What do you think?
Rate this book
Family Drama
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 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 an unconventional, jetlag-filled arrangement that takes her back and forth between her life in New England as a wife and mother to young twins to the bright lights of Los Angeles, where she becomes the beloved star of a daytime soap.
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 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 an unconventional, jetlag-filled arrangement that takes her back and forth between her life in New England as a wife and mother to young twins to the bright lights of Los Angeles, where she becomes the beloved star of a daytime soap.
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
First published February 3, 2026
164 people are currently reading
25827 people want to read
About the author
Rebecca Fallon
1 book107 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 237 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.
February 2, 2026
Wow, what an incredible book. I’m not even sure where to begin there are so many emotions at play. This is the story of love and loss and the search for completeness. This is a very weighty story full of characters carrying so much sadness and regret until they can come to terms with what they’ve had, what they have and what they’ve lost. I absolutely loved this book - the characters, the story, the writing style. It completely touched me and brought me intimately into this family’s drama.
The story revolves around Susan Bliss/Byrne, a soap opera star struggling to stay true to her personal dreams of acting against the conflicting priorities of her husband’s aspirations and wishes, unexpected motherhood and ultimately a terminal illness. The impacts Susan’s life and untimely death have on her husband, twin children, her sister and her best friend are the shared focus as the author looks back through alternating timelines - before and after Susan’s death. All of the main characters - Susie, Al, Viola, Sebastian, Sadie and Orson - are so special and so uniquely and well developed.
The writing style was unexpected and, it first it threw me off a little. Points of view shift without preamble or indication and conversations flow in single run on sentences separated only by changes in quotation marks. Once I settled in, it was perfect. It just enhanced the overall style of visualizing simple and intimate moments, events, conversations and embellishing them with inner monologues, thoughts and feelings. Every chapter, every sequence was laden with so much emotion and intensity in relatively few words that I found myself highlighting and rereading constantly. The writing is really beautiful and you felt everything the characters were feeling in such a real way. Just amazing.
This is going on the favorites list and it’s an impressive debut. I’m not ready to be away from the characters, I miss being part of their lives already. My heart was a little broken but there is hope left as well. Must read!
Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster and Rebecca Fallon for the opportunity to read an advance copy of such a lovely book and share my opinions.
The story revolves around Susan Bliss/Byrne, a soap opera star struggling to stay true to her personal dreams of acting against the conflicting priorities of her husband’s aspirations and wishes, unexpected motherhood and ultimately a terminal illness. The impacts Susan’s life and untimely death have on her husband, twin children, her sister and her best friend are the shared focus as the author looks back through alternating timelines - before and after Susan’s death. All of the main characters - Susie, Al, Viola, Sebastian, Sadie and Orson - are so special and so uniquely and well developed.
The writing style was unexpected and, it first it threw me off a little. Points of view shift without preamble or indication and conversations flow in single run on sentences separated only by changes in quotation marks. Once I settled in, it was perfect. It just enhanced the overall style of visualizing simple and intimate moments, events, conversations and embellishing them with inner monologues, thoughts and feelings. Every chapter, every sequence was laden with so much emotion and intensity in relatively few words that I found myself highlighting and rereading constantly. The writing is really beautiful and you felt everything the characters were feeling in such a real way. Just amazing.
This is going on the favorites list and it’s an impressive debut. I’m not ready to be away from the characters, I miss being part of their lives already. My heart was a little broken but there is hope left as well. Must read!
Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster and Rebecca Fallon for the opportunity to read an advance copy of such a lovely book and share my opinions.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
"A vibrant debut and powerful meditation on family, motherhood, and the cost of holding on to your dreams."
In this powerful novel, Rebecca Fallon masterfully explores family, motherhood, gender roles and grief in a poignant and beautiful way. The story is told in dual timeline alternating between Susan's life and that of her husband and twins.
In 1997, soap opera star Susan Byrne passes away and has a burial at sea with her seven-year-old twins Viola and Sebastian present. This experience has significant ripples throughout the family and her friends for years to come. The complications between Susan and her husband Al in a bicoastal marriage, Sebastian's anger at his father and wanting to research everything he can find about his mother. Viola wanting nothing to do with her mother's memory as she has abandonment issues and dates an older man while in college.
