I've enjoyed Quindlen's novels before, and I happened to read this one while in its setting - the upper west side of Manhattan, where the residents of a dead end block have created a tight community in city that is changing around them. Its placid self-satisfaction is disturbed when a resident with a volatile temper attacks a well-liked immigrant handyman and beats him viciously. There's a lot to like about the novel - small things like having a parking place become enormously meaningful, the nostalgia for a rougher-at-the-edges city contrasted to the rocketing value of real estate, the way the protagonist discovers her image of the handyman is limited to the humble face he presents to his wealthy white clients, that he's created an identity that he sheds at home, the cultural job the protagonist has running a vanity museum displaying jewelry that becomes bizarrely popular. I think it's saying something interesting, but I never connected deeply to the characters and their situation. In some ways it seemed like a suburban John Updike-style situation in a city that was changing - but perhaps because the enclave at the heart of the novel was so much like a suburban 1970s place rather than an urban setting I never totally found the heart of the book. It could be me, of course.

I absolutely enjoyed Alternate Side, it was such an engaging story. Totally captured my attention from the get go and I was totally engrossed in the story. The story gives us a perfect picture of families living in upper class neighborhoods, which really isn’t much different than anyone else. They deal with the same issues like everyone else. This story is of Nora and Charlie Nolan and the neighbors that live in their neighborhood. It was an captivating read, Thank you to the the author, publisher & NetGallery for providing me with an Advance Copy of this book.

Anna Quindlen in Alternate Side presents a sliver of life on a dead end street in New York City. The residents appear to be close-knit but when we get to know them all is not what it seems to be. At first glance life is glorious there with residents sharing life events. Of course there is the street bully, a husband with anger issues, and troubled households. One major act of violence turns the residents at odds. After this there is more heart and more natural conflict. While I enjoyed the book it is not my favorite by this author.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for providing me an ARC of this novel. For those seeking a fast-paced "can't wait to see what happens next" read, this is not your book. However, if you enjoy books that allow you to experience finely detailed characters evolving through their life experiences, you will find much here to love. Although many characters are not that likeable, I really enjoyed Nora's complexity and her relationship with her children. I thought the title "Alternate Sides" was perfect, as it explores public perception and private reality of many of the characters, but especially of Nora's life and of New York City (an important character in and of itself). . My only complaint would be the ending...not what happens (which was satisfying), but really the last couple of paragraphs that seemed very "Fitzgerald-y" (to paraphrase: the glittery illusion of NYC born from the labor of Dutch immigrants centuries before). I think I actually guffawed...it just didn't seem needed and felt so obviously "borrowed." All said, this is a worthwhile novel to spend some time with. I've enjoyed Anna Quindlen work for some time, and felt this one did not disappoint!

I loved this book. Anna Quindlen’s witty observations of life, especially marriage and her biting humor made this a story I could not put down. Some people are born to be smitten by New York City, others not so. As one of the former, I felt Quindlen captured the essence of The City and all there is to love (except, of course, for the rats!).

This was a long story about not so much. I did read it to the last word though and thought it end just right. It was about living in a neighborhood and all friends and freaks that live on the street. The parking lot of the story really was important to Charlie but not Nora. I was more interested in Homer. He seemed like the most normal one in the book and he’s a dog.

“You can have Manhattan
I know it's for the best
I'll gather up the avenues
And leave them on your doorstep
And I'll tip toe away
So you won't have to say
You heard me leave

“You can have Manhattan
The one we used to share
The one where we were laughing
And drunk on just being there
Hang on to the reverie
Could you do that for me
'Cause I'm just too sad to

“You can have Manhattan
'Cause I can't have you”
-- Manhattan – lyrics by Sara Bareilles

Typically, character-driven novels draw you in, your emotions attach easily to someone who is sympathetic, who views the world in a way which you can relate to, or agree with, or one you can understand even if you don’t share it. When the characters don’t pull much emotion out of us, it’s harder to feel attached to the story. That was somewhat true for me reading this story.

For me, in this story, the main character felt more as if it were really New York City, with Nora Nolan acting almost as the voice of the city. Bemoaning the changes, the rising costs, the doing away with the old and shoving in the new, trendy shops. Bemoaning a change in the vibe that is New York City. I loved seeing the city through her eyes, reading her thoughts on how it had been and what it has become, and though the changes have brought things that leave her nostalgic for the New York City that she came to know when she first moved there, it really isn’t as though she loves it any less, in her heart, it will always be the city as she first saw it, after she graduated from college. She was young, just beginning, with stars in her eyes and dreams for her life.

Nora and her husband Charlie live in a rare neighborhood on a dead end street with twins, Oliver and Rachel. It’s not the kind of neighborhood where just anyone can afford to live, but they aren’t wealthy, at least not the kind of wealthy that has their name on businesses downtown. There’s a sense of it being the kind of neighborhood where neighbors know each other by name, and talk frequently, a friendliness that is more surface level with the men, that carries a sense of arrogance – that my xyz is better than your xyz - but friendliness is more of an active part of their lives with the women.

There’s also part of this that focuses on the angst of a mother watching her children-who-are-no-longer-children go through milestones of life, where she recalls how she was at that age. Looking back.

There are a few lovely passages, and some perceptive observations about life, choices, marriage and love which are so quietly snuck into a thought here or there, or something someone said sometime so long ago … there’s a wistful touch of looking back at a life lived. Quiet little books, it seems, are what Quindlen does so well.


