express how I truly felt frustrated at times while reading this even though it is easy for me to comprehend and I felt I was able to understand this I had to force myself to finish this to be fair to the author. I am surprised at myself since it is not like me to rate something so low, I hope that I wish this author my best wishes since there are some reviewers that loved this, but they are mostly new to this process and as I respect their opinions, I feel that the spirit of being an early reader of an ARC is to be honest since that's the point of reviewing an ARC. I really wanted to love this and again it is very rare that I have rated anything so low.
The novel begins with a Viking style send off the wife, mother of seven year old fraternal twins, with her husband Al, and her sister Sadie as the main characters watching this sea burial of Susie Bliss who died of cancer in 1997. Al leaves the mourners after they are gathered back at his home that will come back to haunt him having to do with Susie that will anger his son Sebastion and his Aunt Sadie. Sebastion yearns to learn more about his deceased mother as he's ready to graduate high school and goes looking for connection by showing up at Sadie's home unannounced and she is thrilled to see him after being denied access to having a meaningful relationship to her sister's twins. When Sebastion asks Sadie about footage of his mother as a Soap Opera actress, his Aunt Sadie informs him that she gave all the recorded tapes to his dad.
Susie was living a rather unconventional life by being on the West coast during the week pursuing her passion as an actress, and flying home on week-ends to spend family time first as a wife to Al, and eventually a mother to her children who when she learned she was pregnant didn't feel at that time she was ready to become a mother. She wasn't adverse to eventually having children, but at that time she wasn't exactly ready to have them as she seemed disappointed when her pregnancy kit revealed that she was indeed pregnant.
The timelines are clearly marked so it's easy to follow the plot unfold since this novel does go back and forth in the timelines. Maybe the higher reviews are for reasons of which I am speculating might possibly be for the highly charged emotional themes which did impact me even though I really am not a fan of the style this author used as her story unfolded. Maybe I wasn't expecting this to be so depressing at times when I read the synopsis I was not expecting so much dysfunctional family dynamics, and I don't have a problem with being affected emotionally. In fact, I should emphasize that those are the type of literary fiction that I usually find the most compelling and memorable. I love novels that move me which this one does just that overall readers will feel the impact since that attribute is present since as I write this I would like to applaud the author for her talent at crafting a story that I do still feel somehow, which I would love to upgrade my fating to 3,5 stars, but I don't seem to be able to do that which I'm aware how simple it was. I don't know if it's that Good Reads is using AI, since this is the second review that I have had issues with. I will change my rating to 3.5 stars, but I hold my position of not feeling impressed by the execution, and I don't agree that the comparison of the author of, "Hello Beautiful, and "Dear Edward," is accurate, in my opinion
Publication Date: February 3, 2026.
Thank you to Net Galley, Rebecca Fallon, and Simon & Schuster for generously providing me with my ARC, in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own, as always.
#FamilyDrama #RebeccaFallon #Simon&Schuster #NetGalley
BY: REBECCA FALLON
About 3.5 Stars!
I rated this as my honest opinion of "FAMILY DRAMA," is a debut written by REBECCA FALLON, which the "Double Helix," style of the way this story is written disappointed me even though the concept of the story was powerful, it felt distant to me at times. I am an outlier with this ARC, except for one other reviewer who gave this an additional star. I'm just not a fan of the choppy execution to which as an experienced reader who has been doing reading and reviewing for over ten years this lacked a coherence in how the writing that had distanced me from the how it unfolded. It always makes me feel sad when I rate a book so low since I know how much heart a new author puts into writing a first novel, and I really think the premise was intriguing it wouldn't be honest if I didn't express how I truly felt frustrated at times while reading this even though it is easy for me to comprehend and I felt I was able to understand this I had to force myself to finish this to be fair to the author. I am surprised at myself since it is not like me to rate something so low, I hope that I wish this author my best wishes since there are some reviewers that loved this, but they are mostly new to this process and as I respect their opinions, I feel that the spirit of being an early reader of an ARC is to be honest since that's the point of reviewing an ARC. I really wanted to love this and again it is very rare that I have rated anything so low.