The themes that stood out for me are balancing motherhood and career. The exploration of grief in the novel is outstanding as each member of the family including her sister and best friend is unique in how they react and move through the world because of it. The novel also does a great job of showing that often we have two sides- the one we show to the world and our private side which sometimes only those closest to us will see. This is a terrific novel and those who love family sagas should read it.
Mamy thanks to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, and Rebecca Fallon for an advance reader's copy. All opinions are my own.
In this powerful novel, Rebecca Fallon masterfully explores family, motherhood, gender roles and grief in a poignant and beautiful way. The story is told in dual timeline alternating between Susan's life and that of her husband and twins.
In 1997, soap opera star Susan Byrne passes away and has a burial at sea with her seven-year-old twins Viola and Sebastian present. This experience has significant ripples throughout the family and her friends for years to come. The complications between Susan and her husband Al in a bicoastal marriage, Sebastian's anger at his father and wanting to research everything he can find about his mother. Viola wanting nothing to do with her mother's memory as she has abandonment issues and dates an older man while in college.
The themes that stood out for me are balancing motherhood and career. The exploration of grief in the novel is outstanding as each member of the family including her sister and best friend is unique in how they react and move through the world because of it. The novel also does a great job of showing that often we have two sides- the one we show to the world and our private side which sometimes only those closest to us will see. This is a terrific novel and those who love family sagas should read it.
Mamy thanks to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, and Rebecca Fallon for an advance reader's copy. All opinions are my own.
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.
February 3, 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.
February 8, 2026
3 stars. This begins with 7-year-old twins watching as their mother’s body is being slid off a boat into water in what is called a “Viking funeral.” Fast forward to the present and twins Sebastian + Viola are now grown.. Sebastian seeking answers as to who their mother really was.. Viola resentful of her. Their mother had carried on living two different lives on two different coasts. In L.A. she was the daytime soap actress Susan Byrne, but along the New England shore she’s Susan Bliss, the domesticated wife to a professor named Alcott, and a mother of twins. She’s trying and failing to be two different women at once which leaves her children alone without a mother, her husband lonely for his wife. And with that, the instability influenced her children’s inability to understand who they were as adults. The story spans over two decades as it switches between different timelines + characters, and so sorry, but I did find it difficult to keep track of. A daring debut with a fresh, bold concept. Looking forward to her next! Liked. 📖🎧 Pub. 2/3/26
Many thanks to Simon & Schuster via NetGalley for the advance reader’s copy. All opinions are my own.
Many thanks to Simon & Schuster via NetGalley for the advance reader’s copy. All opinions are my own.
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.
February 11, 2026
I’m a HUGE fan of family dramas, so Rebecca Fallon’s debut, FAMILY DRAMA was screaming my name from the rooftops! I am the ideal audience for this novel, there’s no doubt about that. Take a peek at this synopsis:
𝘈 𝘷𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘯𝘯 𝘕𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘰. 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.
I was immediately drawn to the matriarch of the family, Susan. I enjoyed the flashbacks to her life as an actress, struggling to juggle her career and family life. A woman equally ambitious and passionate about her soap opera gig as she was to raising her children.
The daughter, Viola also had an intriguing (and somewhat scandalous) storyline. Her love affair with an older man provided much shock value and overall juiciness.
The son, Sebastian made my heart ache. His grief and search for insight on his mother’s past made for an emotional journey on his end.
READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY:
- Family drama and dynamics
- Marriage and motherhood
- Multiple timelines and POVs
- Reflections on loss and grief
- Dynamic characters
- Soap opera actress lifestyle
- Stories that span decades
Overall, I was quite impressed with this debut and look forward to reading more from Fallon in the future. Her writing style is quite lovely and incredibly unique.
4/5 stars for FAMILY DRAMA! It’s out now!
𝘈 𝘷𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘯𝘯 𝘕𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘰. 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.
I was immediately drawn to the matriarch of the family, Susan. I enjoyed the flashbacks to her life as an actress, struggling to juggle her career and family life. A woman equally ambitious and passionate about her soap opera gig as she was to raising her children.
The daughter, Viola also had an intriguing (and somewhat scandalous) storyline. Her love affair with an older man provided much shock value and overall juiciness.
