Jami Attenberg's novel 'Wir könnten alles sein' explores family dynamics across decades

Jami Attenberg's eighth novel, 'Wir könnten alles sein,' traces the Cohen family from 1971 in Chicago through the early 21st century, using time jumps to depict their complex relationships. The story begins with a Scrabble game around an acrylic table, introducing Rudy, a secretly bisexual Holocaust survivor who dies early, and his wife Frieda and daughters Nancy and Shelly. After Rudy's death, the family scatters to locations like Miami, Seattle, Arizona's desert, and New York, reuniting sporadically for events like funerals and Christmas. Frieda falls for another dying man, Nancy grapples with her marriage, Shelly builds a career in the early mobile phone industry, and Nancy's daughter Jess questions the past. Attenberg focuses on neuroses, self-sabotage, and family ties over plot, weaving in cultural markers from the 1970s to the early 2000s, including the tech boom and #MeToo. The novel, recommended as a book of the week and among the best books of April 2026, skillfully repositions minor characters without losing narrative coherence.