The novel begins with a Viking style send off the wife, mother of seven year old fraternal twins, with her husband Al, and her sister Sadie as the main characters watching this sea burial of Susie Bliss who died of cancer in 1997. Al leaves the mourners after they are gathered back at his home that will come back to haunt him having to do with Susie that will anger his son Sebastion and his Aunt Sadie. Sebastion yearns to learn more about his deceased mother as he's ready to graduate high school and goes looking for connection by showing up at Sadie's home unannounced and she is thrilled to see him after being denied access to having a meaningful relationship to her sister's twins. When Sebastion asks Sadie about footage of his mother as a Soap Opera actress, his Aunt Sadie informs him that she gave all the recorded tapes to his dad.
Susie was living a rather unconventional life by being on the West coast during the week pursuing her passion as an actress, and flying home on week-ends to spend family time first as a wife to Al, and eventually a mother to her children who when she learned she was pregnant didn't feel at that time she was ready to become a mother. She wasn't adverse to eventually having children, but at that time she wasn't exactly ready to have them as she seemed disappointed when her pregnancy kit revealed that she was indeed pregnant.
The timelines are clearly marked so it's easy to follow the plot unfold since this novel does go back and forth in the timelines. Maybe the higher reviews are for reasons of which I am speculating might possibly be for the highly charged emotional themes which did impact me even though I really am not a fan of the style this author used as her story unfolded. Maybe I wasn't expecting this to be so depressing at times when I read the synopsis I was not expecting so much dysfunctional family dynamics, and I don't have a problem with being affected emotionally. In fact, I should emphasize that those are the type of literary fiction that I usually find the most compelling and memorable. I love novels that move me which this one does just that overall readers will feel the impact since that attribute is present since as I write this I would like to applaud the author for her talent at crafting a story that I do still feel somehow, which I would love to upgrade my fating to 3,5 stars, but I don't seem to be able to do that which I'm aware how simple it was. I don't know if it's that Good Reads is using AI, since this is the second review that I have had issues with. I will change my rating to 3.5 stars, but I hold my position of not feeling impressed by the execution, and I don't agree that the comparison of the author of, "Hello Beautiful, and "Dear Edward," is accurate, in my opinion
Publication Date: February 3, 2026.
Thank you to Net Galley, Rebecca Fallon, and Simon & Schuster for generously providing me with my ARC, in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own, as always.
#FamilyDrama #RebeccaFallon #Simon&Schuster #NetGalley
December 3, 2025
Young Susan Byrne was stuck in her hometown of Salem in the best acting job she could get-she played a witch sentenced to death at a small museum in town. After the umpteenth time of acting the role in the exact same way, she begged her boss to let her change it up, to no avail. At the same time Al Bliss, a Harvard instructor who was there to see the museum's archives, overheard the exchange and sympathized with Susan, especially since the air conditioner wasn't working on that hot summer day. She decided to quit her job and gave the performance of her life before she left, and Al suggested a drive to a swimming hole. He was timid, she was bold, and they fell in love immediately.
Impulsively they were married and she moved to his Boston apartment. She still wanted to act but New England wasn't the place to land roles. Her sister found a national ad from a soap opera shooting in California that sounded perfect, and Susan was invited to audition. She and Al flew across country to the studio and Susan nailed the role, but Al wouldn't leave the East and his students, while Susan wanted that job and all that went with it. Their compromise was that Susan would shoot four days a week and return to Boston for the weekend. Neither was happy with the solution but neither would budge from their position.
Both were successful in their careers-Al was a rising star as he negotiated the Harvard tenure track, and Susan made her small role a major one with her amazing acting skills. She developed a friendship with Orson Grey, a young actor who was often paired with her, and they had each other's backs, but the trades saw them as more than friends. When she would return to Boston, she didn't fit in with Al's friends, although she made the effort. They often fought about their respective jobs, but as much as they loved each other, neither would give in.
Susan became pregnant with twins and Al was ecstatic. He purchased an old house in a small village near Boston and waited for Susan to quit her job, She had other ideas-her friends and co-workers wrote scripts around her pregnancy and shot her scenes hiding her torso, until the boss found out and fired her. Susan finally came back to live with Al and had the babies-but she was unsatisfied with motherhood and negotiated her old job back-leaving Al to raise the children while she returned to the soap. When the twins were seven, Susan got a diagnosis of incurable aggressive cancer, and the soap finally killed off her character, sending her home to die with Al and their children.
