The Middlesteins

This book has so many touchingly normal characters. It's refreshing. It's poignant. It's heartbreaking, even more so because it is occasionally so hopeful. I loved all the characters the way you love family members - with all your heart, if not all your mind. The main character, Edie, around whom all the other story lines revolve, is an imperfect and wonderful heroine. Attenberg does an amazing job of humanizing Edie, not allowing us to hold her at arm's distance but forcing us to embrace her in all her complicated, messy glory.