You Made Me Love You

The Zarr sisters are having a rough go of it: the oldest, Estelle, wants to make it as a movie director and to find a good man, but success eludes her on both fronts. Jessie, meanwhile, worries herself to the edge of mental illness as she juggles a staid marriage with "diet guru" Allan, two inquisitive children and her booming organizing and decorating business. Youngest sister Erica, living in New York, longs to become a writer. Even the girls' parents, Lilly and former songwriter Milton, are having trouble navigating the late-life doldrums ("He's retired, his voice isn't what it used to be, he's a grandfather... what's left?"). When Gladys, Milton's former business and stage partner, dies, the family reunites in Toronto and, between meltdowns and shivah sessions, help one another get sorted out. Estelle realizes she may be better off without a husband when her career takes off. Jessie's extramarital fling portends a breakdown and a pleasantly broken home. And Erica and her narcissist novelist boyfriend forge a complicated breakup. Goodman's second (after Belle of the Bayou ) offers a generously imagined panorama of life crises. (Aug. 1)