The second part of the novel deals with how the family copes after Susan's death. The twins are in their last year of high school and though very close, are completely different. Sebastian is an artistic outsider who won't study or take school seriously and is always in trouble. Al has given up trying to reason with him, especially now when his son begins devoting himself to finding out everything related to Susan's life and career. Viola is a serious scholar with her pick of college acceptances. She has few friends and doesn't date, but nurses a secret crush on Orson, her mother's old colleague. His career flourished and is now a famous movie star, while Viola is just one of his fans-or is she?
The novel does a good job of presenting an insurmountable situation which somehow works for both Susan and Al, but not as well for their children. Each character has a story and we are shown all of them, along with the various time periods in which the incident occurs. That sometimes becomes confusing, so its best to note the dates beginning each chapter. I see this as an intriguing premise for a book discussion-would you sacrifice your life's work to support your spouse, and how will the next generation cope with your choices? Is life just a soap opera?
Impulsively they were married and she moved to his Boston apartment. She still wanted to act but New England wasn't the place to land roles. Her sister found a national ad from a soap opera shooting in California that sounded perfect, and Susan was invited to audition. She and Al flew across country to the studio and Susan nailed the role, but Al wouldn't leave the East and his students, while Susan wanted that job and all that went with it. Their compromise was that Susan would shoot four days a week and return to Boston for the weekend. Neither was happy with the solution but neither would budge from their position.
Both were successful in their careers-Al was a rising star as he negotiated the Harvard tenure track, and Susan made her small role a major one with her amazing acting skills. She developed a friendship with Orson Grey, a young actor who was often paired with her, and they had each other's backs, but the trades saw them as more than friends. When she would return to Boston, she didn't fit in with Al's friends, although she made the effort. They often fought about their respective jobs, but as much as they loved each other, neither would give in.
Susan became pregnant with twins and Al was ecstatic. He purchased an old house in a small village near Boston and waited for Susan to quit her job, She had other ideas-her friends and co-workers wrote scripts around her pregnancy and shot her scenes hiding her torso, until the boss found out and fired her. Susan finally came back to live with Al and had the babies-but she was unsatisfied with motherhood and negotiated her old job back-leaving Al to raise the children while she returned to the soap. When the twins were seven, Susan got a diagnosis of incurable aggressive cancer, and the soap finally killed off her character, sending her home to die with Al and their children.
The second part of the novel deals with how the family copes after Susan's death. The twins are in their last year of high school and though very close, are completely different. Sebastian is an artistic outsider who won't study or take school seriously and is always in trouble. Al has given up trying to reason with him, especially now when his son begins devoting himself to finding out everything related to Susan's life and career. Viola is a serious scholar with her pick of college acceptances. She has few friends and doesn't date, but nurses a secret crush on Orson, her mother's old colleague. His career flourished and is now a famous movie star, while Viola is just one of his fans-or is she?
The novel does a good job of presenting an insurmountable situation which somehow works for both Susan and Al, but not as well for their children. Each character has a story and we are shown all of them, along with the various time periods in which the incident occurs. That sometimes becomes confusing, so its best to note the dates beginning each chapter. I see this as an intriguing premise for a book discussion-would you sacrifice your life's work to support your spouse, and how will the next generation cope with your choices? Is life just a soap opera?
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC of "Family Drama" in exchange for an honest review.
I stand in awe of any book than can so fully immerse you in its ambitious, sweeping storyline and fascinating characters, that you lose yourself in the escalating drama and heartbreak of it..........especially when its shifting timelines move you between past, present and succeeding generations.
For me, "Family Drama" checked all the boxes for that kind of reading experience.
It's a family saga that begins with the romantic union of two people who make the most unlikely of couples - struggling young Boston actress Susan and college professor Alcott. Susan has bigger dreams than re-enactments of the Salem witch trials, and hits that impossible stroke of luck every actor dreams of - a starring role in TV's most popular, most watched soap opera. Hollywood glamor and stardom beckon her while Alcott only wants to remain in Boston to pursue his academic publishing career and the tenure that goes with it.
And herein lies the lifelong strife in Susan and Alcott's relationship as through the years they attempt a bicoastal .marriage. Susan's growing superstardom and celebrity lead to endless cross country plane flights as she takes on the mounting pressures of trying to achieve a have-it-all life with Alcott. A life that includes family, career.....and then motherhood. The birth of their twins Sebastian and Viola eventually forces Susan into pivotal decision about her dual lives.......until a cruel twist of fate takes her choice away from her.
With Susan dying young while her children were still toddlers, Sebastian and Viola have grown up trying to piece together memories of their legendary mother.. It's a quest Alcott chose not to encourage, leaving him deeply estranged from Sebastian. But Susan, as a college student in London, has taken her own path to build a memory of her mother. She's met and fallen for, of all people Susan's co-star (and rumored lover) Orson, who's aged into a worldwide famous A-List movie star..
The book truly lives up to its title as a family drama that far eclipses any turns of plot to be found in Susan's TV famous TV show. And author Rebecca Fallon spins her decades long tale with prose that incisively goes right to the heart of her characters. While I'm by no means a regular reader of literary fiction, this book completely captivated me from start to finish........and I recommend it to everyone.
(My other reviews can be found at www.thesandyquill.blogspot.com)
I stand in awe of any book than can so fully immerse you in its ambitious, sweeping storyline and fascinating characters, that you lose yourself in the escalating drama and heartbreak of it..........especially when its shifting timelines move you between past, present and succeeding generations.
For me, "Family Drama" checked all the boxes for that kind of reading experience.
It's a family saga that begins with the romantic union of two people who make the most unlikely of couples - struggling young Boston actress Susan and college professor Alcott. Susan has bigger dreams than re-enactments of the Salem witch trials, and hits that impossible stroke of luck every actor dreams of - a starring role in TV's most popular, most watched soap opera. Hollywood glamor and stardom beckon her while Alcott only wants to remain in Boston to pursue his academic publishing career and the tenure that goes with it.
And herein lies the lifelong strife in Susan and Alcott's relationship as through the years they attempt a bicoastal .marriage. Susan's growing superstardom and celebrity lead to endless cross country plane flights as she takes on the mounting pressures of trying to achieve a have-it-all life with Alcott. A life that includes family, career.....and then motherhood. The birth of their twins Sebastian and Viola eventually forces Susan into pivotal decision about her dual lives.......until a cruel twist of fate takes her choice away from her.
With Susan dying young while her children were still toddlers, Sebastian and Viola have grown up trying to piece together memories of their legendary mother.. It's a quest Alcott chose not to encourage, leaving him deeply estranged from Sebastian. But Susan, as a college student in London, has taken her own path to build a memory of her mother. She's met and fallen for, of all people Susan's co-star (and rumored lover) Orson, who's aged into a worldwide famous A-List movie star..
The book truly lives up to its title as a family drama that far eclipses any turns of plot to be found in Susan's TV famous TV show. And author Rebecca Fallon spins her decades long tale with prose that incisively goes right to the heart of her characters. While I'm by no means a regular reader of literary fiction, this book completely captivated me from start to finish........and I recommend it to everyone.
(My other reviews can be found at www.thesandyquill.blogspot.com)
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
We meet the Bliss family, who after the death of its matriach, still reel from her passing even more than a decade later. Her death leads to unknowing consequences for her children, twins Viola and Sebastian. Left with the feeling that their father did not want to know their mother's true sense, they struggle with the loss of her as they venture into adulthood.
For Viola, the loss of her mother opens up a world where she becomes obsessed with the co-star from the daytime soap opera her mother was an actress on for several years. The obsession grows for the both of them, opening up a relationship between the two of them when Viola begins studying and living in London. Her struggles to want to know her mother lead her down the path of dating and falling in love with this older man who had known and loved her mother. But Viola's insecurities over their relationship leads to the downfall of her own.
For Sebastian, who had been present when his mother left the early realm for her next adventure, struggles with having a relationship with his father after his mother's death. Rebeling against what his father thinks and/or thought was best, Sebastian finds himself trying to get to know the woman who had left him all too early in his life.
Each member of the Bliss family struggles with the loss of their beloved wife and mother in one way or another. All the while, we also see the world through her eyes through flashbacks into her life.
For me, however, the title Family Drama is a bit misleading. The story/plot wasn't in the least dramatic. There were struggles yes, as any normal family goes through at some point or another, with once losing yourself to find yourself again. The most dramatic thing that happened is that Al, the patriarch, did everything he could to ensure that his children didn't look too deeply into the character his wife played on television...or her attempt at leaving him when he didn't understand her need or desire to return to acting after having their children. But otherwise, the storyline was a bit too tame for the title.
Even with that being said, the story/plot was remarkable. While it started off a bit slow, in my opinion, it really started to come together about halfway through. It is well written (with, of course, a few pre-editing issues, but that's to be expected at this stage) and in the end, the storyline comes full circle and I felt it gave closure when other stories of this nature don't provide that.
Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster and Rebecca Fallon for an ARC of Family Drama.
For Viola, the loss of her mother opens up a world where she becomes obsessed with the co-star from the daytime soap opera her mother was an actress on for several years. The obsession grows for the both of them, opening up a relationship between the two of them when Viola begins studying and living in London. Her struggles to want to know her mother lead her down the path of dating and falling in love with this older man who had known and loved her mother. But Viola's insecurities over their relationship leads to the downfall of her own.
For Sebastian, who had been present when his mother left the early realm for her next adventure, struggles with having a relationship with his father after his mother's death. Rebeling against what his father thinks and/or thought was best, Sebastian finds himself trying to get to know the woman who had left him all too early in his life.
Each member of the Bliss family struggles with the loss of their beloved wife and mother in one way or another. All the while, we also see the world through her eyes through flashbacks into her life.
For me, however, the title Family Drama is a bit misleading. The story/plot wasn't in the least dramatic. There were struggles yes, as any normal family goes through at some point or another, with once losing yourself to find yourself again. The most dramatic thing that happened is that Al, the patriarch, did everything he could to ensure that his children didn't look too deeply into the character his wife played on television...or her attempt at leaving him when he didn't understand her need or desire to return to acting after having their children. But otherwise, the storyline was a bit too tame for the title.
Even with that being said, the story/plot was remarkable. While it started off a bit slow, in my opinion, it really started to come together about halfway through. It is well written (with, of course, a few pre-editing issues, but that's to be expected at this stage) and in the end, the storyline comes full circle and I felt it gave closure when other stories of this nature don't provide that.
Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster and Rebecca Fallon for an ARC of Family Drama.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I received an advanced reader copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review on my Goodreads page. The book is due out February 3, 2026.
Family Drama opens at the funeral of a beloved soap opera star and mother, Susan, whose death leaves behind her husband and two children. From that moment, the novel unfolds across multiple timelines, moving between Susan’s life in the 1980s and the mid-2000s, when her family and friends are left to navigate life, memory, and unresolved relationships in her absence. Through these shifts, the story attempts to explore not only who Susan was, but how her presence—and loss—shaped the people closest to her.
On paper, this has all the elements of the kind of multigenerational family saga I typically enjoy. There is plenty of emotional terrain here: complicated marriages, parent-child dynamics, friendship, resentment, and the quiet ways grief lingers over decades. However, for reasons that surprised me, I had some difficulty fully settling into the narrative. I generally enjoy novels that move back and forth in time, but in this case the early transitions felt somewhat disjointed, making it harder for me to become emotionally grounded in the story at first.
That said, the writing itself is solid, and the author clearly excels at character development. Each member of the family feels distinct and thoughtfully drawn, and the emotional beats are handled with care rather than melodrama. Ultimately, though, the overarching narrative felt a bit too straightforward and predictable for my tastes, and I found myself wanting more narrative tension or surprise, particularly in how the story’s larger themes unfolded.
Where the novel truly shines is in the middle section. This is where the characters deepen, relationships become more nuanced, and the emotional weight of Susan’s absence finally settles in. These chapters are compelling and thoughtful, and they kept me invested even when I wasn’t fully convinced by the structure as a whole.
In the end, Family Drama is a thoughtfully written novel with strong character work and moments of genuine emotional resonance, even if it didn’t entirely click with me from start to finish. Readers who enjoy quieter, character-driven family sagas—especially those centered on legacy, memory, and grief—will likely find much to appreciate here, and I’m glad I stuck with it despite my initial hesitation.
