New York Times Bestselling Author Allegra Goodman in Conversation with Tova Mirvis
In partnership with Nu Reads, a new initiative from The Jewish Book Council, we invite you to the launch of Allegra Goodman’s newest book This Is Not About Us, moderated by author Tova Mirvis. The two will discuss Goodman’s highly anticipated, buzzed-about book, the craft of storytelling, and the ways Jewish identity, tradition, faith, and cultural inheritance shape their work.
The event will feature an audience Q&A dessert reception, and book signing.
This event will benefit The Jewish Book Council and its new program, Nu Reads, a bi-monthly book subscription series, connecting readers with essential contemporary Jewish fiction by pairing new releases with curated conversations and exclusive author programming. In just a few short months since its launch, Nu Reads has built a vibrant community of over 1,600 readers nationwide, offering authors guaranteed reach and readers direct access to the writers shaping today’s literary landscape.
Tickets: $36 (includes the Nu Reads Box featuring Allegra Goodman’s novel + additional goodies)
Thank you to our additional Boston community sponsors: Hebrew College, The Jewish Community Day School (JCDS), The Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, and The Vilna Shul.
A kaleidoscopic portrait of a modern American family—steadfast, complicated, begrudging, and loving—from the bestselling author of Isola
“A compelling, love-laced portrait of several generations of a family much like yours, mine and just about everyone’s.”—People (Most Anticipated Books of 2026)
About ‘This is Not About Us’:
Was this just a brief skirmish, or the beginning of a thirty-year feud? In the Rubinstein family, it could go either way.
When their beloved sister passes away, Sylvia and Helen Rubinstein are unmoored. A misunderstanding about apple cake turns into a decade of stubborn silence. Busy with their own lives—divorces, dating, career setbacks, college applications, bat mitzvahs and ballet recitals—their children do not want to get involved. As for their grandchildren? Impossible.
With This Is Not About Us, master storyteller Allegra Goodman—whose prior collection was heralded as “one of the most astute and engaging books about American family life” (The Boston Globe)—returns to the form and subject that endeared her to legions of readers. Sharply observed and laced with humor, This Is Not About Us is a story of growing up and growing old, the weight of parental expectations, and the complex connection between sisters—a big-hearted book about the love that binds a family across generations.
About Allegra Goodman:
Allegra Goodman’s new book This Is Not About Us will be published in February, 2026. Her novels include Isola (a Reese’s Book Club selection), Sam (a Read With Jenna Book Club selection), The Chalk Artist (winner of the Massachusetts Book Award), Intuition, The Cookbook Collector, Paradise Park, and Kaaterskill Falls (a National Book Award finalist). Raised in Honolulu, Goodman studied English and philosophy at Harvard and received a PhD in English literature from Stanford. She is the recipient of a Whiting Writer’s Award, the Salon Award for Fiction, and fellowships from MacDowell and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. She lives with her family in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
About Tova Mirvis:
Tova Mirvis is the author of the memoir The Book of Separation as well as four novels, We Would Never, Visible City, The Outside World and The Ladies Auxiliary, which was a national bestseller. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe Magazine and Real Simple, and her fiction has been broadcast on NPR. She lives in Newton, MA with her family.