Every Family Has a Story

How We Inherit Love and Loss

By: Julia Samuel

Narrated by: Julia Samuel

Why do some families thrive in adversity while others fragment? How can families weather difficult transitions together? Why do our families so often exasperate us? And how can even small changes greatly improve our relationships?

In Every Family Has a Story, bestselling psychotherapist Julia Samuel turns from her acclaimed work with individuals to draw on her sessions with a wide variety of families, across multiple generations. Through eight beautifully told and insightful case studies, she analyzes a range of common issues, from loss to leaving home, and from separation to step-relationships, and shows how much is, in fact, inherited—and how much can be healed when it is faced together. Exploring the relationships that both touch us most and hurt us most, including the often under-appreciated impact of grandparents and siblings, and incorporating the latest academic research, she offers wisdom that is applicable to us all. Her twelve touchstones for family well-being—from fighting productively to making time for rituals—provide us with the tools to improve our relationships, and to create the families we wish for. This is a moving and reassuring meditation that, amid trauma and hardship, tells unforgettable stories of forgiveness, hope and love.

©2022 Julia Samuel (P)2022 Doubleday Canada

Critic reviews

"In the eight case studies we are gently guided . . . towards a deeper understanding of the importance of honesty, self-examination and communication within all relationships. . . . [An] engrossing book [with] extraordinary personal honesty."—Daily Mail

"What makes Samuel outstandingly sympathetic as a therapist and as a writer is her unusual willingness to admit to faultiness and not to be remote or over-authoritative. She is a virtuoso listener, but wears her heart on her sleeve and will occasionally admit to feeling unequal to what she is witnessing. Her lovely—and in no way insensitive—character leavens the narratives assembled here. . . . The Samuel magic continues to obtain."—The Guardian

"[Samuel] excels at distilling shrewd insights from her subjects. . . . [Her] candor offers an unusually intimate look at how therapists work. . . . Covering a broad array of family structures and dilemmas, this quietly dazzling consideration of what it means to be a family is sure to resonate." —Publishers Weekly

Many kudos to Julia!!!

I truly have enjoyed this book, I love Julia’s narration, and I plan to listen to more of her books. For me, she is a trusted voice. I found this book to be unique and wise and I’d like the different case histories. Many kudos to Julia. I’m glad I didn’t let critical reviews dissuade me. I am thankful to have listened to it.

Excellent content, monotonous reading

Excellent resource for reflection on family life. I struggled with narrator’s prosody and ended up reading the book. - - -/

boring

The story was more about the clinician than the people she was helping. Too much of her bias. Too much of the current buzz words.