Family Drama opens at the funeral of a beloved soap opera star and mother, Susan, whose death leaves behind her husband and two children. From that moment, the novel unfolds across multiple timelines, moving between Susan’s life in the 1980s and the mid-2000s, when her family and friends are left to navigate life, memory, and unresolved relationships in her absence. Through these shifts, the story attempts to explore not only who Susan was, but how her presence—and loss—shaped the people closest to her.
On paper, this has all the elements of the kind of multigenerational family saga I typically enjoy. There is plenty of emotional terrain here: complicated marriages, parent-child dynamics, friendship, resentment, and the quiet ways grief lingers over decades. However, for reasons that surprised me, I had some difficulty fully settling into the narrative. I generally enjoy novels that move back and forth in time, but in this case the early transitions felt somewhat disjointed, making it harder for me to become emotionally grounded in the story at first.
That said, the writing itself is solid, and the author clearly excels at character development. Each member of the family feels distinct and thoughtfully drawn, and the emotional beats are handled with care rather than melodrama. Ultimately, though, the overarching narrative felt a bit too straightforward and predictable for my tastes, and I found myself wanting more narrative tension or surprise, particularly in how the story’s larger themes unfolded.
Where the novel truly shines is in the middle section. This is where the characters deepen, relationships become more nuanced, and the emotional weight of Susan’s absence finally settles in. These chapters are compelling and thoughtful, and they kept me invested even when I wasn’t fully convinced by the structure as a whole.
In the end, Family Drama is a thoughtfully written novel with strong character work and moments of genuine emotional resonance, even if it didn’t entirely click with me from start to finish. Readers who enjoy quieter, character-driven family sagas—especially those centered on legacy, memory, and grief—will likely find much to appreciate here, and I’m glad I stuck with it despite my initial hesitation.
Review of advance copy
Thank you to Gloss reading Club and to the Publisher for an advanced copy of this book.
Book Review: Family Drama by Rebecca Fallon
Rating: 3 stars
This book is a dual pov, Dual timeline book about Susan Bliss, a beloved Soap Opera star who is torn between two worlds. When she passes away she leaves behind two young Children (Sebastian and Viola) who, in their Young Adult years pursue answers about her mothers career and life while she was a Soap Opera Star, despite their father trying to hide Susan’s past from them.
Flash back to: Susan meets Alcott Bliss after her performance as witch in a play about the Salem Witch trials. The play is in a local museum not Broadway but that doesn’t deter Susan for her goal of a Hollywood actress. Al and Susan marry and enjoy their lives in New England until Susan lands a spot on a daytime soap filmed in Hollywood. Al doesn’t want to leave his Professor role at a NE college so Susan commutes between the two coasts. When Susan becomes pregnant with twins she becomes town between the Soap Opera world and the world of being a wife and mother.
I felt like this book had a great premise and great bones to it. With that said with the constant shifting of points of view and timeline, it made it difficult for the reader to engage with the characters and also left the reader with confusion as to where they were in the story with all of the bouncing around. By the time we hit the section leading up to and then when her death happened, it was hard to have emotion towards her because the reader did not have enough time to understand and empathize with Susan.
I did enjoy learning about how actresses in the soap industry were treated differently in the 1980’s (if you were pregnant you were written off the show) versus present day where it is often written into the show. You could see in the book Susans struggles between being a wife and mother and being an actress but the constant bouncing around made it difficult to keep engaged in the book. I also found that the timelines (1980’s versus 2000’s) were well represented in this book. I do feel this Author has promise and I would read one of her titles again.
Without the constant POV and timeline shifting this book would have the bones to even be a Tv/streaming series. I didn't hate the book but there was just something missing.
Book Review: Family Drama by Rebecca Fallon
Rating: 3 stars
This book is a dual pov, Dual timeline book about Susan Bliss, a beloved Soap Opera star who is torn between two worlds. When she passes away she leaves behind two young Children (Sebastian and Viola) who, in their Young Adult years pursue answers about her mothers career and life while she was a Soap Opera Star, despite their father trying to hide Susan’s past from them.
Flash back to: Susan meets Alcott Bliss after her performance as witch in a play about the Salem Witch trials. The play is in a local museum not Broadway but that doesn’t deter Susan for her goal of a Hollywood actress. Al and Susan marry and enjoy their lives in New England until Susan lands a spot on a daytime soap filmed in Hollywood. Al doesn’t want to leave his Professor role at a NE college so Susan commutes between the two coasts. When Susan becomes pregnant with twins she becomes town between the Soap Opera world and the world of being a wife and mother.
