After Annie by Anna Quindlen
Candid and complex and ultimately quite hopeful Claire Lombardo
Beautiful and deeply moving J. Courtney Sullivan
A story of abiding hope Mary Beth Keane
When Annie Brown dies suddenly, her husband, her four young children and her closest friend are left to struggle without the woman who centred their lives. Bill Brown finds himself overwhelmed, and Annies best friend Annemarie is lost to old bad habits without Annies support. It is Annies daughter, Ali, forced to try to care for her younger brothers and even her father, who manages to maintain some semblance of their former lives for them all, and who confronts the complicated truths of adulthood.
Yet over the course of the next year, while Annie looms large in their memories, all three are able to grow, to change, even to become stronger and more sure of themselves. The enduring power Annie gave to those who loved her is the power to love, and to go on without her.
Written in Quindlens emotionally resonant voice, and with her deep and generous understanding of people, After Annie is a story that ends with hope, a beautiful novel about how adversity can change us in profound ways.
Praise for Anna Quindlen
Leaves the reader feeling grateful, wide awake, lucky to be alive Michael Chabon
Simply impossible to forget Alice Hoffman
Qualities and shades ofloveare this writer's strong suit, and she has the unusual talent for writing about them with so muchtruth and heartElizabeth Jane Howard
Breathtaking... Quindlen writes superbly about families, grief and betrayal. I was completely mesmerised Lisa Jewell
Engaging, immaculately constructed storytelling Guardian
One of our most astute chroniclers of modern life New York Times Book Review
Brave and beautiful The Times
Her storytelling is exemplary Sunday Telegraph
With relentless and dazzling brilliance, Quindlen grapples with the lancing pain and the swirls of disorientation experienced by anyone who has loved and lost Daily Mail
A wise, closely observed, achingly eloquent book Huffington Post
Overwhelmingly moving New York Times
Beautiful and deeply moving J. Courtney Sullivan
A story of abiding hope Mary Beth Keane
When Annie Brown dies suddenly, her husband, her four young children and her closest friend are left to struggle without the woman who centred their lives. Bill Brown finds himself overwhelmed, and Annies best friend Annemarie is lost to old bad habits without Annies support. It is Annies daughter, Ali, forced to try to care for her younger brothers and even her father, who manages to maintain some semblance of their former lives for them all, and who confronts the complicated truths of adulthood.
Yet over the course of the next year, while Annie looms large in their memories, all three are able to grow, to change, even to become stronger and more sure of themselves. The enduring power Annie gave to those who loved her is the power to love, and to go on without her.
Written in Quindlens emotionally resonant voice, and with her deep and generous understanding of people, After Annie is a story that ends with hope, a beautiful novel about how adversity can change us in profound ways.
Praise for Anna Quindlen
Leaves the reader feeling grateful, wide awake, lucky to be alive Michael Chabon
Simply impossible to forget Alice Hoffman
Qualities and shades ofloveare this writer's strong suit, and she has the unusual talent for writing about them with so muchtruth and heartElizabeth Jane Howard
Breathtaking... Quindlen writes superbly about families, grief and betrayal. I was completely mesmerised Lisa Jewell
Engaging, immaculately constructed storytelling Guardian
One of our most astute chroniclers of modern life New York Times Book Review
Brave and beautiful The Times
Her storytelling is exemplary Sunday Telegraph
With relentless and dazzling brilliance, Quindlen grapples with the lancing pain and the swirls of disorientation experienced by anyone who has loved and lost Daily Mail
A wise, closely observed, achingly eloquent book Huffington Post
Overwhelmingly moving New York Times