A Reason to See You Again

Jami Attenberg is one of the sharpest and most astute writers of family dynamics working today, and her latest novel, A Reason to See You Again, is no exception.

Shelly and Nancy Cohen, born to Rudy and Frieda, are polar opposites who seem only to agree on one thing as they age: their mother is too much. When Rudy dies, Frieda has no clue how to live and turns–even more–to drinking and belittling her daughters. When they’re old enough, they flee as fast as they can. Nancy marries young and outwardly lives a successful and happy life in her new marriage, while Shelly, the younger child, escapes home by graduating from high school early and starting the life that she believes will lead her to happiness.

Both girls, though, find a restlessness that lives in Frieda and existed in their father. No matter where they go, they keep returning to their childhood: what they knew, what was kept hidden, and who they are now in the aftermath of it all.

Spanning over thirty years, from 1971–2007, A Reason to See You Again is about mothers, sisters, daughters, hope, grief, art, and what it means to love when it’s hard and when it’s unrequited, when it’s the wrong thing to do and when you aren’t sure it’s really love. This one is a keeper.