The son, Sebastian made my heart ache. His grief and search for insight on his mother’s past made for an emotional journey on his end.
READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY:
- Family drama and dynamics
- Marriage and motherhood
- Multiple timelines and POVs
- Reflections on loss and grief
- Dynamic characters
- Soap opera actress lifestyle
- Stories that span decades
Overall, I was quite impressed with this debut and look forward to reading more from Fallon in the future. Her writing style is quite lovely and incredibly unique.
4/5 stars for FAMILY DRAMA! It’s out now!
February 16, 2026
As a millennial, I was raised on the drama of daytime talk shows and soaps. This story follows our leading lady, Susie, as her life intertwines with Al, an intensely focused and supportive academic. As Susie's star begins to rise and she ascends to fame, it sets off a chain of decisions for both of them that have lasting and unforeseen effects even after her unexpected and abrupt departure from the spotlight.
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...
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Family drama, except the drama is trauma.
The book starts with one family at the death of the mother, a soap opera star. The story then splits into two timelines: the mother (Susie), as she becomes a TV star as an adult; and her two children (twins Viola and Sebastian) as they grow up in the shadow of who their mother used to be...
It's a good character study, and it is well written. But the plot is mid. I found the book hard to get into at first. While parts of the book were very well written, others felt less fleshed out and very plain. I did appreciate how grief here, in losing a parent at a young age, is less about being stabbed in the heart, and more about this gap in who you are as a person. But the grief from the father, the sister, and the ex co-star was less believable, or just not highlighted well. There's a chasm between who Susie wanted to be and who her husband, Al wanted her to be-- and this difference and lack of respect is never reconciled or even confronted, when it desperately needed to be.
Towards the end I was confused about ages and timelines. Viola was in her Masters program when Sebastian says she was around their mom's age when she got sick-which didn't make sense to me if she died when the kids were 7.
Ultimately, Family Drama is about who we think people are, and how we imagine and paint them when they are no longer around.
TW/maybe spoiler?: There is a large age gap relationship in the novel between Viola and the mother's ex co-star.
Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC copy of this book- all opinions are mine.
The book starts with one family at the death of the mother, a soap opera star. The story then splits into two timelines: the mother (Susie), as she becomes a TV star as an adult; and her two children (twins Viola and Sebastian) as they grow up in the shadow of who their mother used to be...
It's a good character study, and it is well written. But the plot is mid. I found the book hard to get into at first. While parts of the book were very well written, others felt less fleshed out and very plain. I did appreciate how grief here, in losing a parent at a young age, is less about being stabbed in the heart, and more about this gap in who you are as a person. But the grief from the father, the sister, and the ex co-star was less believable, or just not highlighted well. There's a chasm between who Susie wanted to be and who her husband, Al wanted her to be-- and this difference and lack of respect is never reconciled or even confronted, when it desperately needed to be.
Towards the end I was confused about ages and timelines. Viola was in her Masters program when Sebastian says she was around their mom's age when she got sick-which didn't make sense to me if she died when the kids were 7.
Ultimately, Family Drama is about who we think people are, and how we imagine and paint them when they are no longer around.
TW/maybe spoiler?: There is a large age gap relationship in the novel between Viola and the mother's ex co-star.
Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC copy of this book- all opinions are mine.
February 4, 2026
We meet twins, Sebastian and Viola, who rarely saw their mother but are now watching her body lowered into the water.
Their mother was a soap opera star that came home infrequently and carried on a long distance marriage with Al her husband.
We go back and forth in time as we learn of the days before she met Al, when they are married, as her career takes off, when she has children, and when she gets sick.
It was very difficult to follow since the time kept changing as well as who was talking.
The writing is beautiful, but the storyline just didn't keep my interest. 3/5
Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
Their mother was a soap opera star that came home infrequently and carried on a long distance marriage with Al her husband.
We go back and forth in time as we learn of the days before she met Al, when they are married, as her career takes off, when she has children, and when she gets sick.
It was very difficult to follow since the time kept changing as well as who was talking.
The writing is beautiful, but the storyline just didn't keep my interest. 3/5
Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
January 30, 2026
2.5⭐️
I love literary fiction. I love literary fiction about messy, complex families. I should have loved FAMILY DRAMA. I knew this was not the book for me when I continued to find reasons not to pick it up.
