Shred Sisters spans roughly two decades in the Shred family’s life, from the 1970s to the 1990s, and it situates the reader by providing social and historical signposts. For example, there are references to popular culture sprinkled throughout the book, from the 1970s self-help sensation What Color Is Your Parachute? to the legendary punk-rock club CBGBs to the 1986 hit that launched a movie star’s career, Top Gun. These references, along with brief but important asides about social expectations, provide context about the time and place in which these sisters come of age. Betsy Lerner’s novel invites the reader not only to empathize with a family affected by mental illness but also to take a journey through the latter part of the 20th century, with all its cultural touchstones and social anxieties.

Though only touched on obliquely in the novel, many of those anxieties surrounded the then-ongoing Cold War and the shifting international relations involved in it. For example, when the Shreds plan a visit to Washington, DC, Amy is most excited about seeing the pandas Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, gifts from China in an act of diplomacy following President Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit.