Uplifting Novels Featuring Family Drama
Every family is different, but the one thing they usually have in common is a sense of quirkiness or dysfunction. The idea that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree might not exactly be what some of these characters want to hear, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. Peek inside someone else’s home with these 10 novels that have families who put the fun in dysfunctional, and will either leave you wanting to be adopted by them or thankful for the family that you already have.
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Add to BookshelfThe Perkins Family: The Jetsetters
by Amanda Eyre Ward
As a single mother who brought up her three, now grown and estranged children, Charlotte Perkins is used to being alone. Determined to bring the family back together by entering the Become a Jetsetter contest for a chance to travel the world, Charlotte hopes to win and bring her kids with her — and she does! Lee, Cord, Regan, and Charlotte take off through Greece, Italy, and Spain — revisiting the past along the way. Forced to reckon with their unsatisfying lives and the paths that led them there, Charlotte and her children not only have to come to terms with everyone else’s mistakes but their own as well. If there’s one thing this family learns, it’s that it’s never too late to smooth things over and start anew.
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$19.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Belsey Family: On Beauty
by Zadie Smith
Professor Howard Belsey lives outside of Boston with his wife Kiki, and their three vastly different children Levi, Zora, and Jerome. While Levi is passionately involved in addressing Black issues, his efforts are misguided; Zora is an activist, but is desperate to follow in her father’s academic footsteps; and Jerome ignites a fire in their home when he abandons his family’s liberal, atheist beliefs to intern for a right-wing, Christian family — whose patriarch is none other than Howard’s nemesis Monty Kipps. Comedic drama from both the Belseys and the Kipps instigates affairs, theft, and lies that will fundamentally change both families — for better and worse.
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The Bennet Family: Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
Elizabeth Bennet is one of five sisters — each with differing opinions regarding marriage. However, in order to save their family from financial ruin, one will need to marry a wealthy man. In the hopes of finding a husband for her sister Jane, Lizzie has a run in with a man of her own — one she just can’t stand. But between her older sister Jane’s love match to Mr. Darcy’s friend, and her youngest sister Kitty’s interest in his enemy, Mr. Darcy might prove to be the man who can handle Lizzie, and every Bennet that comes with her.
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$9.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Patel Family: The Marriage Game
by Sara Desai
Layla Patel moves back home when her work life comes crumbling down, prompting her father to give her the upstairs office in his restaurant where she can start a recruitment business of her own. But this all comes with a catch — her father will set her up on a slew of blind dates, all pre-approved by him. But amidst the excitement of finding Layla a suitor, he forgets that he had already promised the upstairs office to Sam Mehta, the CEO of a corporate downsizing company. With the chaos from Layla’s meddling aunts, father, and dates, sharing an office with Layla proves to be difficult — especially once Sam realizes he’s falling in love with her — and her family.
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$18.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Strick Family: All Adults Here
by Emma Straub
When 68-year-old Astrid Strick witnesses the sudden and accidental death of a woman her age, she takes this as a wake-up call to live true to herself. Coming out from a closeted relationship with a woman named Birdie, Astrid believes she was the only one keeping secrets from her family. Meanwhile, her eldest son Elliot is unhappy in all aspects of his life — and frigid towards his mother for a comment made years earlier, her daughter Porter has gone through IVF alone and is now pregnant, and her youngest son Nicky has sent his troubled 13-year-old daughter off to live with her. Once secrets unravel, the Stricks see through each other’s facades, heal old wounds, and realize that if they all feel like the black sheep, then they have far more in common than they think.
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$18.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Young Family: Crazy Rich Asians
by Kevin Kwan
Economics professor Rachel Chu believes she and her boyfriend Nick Young have a perfectly normal relationship — but that all changes when he flies her first-class to Singapore to meet his wealthy family and the dynasty they’ve built. Suddenly, Rachel isn’t just a guest at a family friend’s wedding, but the subject of scrutiny of Nick’s picky — and viciously protective — family. But there are skeletons in their designer closets and if Rachel can’t prove herself to these megalomaniacs, then she might have to kick them right in the family jewels instead.
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$18.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Das Family: Destination Wedding
by Diksha Basu
The entire Das family is together in Delhi for a wedding, but their family looks much different than the last time they visited. Neel and Radha Das are amicably divorced — with Radha’s boyfriend in tow, and a date awaiting Neel in Delhi. Their daughter Tina, who’s joined by her best friend Marianne, is now grown, but completely lost — on both professional and personal levels. This trip will bring up issues from the past, and introduce new people — and problems — that will dictate the future. Despite the tension, this vacation is exactly what the Das family needs to stir up and hash out family drama that will reestablish love lost, and lead to new love, too.
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$17.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Foxman Family: This Is Where I Leave You
by Jonathan Tropper
Judd Foxman has had a tough month — first he finds his wife Jen in bed with his boss and then his father dies unexpectedly. Called home to sit shiva with his mother and siblings, Judd’s in for a week from holy hell. Between his brother’s grudge against him, his sister-in-law’s inappropriate shenanigans, and his other siblings’ troubling relationships, Judd realizes his family might be even more messed up than he is — that is until he finds out that Jen is pregnant, and the baby is his. But a week of close quarters and chaos might be exactly what the Foxmans need to become one big happy family — or at least their version of one.
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The Chan Family: Dial A for Aunties
by Jesse Q. Sutanto
In Meddi Chan’s family, she not only has to deal with her meddlesome mother, but all her aunties too! But, when Meddi accidentally kills her blind date, it is aunties to the rescue. Not only do they help her hide the body, but when it accidentally gets taken to a wedding venue where they all work the next day, they hatch a plan. Working their family business as wedding vendors and trying to keep the body out of sight until the big day is over, this hilarious family knows how to keep their spirits up, even in times of tragedy.
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The Buckle Family: Wife 22
by Melanie Gideon
Technology has stirred up nothing but trouble for Alice Buckle. Her teenage daughter is posting inappropriate tweets, her father is divulging more about his love life to her over Facebook than any daughter wants to hear, and Alice herself has turned to posting her own private thoughts on her Facebook wall. This escalates when Alice finds herself secretly participating in an online survey about marriage under the username Wife22 to the evaluator Researcher101 — who now knows her better than her own husband. With each family member wrapped up in the online world, the Buckles are in much need of a reality check — but who will be the one to snap them out of it?
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$25.00Buy from Other Retailers:
