A breathtaking, joy-filled novel about the people we love, the secrets we keep, and the enduring power of family, from the bestselling author of The Unsinkable Greta James.

The four Endicott siblings—Gemma, Connor, Roddy, and Jude—were once inseparable, a bond created by the absence of their dazzling, mercurial mother, who would return for a few weeks each summer to whisk them off on sprawling road trips around the country.

Decades later, the unthinkable has happened: the Endicotts haven’t spoken in years . . . until an out-of-the-blue text arrives from Jude, now a famous actress, summoning them to a small town in North Dakota. They’re each at a crossroads: Gemma, who put her own ambitions aside to raise the others, now isn’t sure if she wants to be a mother herself; Connor, a celebrated novelist, is floundering after his recent divorce and suffering from an epic case of writer’s block; and Roddy, at the tail end of a professional soccer career, is dangerously close to losing his future husband for the chance at one last season.

Jude is the only Endicott who seems to have it all together—but appearances can be deceiving. As the weekend unfolds, and the siblings wrestle with their shared past and uncertain futures, they’ll discover that Jude has been keeping three secrets . . . each of which could change everything.

A captivating journey and an ode to forgiveness that takes readers across all fifty states, Fun for the Whole Family brims with heart and resonates long after the final page.

I went into this book thinking it was going to be one of those quirky, dysfunctional, family-on-a-road-trip-type stories – a light, funny, possibly even forgettable palate cleanser. And sure, there is dysfunction. And there is a family trip (and several road trips). But wow, I was not prepared for the emotional punch this book would deliver.

The story centers around the four Endicott siblings – Gemma, Connor, Roddy, and Jude – who were practically raised by each other because their father worked all the time and their erratic and larger-than-life mother mostly abandoned them. Their only real bonding with her came during whirlwind summer road trips where each summer, they would visit a new state in hopes of one day visiting all fifty of them. Now adults, their parents are dead, and the kids have all gone their separate ways and haven’t had much contact in years… until Jude, now a famous Oscar-nominated actress, sends a cryptic message asking them to meet her in the middle of nowhere North Dakota. Secrets will be revealed, hearts will be broken (and rebuilt), and the sibling’s lives will once again be turned upside down.

In the beginning, it’s easy to see which sibling fits into which trope box. Gemma is the self-sacrificing eldest, the stand-in mom who gave up her own dreams. Connor is the tortured writer nursing a bruised ego and a fresh divorce while trying to reconnect with his kids. Roddy is the gay, aging athlete who can’t decide whether to hang up his cleats or chase one last shot at glory (and possibly sabotage his relationship in the process). And Jude, of course, is the glamorous, emotionally walled-off star with all the secrets.

While I expected each character to stick in their expected lane, the author breathes life into all of them so well that they never stay in their trope boxes. Each one is fully realized, messy, flawed, and painfully relatable. I found myself emotionally invested in all of them, which is no small feat considering the novel hops perspectives and jumps across timelines. That narrative structure – shifting between past and present, and among each sibling’s POV – could have easily become chaotic. But Smith handles it so deftly that it just flows. At no point was I confused or disoriented. Instead, I felt like I was slowly peeling back layers of a complicated family history.

One of the things I loved most was how much heart was packed into every scene. This isn’t a book that hits you over the head with its themes – it kind of slides them in between the dialogue and the memories. The emotional stakes grow as we read and secrets are laid bare – and then the healing begins.

And while I predicted one of Jude’s secrets, it still hit me hard when she finally revealed it. The final chapter was so beautiful and so heartbreaking. I did not see the tears coming, but they came. It’s one of those perfectly quiet, heartfelt endings that leaves you with a sense of warmth and closure.

While it may have a cheeky title, don’t let it fool you. This is a beautiful, emotionally layered story about the people who knew you before you knew yourself, the family ties that never truly break, and the messy, miraculous process of coming back together. I loved all of these characters. They broke my heart and then slowly put it back together again. If you love family dramas with heart, shifting timelines done right, and characters who linger in your thoughts long after you’ve finished the last page, then this one is for you.

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