The pacing was slow. The characters were not particularly sympathetic. The timeline jumps were confusing. Viola’s romantic relationship gave me the ick. And I was bored.
Admittedly, real world events made focusing a challenge. I was desperately looking for an escape and this was not it. Readers who appreciate a slow build and meandering storyline will be better suited as readers for this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advance copy. All opinions are my own.
I love literary fiction. I love literary fiction about messy, complex families. I should have loved FAMILY DRAMA. I knew this was not the book for me when I continued to find reasons not to pick it up.
The pacing was slow. The characters were not particularly sympathetic. The timeline jumps were confusing. Viola’s romantic relationship gave me the ick. And I was bored.
Admittedly, real world events made focusing a challenge. I was desperately looking for an escape and this was not it. Readers who appreciate a slow build and meandering storyline will be better suited as readers for this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advance copy. All opinions are my own.
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.
February 4, 2026
Family Drama by Rebecca Fallon (Publisher: Simon & Schuster) is the kind of behind-the-scenes, showbiz-flavored story that’s really about something more universal: what you owe the people you love vs. what you’re allowed to keep for yourself. On the surface, it’s about a soap opera star, Susan, and her fierce need to keep her personal life private. Underneath, it’s a thoughtful look at marriage, parenting, and the price of being “known” by the public while still trying to be a normal human being at home.
I totally got where Susan was coming from. She’s living and working in California, and she doesn’t insist that her husband Al and their twins Sebastian and Viola come join her. And honestly? I understand that choice. She’s trying to protect them from the “cesspool of Hollywood”—that feeling that the industry chews people up, spits them out, and turns private lives into public property. Who can blame her for wanting her kids to have something stable and normal, away from the constant gossip, ambition, and career volatility?
At the same time, this book made me wrestle with the other side too—because Al’s decisions matter here. Part of me faults Al for not telling the kids more about Susan’s life as an actress… but another part of me gets it. If Susan’s roles are controversial, and even Al doesn’t fully understand what she’s doing or why she’s choosing certain parts, is it really fair to throw that in front of the kids before they’re ready? We talk a lot about “honesty” in families like it’s always the best option, but this story makes a solid case that sometimes privacy is a form of love—and sometimes sheltering isn’t denial, it’s protection.
And Fallon nails the most unsettling question of all: in an industry like this, are your coworkers actually your friends? Or are they people smiling at you while quietly hoping for your downfall, or at least your replacement? I loved how the book kept poking at that tension—because show business isn’t just about talent, it’s about perception, alliances, and who benefits from you staying on top. The fear that a career can be gone in a second—on the whim of a director, a producer, or a jealous co-star—felt very real.
Character-wise, Susan is interesting because she’s not written as a perfect victim or a perfect parent. She’s complicated. She’s making trade-offs. She’s trying to control something that’s basically uncontrollable. Al also isn’t some cartoon villain—he’s a husband trying to manage a reality he didn’t exactly choose, and a father trying to decide how much truth is too much truth for his kids. And I liked that the twins aren’t just “kids in the background.” Their presence raises the emotional stakes: every choice Susan and Al make ripples out to them, whether the adults want to admit it or not.
What I came away with most is this: Susan’s privacy isn’t just a preference—it’s survival. When your career depends on image, and people can decide you’re “difficult” or “done” overnight, it makes sense to keep the parts of your life that matter most out of reach. The book kept me thinking about that blurry line between being a public figure and still being allowed to have a private life—and how the people around you can end up paying for your fame, even if they never asked for it.
If you like character-driven drama with a messy, realistic look at family choices, this one is absolutely worth picking up.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advance copy. All opinions are my own.
I totally got where Susan was coming from. She’s living and working in California, and she doesn’t insist that her husband Al and their twins Sebastian and Viola come join her. And honestly? I understand that choice. She’s trying to protect them from the “cesspool of Hollywood”—that feeling that the industry chews people up, spits them out, and turns private lives into public property. Who can blame her for wanting her kids to have something stable and normal, away from the constant gossip, ambition, and career volatility?
At the same time, this book made me wrestle with the other side too—because Al’s decisions matter here. Part of me faults Al for not telling the kids more about Susan’s life as an actress… but another part of me gets it. If Susan’s roles are controversial, and even Al doesn’t fully understand what she’s doing or why she’s choosing certain parts, is it really fair to throw that in front of the kids before they’re ready? We talk a lot about “honesty” in families like it’s always the best option, but this story makes a solid case that sometimes privacy is a form of love—and sometimes sheltering isn’t denial, it’s protection.
And Fallon nails the most unsettling question of all: in an industry like this, are your coworkers actually your friends? Or are they people smiling at you while quietly hoping for your downfall, or at least your replacement? I loved how the book kept poking at that tension—because show business isn’t just about talent, it’s about perception, alliances, and who benefits from you staying on top. The fear that a career can be gone in a second—on the whim of a director, a producer, or a jealous co-star—felt very real.
Character-wise, Susan is interesting because she’s not written as a perfect victim or a perfect parent. She’s complicated. She’s making trade-offs. She’s trying to control something that’s basically uncontrollable. Al also isn’t some cartoon villain—he’s a husband trying to manage a reality he didn’t exactly choose, and a father trying to decide how much truth is too much truth for his kids. And I liked that the twins aren’t just “kids in the background.” Their presence raises the emotional stakes: every choice Susan and Al make ripples out to them, whether the adults want to admit it or not.
What I came away with most is this: Susan’s privacy isn’t just a preference—it’s survival. When your career depends on image, and people can decide you’re “difficult” or “done” overnight, it makes sense to keep the parts of your life that matter most out of reach. The book kept me thinking about that blurry line between being a public figure and still being allowed to have a private life—and how the people around you can end up paying for your fame, even if they never asked for it.
If you like character-driven drama with a messy, realistic look at family choices, this one is absolutely worth picking up.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advance copy. All opinions are my own.
February 14, 2026
3.5 stars - The timelines were a bit choppy and there was definitely an ick factor with Viola and Orson. Susan’s struggle to “have it all” and her relationships with her husband and young twins saddened and frustrated me, but there was something so real and raw about her conflict and ultimately the decisions she made. There was so much time lost but also time redeemed.
February 12, 2026
After their mother Susan Bliss’s dramatic Viking funeral in 1997, twin siblings Sebastian and Viola grapple with the legacy of her glamorous, divided life. Years earlier, Susan balanced marriage and motherhood in New England with a soap opera career in Los Angeles, leaving an enduring absence in her children’s lives. As adults, Sebastian clings to her memory while Viola resists it—until falling in love with Susan’s former costar forces her to confront the truth about the mother she never truly knew.
I didn't finish this one, made it about 50 pages in. There was a weird scene with a little girl and a grown man that just made me uncomfortable and honestly I had not desire to see that play out.
I didn't finish this one, made it about 50 pages in. There was a weird scene with a little girl and a grown man that just made me uncomfortable and honestly I had not desire to see that play out.
January 30, 2026
Family Drama by Rebecca Fallon. Thanks to @simonbooks for the gifted Arc ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sebastian and Viola grow up in the shadow of their actress mother’s memory. Their father rarely talks about her and doesn’t have any of the tapes of her show. When Viola runs into her mother’s old co-star, she finds herself falling in love with him and also putting together pieces of her mother’s past.
This was an interesting story about a family that is usual in some ways, but with a past they’ve been kept from. I enjoyed the current timeline more than the past, which is just the way sometimes. I found it an interesting portrayal of grief that shows there are unique ways of grieving and everyone is very different. I think it also showed the dangers of keeping the past from children, especially as they grow older. It was a complicated and dynamic family drama; just as the title says.
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some die before they get the chance.”
Read if you like:
-Stories about grief
-Twin or sibling stories
-Dual timelines
-Actress or theatre characters
Family Drama comes out 2/3.
Sebastian and Viola grow up in the shadow of their actress mother’s memory. Their father rarely talks about her and doesn’t have any of the tapes of her show. When Viola runs into her mother’s old co-star, she finds herself falling in love with him and also putting together pieces of her mother’s past.
This was an interesting story about a family that is usual in some ways, but with a past they’ve been kept from. I enjoyed the current timeline more than the past, which is just the way sometimes. I found it an interesting portrayal of grief that shows there are unique ways of grieving and everyone is very different. I think it also showed the dangers of keeping the past from children, especially as they grow older. It was a complicated and dynamic family drama; just as the title says.
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some die before they get the chance.”
Read if you like:
-Stories about grief
-Twin or sibling stories
-Dual timelines
-Actress or theatre characters
Family Drama comes out 2/3.
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.
February 8, 2026
Such a lovely story...solid debut!
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.
February 3, 2026
4.5 stars! I don’t even know how to put into words all of the things this book made me feel.
It has been a little while since I’ve read lit fic, and wow I forgot how profound they can feel! It took me a minute to get in the groove as we move through multiple POVs and dual timelines that span decades, but once I did I really enjoyed the flow!
At the heart of the story is Susan Bliss, a wife, mother, and actress who passed away when her twins were 7. Through the dual timelines we get glimpses of who she was in the past where she is essentially living a split life. One where she pursues her dreams and is an actress in a soap opera on the west coast during the week, and one where she is a wife and mother on the east coast on the weekends.
We also follow her husband, Al, as he tries desperately to create the life he envisioned- living together as a family. He grapples with confronting reality, the disconnect between who his wife was to him/who he wanted her to be vs the character she plays on screen, and raising their children alone.
As Viola and Sebastian grow up they try to piece together who their mother was through the things she left behind. We see how her loss shapes them and transforms as they age and the great impact it has on their relationships going forward.
This felt like a meditation on time and the pursuit of happiness. It was messy and real. It depicts grief, love, closure, misinterpretation, growth, blame, self discovery, family, and so much more. I really, really loved it even more than I expected to!
It has been a little while since I’ve read lit fic, and wow I forgot how profound they can feel! It took me a minute to get in the groove as we move through multiple POVs and dual timelines that span decades, but once I did I really enjoyed the flow!
At the heart of the story is Susan Bliss, a wife, mother, and actress who passed away when her twins were 7. Through the dual timelines we get glimpses of who she was in the past where she is essentially living a split life. One where she pursues her dreams and is an actress in a soap opera on the west coast during the week, and one where she is a wife and mother on the east coast on the weekends.
We also follow her husband, Al, as he tries desperately to create the life he envisioned- living together as a family. He grapples with confronting reality, the disconnect between who his wife was to him/who he wanted her to be vs the character she plays on screen, and raising their children alone.
As Viola and Sebastian grow up they try to piece together who their mother was through the things she left behind. We see how her loss shapes them and transforms as they age and the great impact it has on their relationships going forward.
This felt like a meditation on time and the pursuit of happiness. It was messy and real. It depicts grief, love, closure, misinterpretation, growth, blame, self discovery, family, and so much more. I really, really loved it even more than I expected to!
January 30, 2026
Ahhh this book was SO good! The writing style of the story gives me Taylor Jenkins Reid vibes (whom I love!!) like Malibu Rising or Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. It’s not a happy story but that isn’t a bad thing. It’s more so just… life. Soap opera actor Susan Bliss dies when her children are young and can hardly remember her. They spend the next 15 years trying to know her but realizing that no matter how many people they talk to or memories they have of her, they will never know all of her and it’s something we all as humans have to live with.
It’s beautifully, lyrically written. Some scenes are as if you are outside the narrating characters body watching what happens to them hazily from afar, wishing you could stop the train wreck of life but realizing you can’t. There are millennial references to specific things (that I love) like this scene in the middle school girls locker room “ tying up oversized shirts with hair elastics to grant a peek of their bellybuttons, rolling up their Soffe shorts one, two, three times” 🤣
So glad, as a new mother now, that I made this book one of my first of 2026. It makes me cherish every moment with my small baby because you never know how many you’ll get.
It’s beautifully, lyrically written. Some scenes are as if you are outside the narrating characters body watching what happens to them hazily from afar, wishing you could stop the train wreck of life but realizing you can’t. There are millennial references to specific things (that I love) like this scene in the middle school girls locker room “ tying up oversized shirts with hair elastics to grant a peek of their bellybuttons, rolling up their Soffe shorts one, two, three times” 🤣
So glad, as a new mother now, that I made this book one of my first of 2026. It makes me cherish every moment with my small baby because you never know how many you’ll get.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 237 reviews