Delia Ephron’s new book, Sister Mother Husband Dog Etc., is the writer’s first foray into memoir. With a light touch that belies the weight of her subjects, Ephron explores family ties, love and loss, and the comforts of a good bakery. The book, which includes memories of growing up the daughter of talented, alcoholic parents, and the moving essay “Losing Nora,” about her elder sister’s death in 2012, showcases the distinctive Ephron blend of heart and humor. The family business runs in the blood, from the sparkling screenplays of parents Henry and Phoebe, the novels, essays, movies and memoirs of Delia and her sisters Nora, Hallie, and Amy, and now the journalism of Nora’s son, Jacob Bernstein (who earlier this year wrote a beautiful remembrance of his mother). To catch up on all things Ephron (and perhaps pick up some writing tips), we dug into the family archive to find five works for Ephron 101.

The title of Henry Ephron’s 1973 memoir We Thought We Could Do Anything says it all about the young, freewheeling screenwriter’s attitude and his relationship with his wife Phoebe, who quickly ditched her role as housewife to become Henry’s full-time writing partner. Their movies, including "Carousel," "Desk Set," and "There’s No Business Like Show Business," attracted big stars and big awards, and embodied the glamor of the big screen in its midcentury golden age. His book, written after Phoebe’s death in 1971, was described by The New York Times as “as much a love story as a memoir.” The Ephrons also mined family relationships for their 1961 Broadway play Take Her, She’s Mine — starring Jimmy Stewart and Sandra Dee in the movie adaptation — in which the overprotective father’s struggle to accept his daughter’s independence were based on Henry’s relationship with Nora.

Family collaboration was not limited to the husband-and-wife team of Henry and Phoebe -- the sisters also worked together. In 2008, Nora and Delia adapted Ilene Beckerman’s memoir Love, Loss, and What I Wore (for which Nora wrote the introduction) into an off-Broadway play. The show is made up of a series of monologues and dialogues performed by five actresses (including Rosie O’Donnell and Natasha Lyonne in the original off-Westside Theater cast), and won audience and Drama Desk awards in 2010. It’s no surprise that the Ephrons were drawn to the story, which finds the deep meaning in the seemingly mundane; its bittersweet stories inspired by prom dresses, miniskirts, spandex bras, and high heels have resonated with audiences across the country, as well as in Sydney, Johannesburg, and Manila.

Nora’s evergreen essays are master classes in the genre, covering the personal, political, and every subject in between, but it’s in her autobiographical novel Heartburn that her voice truly shines. Based on the story of the unraveling of her marriage to Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein, the book may be the funniest divorce tale ever written, a prime example of the Ephron skill at making literary lemonade out of life’s sourest lemons. The 1986 movie adaptation, starring Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson, is an underrated classic.

Like all her sisters, third daughter Hallie has published plenty of fiction, but she’s unique for eschewing wry humor for suspense. As the author of three bestselling mystery novels, including 2013’s Boston Globe bestseller There Was an Old Woman, she has so far not contributed to the family library of personal writings. However, like Delia -- author of several humorous etiquette guides and advice books -- she has taken up her pen to share her wisdom; her book for aspiring mystery writers, Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel, is a practical guide to the business and much beloved by would-be Agatha Christies.

Youngest Ephron daughter Amy is a journalist and the author of six novels, including the historical bestseller A Cup of Tea: A Novel of 1917. Her essay collection Loose Diamonds draws on her life experiences, from her superficially glamorous childhood, through marriage, motherhood, divorce, and remarriage. Throughout the collection she celebrates what’s truly valuable, whether it’s friendship or her old-fashioned Filofax, and in its wit, candor, and dishy intimacy, proves that there’s more than enough Ephron talent to go around.