I felt like this book had a great premise and great bones to it. With that said with the constant shifting of points of view and timeline, it made it difficult for the reader to engage with the characters and also left the reader with confusion as to where they were in the story with all of the bouncing around. By the time we hit the section leading up to and then when her death happened, it was hard to have emotion towards her because the reader did not have enough time to understand and empathize with Susan.
I did enjoy learning about how actresses in the soap industry were treated differently in the 1980’s (if you were pregnant you were written off the show) versus present day where it is often written into the show. You could see in the book Susans struggles between being a wife and mother and being an actress but the constant bouncing around made it difficult to keep engaged in the book. I also found that the timelines (1980’s versus 2000’s) were well represented in this book. I do feel this Author has promise and I would read one of her titles again.
Without the constant POV and timeline shifting this book would have the bones to even be a Tv/streaming series. I didn't hate the book but there was just something missing.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Thank you to @boroughpress for sending me this early proof 🫶🏻.
Out: 15th January 2026
It’s the 90’s and Susan Bliss is living two lives. In New England she’s a young mother, married to a history professor. In Los Angeles, she is the star of a popular soap opera called ‘Life And Times’.
But when Susan tragically dies her husband, Alcott, decides only one of her lives will be remembered.
Its now the 2000’s and Susan’s children, Viola and Sebastian, have no idea of their mother’s fame. But the past can’t stay hidden forever and as the twins push to find out who their mother was, they spin off in opposite directions.
Obsession, ambition, love, pain, wonder, mystery. Every family has its dramas. Can we ever know someone completely?
•••••
Multi-generational, literary fiction that completely immersed me in the emotional complexities of a family and loss. The only way I can describe this one is you don’t just read the story; you feel it. Which sounds so silly because we must feel all the books we read, right? But I really felt this one. When I finished this book, I felt both full and a totally moved …in the best possible way.
This book was character focused and had a multiple timeline, which I love. The characters were flawed, had secrets, struggles and strengths. There is a lot of to unpack with this book and a lot of raw emotion, but Fallon wrote this tale beautifully.
It was one of those stories that has a very steady pace, and it somehow feels like not much is happening but at the same time, a hell of a lot is happening.
I think this would be the perfect book for a book club read. It raises lots of questions and differing opinions. Especially with the parenting angle.
It’s not a story with massive twists and turns or gasp moments. It is raw, tender, poignant, and heartfelt. It is gracefully told and deeply resonant. It does have the topic of cancer running through the story, so be mindful of triggers.
I thoroughly enjoyed this debut novel. It’s a book that stays with you, makes you think. It pulled me in so naturally with its intensity, I was truly moved.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This novel still has me seething about the shut-down, denialism of a husband and father who refuses to celebrate or facilitate his wife’s soaring soap opera stardom. Starting in the 1980’s between Salem, Massachusetts and Hollywood, Susan Byrne wants desperately to have a Hollywood career along with a stable family life. She falls for Alcott (Al) Bliss, a classic, tenure-track Harvard professor who’s smitten with her but also determined to hold onto his classic New England conservative lifestyle. He moves them from Boston, where commuting to California would be so much easier for Susan, to rural Salem near his judgy Brahmin mother. When Susan lands a role in a long-running soap opera, she finds she must bifurcate her life between stodgy Salem and party-hearty Hollywood, with an exhausting weekly commute between the two.
Add unexpected twins into the mix, and Al hopes Susan will just settle down into being a full-time traditional housewife and mother. He’s not willing to consider moving out to California with her, as any other academic institution would be beneath him. And when Susan wants to jump start her TV acting career again, he could not be more put upon. The twins, Sebastian (Seb) and Viola (Lola) adore their mom but are too young to understand her absences. When Susan gets breast cancer and moves home to be cared for, Al secretly relishes her giving up her career. And when Susan dies, Al burns all the tapes of her TV shows and speaks not a word to the kids about their Mom’s TV life.
