Centering her story on adopted Albanian twins Drita and Petrit (Pete) DiMeo as they come of age alienated from their heritage in Connecticut, Aliu has delivered an aching, introspective drama about lonely people struggling to define what makes a family.

The twins are 9 years old at the novel’s opening and their distinct personalities have already developed. According to Drita, “trouble is the only subject in which Pete was ever ahead of the curve.” On their birthday, Pete steals a Barbie for Drita’s gift, making her feel immature for still playing with dolls while he “had already moved on from cops and robbers to flat-out robbery.”

Flashing forward 17 years to 1999, the only thing that has changed is their age. Now in their mid-20s, Drita is a home health nurse and Pete’s whereabouts are unknown. She’s the sole caregiver for their mother Jackie, who’s been in a wheelchair since age 19. When Jackie had a stroke two years ago, Drita gave up her dreams of being a travel nurse to move home to Waterbury and care for their mom.

One day, Drita is retrieving medical equipment from a patient’s apartment and discovers Pete’s girlfriend Shanda and their 5-year-old son Dakota have moved back to town. Drita hadn’t seen them or Pete for three years since she denied them a place to stay.

When Drita first sees Dakota, she thinks he has chickenpox and is horrified to discover the red spots all over his body are bedbug bites. Shanda is an addict in recovery who means well but lacks basic coping skills. She’s clean and trying to do better for her son on her own and could benefit from Drita’s assistance, not her judgment.

The narrative rotates between the perspectives of Drita, Pete, Shanda and Jackie, weaving back and forth from the 1970s to 1999 and all points in between, as these complex characters reveal their personal heartbreaks. Through their backstories, Aliu does a compelling job of showing how their hardships contribute to the present-day loneliness of each member of the DiMeo family.

Pete is by far the most alienated. His narrative opens on a New York subway as he wakes up to discover he has defecated in his pants and lost his wallet. Although he denies he is an addict, it’s apparent that Pete is far from sober. While trying to clean up, he gets into a fight with Valon, an Albanian immigrant at a pizza parlor who is intrigued by Pete’s claims of Albanian heritage and impressed with his left hook.

Valon takes Pete under his wing and introduces him to the Kosovo Liberation Army and the concept of besa. Fraternizing with the soldiers reminds Pete he has not lived an honorable life, having abandoned his family after Dakota overdosed on Tylenol on Pete’s watch. Figuring his presence is more harmful than his absence, he has been running from his responsibilities ever since, leaving Shanda to raise their son on her own.

Pete remains a frustrating character throughout the narrative, especially after it’s revealed the many ways he has let his son down. Aliu doesn’t offer much of an explanation for Pete’s deficiencies other than he consistently, throughout his life, “doesn’t know how to do the right thing.”

In every way Pete’s opposite, Drita defines her existence by doing what’s right. She blames her loneliness on living a life of obligation. Or perhaps her sense of besa is innate and she’s compelled to do the right thing, even if it makes her bitter. Despite yearning for a bigger life, Drita offers to help Shanda and Dakota.

The three form a makeshift family, with Drita and Dakota developing an endearing relationship while Shanda stabilizes her situation. Given her own limitations, Jackie always wanted more for her children. She encourages Drita to get back to pursuing her dreams. But before she does, Drita must first find Pete and bring him back home to take care of his responsibilities.

While tracking Pete down using AOL on the newly emerging World Wide Web, Drita encounters Valon. Through their online chats, she gains a critical connection to her Albanian heritage and puts a name to the force that drives her on the inside, besa. But as Drita gets closer to reuniting with Pete, Jackie reveals a gut-punch of a twist that will force Drita to reevaluate her entire existence.

Heartbreaking yet redemptive, “Everybody Says It’s Everything” is an evocative exploration of the human need to create family. Xhenet Aliu has assembled a fascinating cast of characters to examine the family we inherit, the family we create, and the family we endure.

FICTION

“Everybody Says It’s Everything”

by Xhenet Aliu

Random House

320 pages, $29