Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Quindlen's trademark wisdom and bestselling subjects--family, the emotions and secrets of people in a small town--are at the center of this novel about triumph over adversity and the power of love to transcend time, by the author of Still Life with Bread Crumbs and One True Thing. "After Annie is Anna Quindlen's new, wise and heartfelt novel of connection, of loss and love and the power of both."--Amy Bloom
"Anna Quindlen tells a family story that's at once candid and complex--and ultimately quite hopeful."--Claire Lombardo
When Annie Brown, a fun-loving woman, suddenly dies, her husband, best friend, and her children all struggle to find ways to go on after the loss of the woman who was the center of their lives, and who made life happy, fun, and secure. Her husband is overwhelmed with four children to raise, and turns to his teenage daughter for help, and to an old girlfriend for solace. Annie's best friend struggles again with opioid addiction, having depended on Annie for support through addiction and recovery. Annie's daughter discovers disturbing truths about life in a small town, including at her new best friend's house, where she stumbles upon a confusing secret that suggests sexual abuse. These and other characters reconfigure their lives and learn how to go on, after Annie.
Written in Quindlen's emotionally resonant voice and with her deep and generous understanding of the desires and feelings of ordinary people, this beautiful novel is about how loss and mistakes can lead to finding, including the ways that, through adversity, people can grow, and come to a stronger understanding of themselves and empathy for others. As the New York Times said about Quindlen's fiction, "Where so much is about what vanishes, there is also a deep beating heart of what also stays."
Synopsis
"A wise and heartfelt novel of connection, of loss and love and the power of both."--Amy Bloom
Anna Quindlen's trademark wisdom on family, friendship, and the ties that bind us are at the center of this novel about the power of love to transcend loss and triumph over adversity, by the bestselling author of Still Life with Bread Crumbs and One True Thing.
"A new Anna Quindlen novel is always cause for celebration. After Annie might just be my favorite one yet. It's a beautiful and deeply moving story about love, loss, friendship, marriage, family and community from one of our wisest chroniclers of modern life. I treasured every page."--J Courtney Sullivan
When Annie Brown dies suddenly, her husband, her children, and her closest friend are left to find a way forward without the woman who has been the lynchpin of all their lives. Bill is overwhelmed without his beloved wife, and Annemarie wrestles with the bad habits her best friend had helped her overcome. And Ali, the eldest of Annie's children, has to grow up overnight, to care for her younger brothers and even her father and to puzzle out for herself many of the mysteries of adult life.
Over the course of the next year what saves them all is Annie, ever-present in their minds, loving but not sentimental, caring but nobody's fool, a voice in their heads that is funny and sharp and remarkably clear. The power she has given to those who loved her is the power to go on without her. The lesson they learn is that no one beloved is ever truly gone.
Written in Quindlen's emotionally resonant voice and with her deep and generous understanding of people, After Annie is about hope, and about the unexpected power of adversity to change us in profound and indelible ways.
Synopsis
New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice - "A wise and heartfelt novel of connection, of loss and love and the power of both."--Amy Bloom, author of
In Love Anna Quindlen's trademark wisdom on family, friendship, and the ties that bind us are at the center of this novel about the power of love to transcend loss and triumph over adversity, by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Still Life with Bread Crumbs and One True Thing.
"A new Anna Quindlen novel is always cause for celebration. After Annie might just be my favorite one yet. It's a beautiful and deeply moving story about love, loss, friendship, marriage, family, and community from one of our wisest chroniclers of modern life. I treasured every page."--J. Courtney Sullivan, author of Friends and Strangers
When Annie Brown dies suddenly, her husband, her children, and her closest friend are left to find a way forward without the woman who has been the lynchpin of all their lives. Bill is overwhelmed without his beloved wife, and Annemarie wrestles with the bad habits her best friend had helped her overcome. And Ali, the eldest of Annie's children, has to grow up overnight, to care for her younger brothers and even her father and to puzzle out for herself many of the mysteries of adult life.
Over the course of the next year what saves them all is Annie, ever-present in their minds, loving but not sentimental, caring but nobody's fool, a voice in their heads that is funny and sharp and remarkably clear. The power she has given to those who loved her is the power to go on without her. The lesson they learn is that no one beloved is ever truly gone.
Written in Quindlen's emotionally resonant voice and with her deep and generous understanding of people, After Annie is about hope, and about the unexpected power of adversity to change us in profound and indelible ways.
Synopsis
"Part of Quindlen's gift is that you don't just read about these characters, you inhabit them. . . . Luminous with life, hope and the power of love."--People (A Book of the Week Pick) " A] quietly revelatory and gently gleaming gem of a book."--The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice) Anna Quindlen's trademark wisdom on family, friendship, and the ties that bind us are at the center of this novel about the power of love to transcend loss and triumph over adversity, by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Still Life with Bread Crumbs and One True Thing.
When Annie Brown dies suddenly, her husband, her children, and her closest friend are left to find a way forward without the woman who has been the lynchpin of all their lives. Bill is overwhelmed without his beloved wife, and Annemarie wrestles with the bad habits her best friend had helped her overcome. And Ali, the eldest of Annie's children, has to grow up overnight, to care for her younger brothers and even her father and to puzzle out for herself many of the mysteries of adult life.
Over the course of the next year what saves them all is Annie, ever-present in their minds, loving but not sentimental, caring but nobody's fool, a voice in their heads that is funny and sharp and remarkably clear. The power she has given to those who loved her is the power to go on without her. The lesson they learn is that no one beloved is ever truly gone.
Written in Quindlen's emotionally resonant voice and with her deep and generous understanding of people, After Annie is about hope, and about the unexpected power of adversity to change us in profound and indelible ways.