This is Where I Leave You

I can’t think of a better book I’ve recently read which is more fitting for the holidays. And by more fitting for the holidays, I mean in the sense that this book depicts family in the rawest, most authentic way I’ve ever read.

The story begins with the death of Judd Foxman’s father. The Foxman family, who have not been together in years, gather to sit shiva—seven days and nights together in the same home.

It wasn’t until I was assigned the first chapter of This is Where I Leave You for one of my classes that I realized this book was a book first and not just a movie. The first chapter and, spoiler alert, the entire book are just like the movie.

So, if you’ve seen the movie—read the book. And, if you haven’t seen the movie, read the book then watch the movie.

What I loved about both is how real the characters felt. Similar to this story, in my family, I am one of four children and the only girl. There were moments in the book that I found my own memories coming to mind because I could see myself or my brothers in the descriptions.

My favorite example of this is when the family is sitting shiva and a discussion between two of the brothers becomes heated. Judd turns to look at his sister, Wendy.

“Wendy looks at me, her eyes widening with glee. Her smile says, This is about to get good.”

I’ve lived this moment. It’s like the author has sat at my family kitchen table and jotted observations and then published them giving us all pseudonyms.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

“You can sit up here, feeling above it all while knowing you’re not, coming to the lonely conclusion that the only thing you can ever really know about anyone is that you don’t know anything about them at all.”

“A problem is something to solve,” Phillip says. “If there’s no solution, it’s not a problem, so stop treating it like one.”

I have to give the disclaimer that there are some R rated moments in regards to sex and language. But oddly, I feel like these scenes only added to the authenticity of the novel. The language throughout is beautiful, the difficult family moments delivered with brutal honesty, all while you feel like you are watching real life play out page by page.

Rating: 5/5 stars