-
See Our Best Book
Club Books of 2026!
From a #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a powerful novel about family, the weight of secrets, the choices we make, and the repercussions of the decisions made for us.
When Bunny Linden abandons her three children with her older sister, Jayne, in 1972, she knows Jayne will be the perfect mother. The mother Bunny, a teen runaway, could never be.
As months turn into years without word, Jayne and her husband, Rodger, a rising journalism star, strive to give the children the opportunity to flourish and feel loved. When Jayne and Rodger finally have a child of their own, a seemingly stable home is built. But then, after nearly a decade, Bunny resurfaces and sets a chain of events in motion that detonates all their lives.
As adults, their children try to reassemble the pieces and solve the mystery that has always haunted them. Who were their parents? What really happened between them? And who is ultimately to blame for the destruction? But will the answers they seek set them free―or lead to something far more damaging than anyone imagined?
"An anguished investigation of the way memories can warp lives." ―Kirkus Reviews
"The touchstones the book shares with Dylan Farrow's life are bound to provoke conversation around this powerful, tragic tale." ―Booklist
"Writing with grace and intelligence, Kraus explores the complex intersection of memory and loyalty in a sweeping story about a broken family and the women who knit together the remains. Perfect for book clubs." ―Sarah Pekkanen, #1 New York Times bestselling author of House of Glass
"From a beloved writer comes a unique, deeply moving story told with heart, depth, and humor about the women we are, the women we come from, and the way we heal." ―Rebecca Serle, New York Times bestselling author of In Five Years and Expiration Dates
This information about The Best We Could Hope For was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Nicola Kraus and Emma McLaughlin met at New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where they both graduated with concentrations in Arts in Education. Before teaming up to write The Nanny Diaries, Kraus had continued in the arts and McLaughlin worked as a business consultant within the private and public sectors.
Newsweek declared McLaughlin and Kraus’s The Nanny Diaries a ‘phenomenon.’ It is a number on New York Times best-seller and the longest-running hardcover best seller of 2002. In 2007 The Nanny Diaries was released as a major motion picture starring Scarlett Johansson, Laura Linney and Alicia Keys.
McLaughlin and Kraus have appeared numerous times on CNN, MSNBC, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Entertainment Tonight and The View...
... Full Biography
Link to Nicola Kraus's Website
Name Pronunciation
Nicola Kraus: kraus rhymes with mouse
The Sister's Curse
by Nicola Solvinic
The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes
by Chanel Cleeton
The Vanishing Place
by Zoë Rankin
 (1).gif)
Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Can you name the title?
Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