All this simmers and boils to a head, creating much family drama as Seb and Lola age and try to reconcile their grief. Their lives intersect with their Moms’ loving sister, who Al had banished from their lives after Susan’s death as well as Susan’s close acting friend Orson.
The writing’s smart, the characterizations deep and radiant, and the wrestling with memory and grief profound. And I’m still reverberating with resentment at Al’s behavior to both Susan and his children.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.
Add unexpected twins into the mix, and Al hopes Susan will just settle down into being a full-time traditional housewife and mother. He’s not willing to consider moving out to California with her, as any other academic institution would be beneath him. And when Susan wants to jump start her TV acting career again, he could not be more put upon. The twins, Sebastian (Seb) and Viola (Lola) adore their mom but are too young to understand her absences. When Susan gets breast cancer and moves home to be cared for, Al secretly relishes her giving up her career. And when Susan dies, Al burns all the tapes of her TV shows and speaks not a word to the kids about their Mom’s TV life.
All this simmers and boils to a head, creating much family drama as Seb and Lola age and try to reconcile their grief. Their lives intersect with their Moms’ loving sister, who Al had banished from their lives after Susan’s death as well as Susan’s close acting friend Orson.
The writing’s smart, the characterizations deep and radiant, and the wrestling with memory and grief profound. And I’m still reverberating with resentment at Al’s behavior to both Susan and his children.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Family Drama
Author: Rebecca Fallon
Source: NetGalley
Publication Date: Feb 3, 2026
Family Drama is an excellent work of literary fiction that explores the conflicting roles of women and men set in the 1990s. Our MFC, Susan Bliss, is a young, aspiring actress married to a tenured college professor in New England. When she gets an opportunity to star in a California soap opera, Susan takes the part, understanding it’s a few weeks of work, and her husband, Al, agrees. Susan decides she will work during the week and fly home on weekends. But her role is successful, and 15 years later, she is a star, and the travel arrangements take their toll. Throw in the birth of twins, a boy and a girl, and life gets increasingly complex. Susan is still convinced she can pursue a career she loves while making the weekend job of being a loving mother work. She is successful with this schedule until tragedy strikes. Her husband, Al, is supportive, but there is underlying tension as he raises the kids to have a “normal” life in New England, away from Hollywood. The twins grow up without knowing of their mother’s stellar acting career and life away from them. They “know” the Mom that they see on weekends. This debut novel was very well crafted and easy to follow through different timelines. It is also a testament to the fact that secrets, no matter how well-intentioned or used as a means of control, rarely work out once they are no longer secrets. Ms. Fallon has done an excellent job and written a compelling story. This is a close look at stereotypical roles for women and men and navigating change. There are no easy answers. Bravo.
#FamilyDrama @rebeccafallon__ @netgalley @simonandschuster #secrets #romance #comingofage
I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the opportunity to read this novel.
Family Drama
Author: Rebecca Fallon
Source: NetGalley
Publication Date: Feb 3, 2026
Family Drama is an excellent work of literary fiction that explores the conflicting roles of women and men set in the 1990s. Our MFC, Susan Bliss, is a young, aspiring actress married to a tenured college professor in New England. When she gets an opportunity to star in a California soap opera, Susan takes the part, understanding it’s a few weeks of work, and her husband, Al, agrees. Susan decides she will work during the week and fly home on weekends. But her role is successful, and 15 years later, she is a star, and the travel arrangements take their toll. Throw in the birth of twins, a boy and a girl, and life gets increasingly complex. Susan is still convinced she can pursue a career she loves while making the weekend job of being a loving mother work. She is successful with this schedule until tragedy strikes. Her husband, Al, is supportive, but there is underlying tension as he raises the kids to have a “normal” life in New England, away from Hollywood. The twins grow up without knowing of their mother’s stellar acting career and life away from them. They “know” the Mom that they see on weekends. This debut novel was very well crafted and easy to follow through different timelines. It is also a testament to the fact that secrets, no matter how well-intentioned or used as a means of control, rarely work out once they are no longer secrets. Ms. Fallon has done an excellent job and written a compelling story. This is a close look at stereotypical roles for women and men and navigating change. There are no easy answers. Bravo.
#FamilyDrama @rebeccafallon__ @netgalley @simonandschuster #secrets #romance #comingofage
I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the opportunity to read this novel.
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