Pub Date: 20 Mar 2018


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Random House Publishing Group – Random House

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read Alternate Side by Anna Quindlen.
Nora and Charlie fell in love and settled in Upper West Side Manhattan to live a long, happy life. They shared their experiences with their twins, Rachel and Oliver, and neighbors, who provided excitement and life long friendships, despite the tragedy that turned their worlds around. Nora is a strong female role model, who leaves us with hope for survival beyond life’s unexpected experiences......”she had woken up one morning and realized that she would survive, that her former life was like a dress she had loved but that no tailor could take in after all the weight she’d lost.” I enjoyed this book and will recommend it to my friends and book club.

I greatly enjoyed Alternate Side, the story of Nora and Charlie Nolan and the neighbors that live on their dead end block.

The story gives a good look inside people's lives and families, attempting to let us know that people living in a upper class neighborhood are really no different than anyone else. There are still the petty squabbles, the marital discord and the issues with people not cleaning up after their dogs.

This was a very good glimpse into others' lives and while I did wish for a better ending, I was captivated during the entire book.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an early copy.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC.
Anna Quindlen delivers another powerful novel driven by characters who are complex. The story revolves around Nora Nolan and her life on a dead in street in NYC. The street is mostly inhabited by overly privileged couples who have been married for many years. They all use the same handyman, Ricky, who is the victim of an attack by one of the residents on the block. This brings the people on the block together while also driving them apart as they take sides on who was in the wrong.

At times I had a hard time relating to the upper class city dwellers. Nora is portrayed as wanting to give back, but at times is completely selfish and out of touch with the real world. Though she is hard to like I still was rooting for her. The story also made me think about classism and how we insulate ourselves into our own comfortable bubbles. How often do we really look at things from another perspective and understand another's plight? And when you have more than you need how do you share it with others in meaningful ways? Nora was often tone deaf in this area, by sending her children's hand me downs to her handyman's children. She saw it as helping the less fortunate, but when it's items they do not need it comes across as a way to just dump unwanted items onto someone else.

This book was slow at times, but thought provoking enough to give it four stars.

Charlie and Nora Nolan are a couple in their late 40's who have two children in college and live in a tight-knit affluent neighborhood in New York City. Charlie becomes increasingly disillusioned with his job at an investment firm and expresses an interest in moving out of the neighborhood and to perhaps somewhere warmer and on a golf course. Nora loves her job as curator at a jewelry museum and in being a New Yorker and can't see herself anywhere else. As Nora and Charlie grow apart, a violent incident in the neighborhood on which they hold differing views, pushes them further apart.

I found all the characters well-developed and the story held my interest. Have always enjoyed Anna Quindlen's writing and this novel, to me, is another winner.

Thank You Net Galley for the free ARC.

We know these characters: George, the wheeler dealer of the neighborhood; the couples living in the houses that have settled into "comfortable" and unexciting marriages. The children grown up and flown from the coop. The renters everybody looks down on. A violent incidence about a parking spot rocks the neighborhood out of complacency and divides them into camps. Love the author,but did not care for the characters.

I think I've read everything Anna Quindlen has written so I was excited to read her upcoming March release as well. Alternate Side, taken place in Manhattan's upper west side. The Nolan's, Charlie and Nora, have two children in college and live a comfortable life. Their particular block is on a dead end street, that has a coveted parking lot with a waiting list, their neighbors as well as the Nolan's have hired help (everyone seems to use the same handyman) and, most everyone seems to get along. One day when Nora returns home from her run with her coveted bagel in hand and is shocked to learn of an incident that has taken place that not only rocks their insular neighborhood but her own marriage as well.

I enjoyed reading this one but, it is a super, slow moving story. I thought it was an interesting look at relationships and how sometimes it's not until something major happens that one begins to stand up, take notice and sometimes take sides.

https://bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com/2018/02/2-weeks-in-review-232018.html

As a big Quindlen fan this is one of her better efforts. Great characters that capture the small town feel of one block's residents in Manhattan. The ebb and flow of a marriage and the family dynamics are so real you would think you have met many of the characters in real life. The plot moves along quickly and enjoyably. I highly recommend this book.

An engaging character based novel that made me think, pushed my buttons, and had me identifying strongly with the main character even though I'm not a middle aged woman who runs a museum in NYC with twin children and a crappy husband. Great read, absolutely getting for the library.

A slice of life love letter to NYC, dealing with choices, marriage, divorce. What Anna Quindlen does best.

I struggled a lot with this book. On the positive side, I felt the author had a genuine talent.....that was hidden behind a slow-moving, sort of silly novel. I felt the relationship between the main characters, Nora and Charlie, was rather annoying. I couldn't connect with them on any level, superficial or otherwise. I kept thinking that it would pick up the pace, or something interesting/compelling would happen, but that moment did not come. I don't feel the need to necessarily "bash" this book, so suffice it to say that it just was not a good fit for me, personally. To be honest, I lost interest around 40%, and couldn't finish it.

I loved Quindlen's earlier books. But this one and rhe previous one seem like she is trying too hard to be profound. This account of a disintegrating marriage is mundane.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I received an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

Pure Quindlen comfort reading, addressing complicated topics of race and privilege with her usual light, witty tone. The book will ring true to all New Yorkers. The main character is a bit too blameless for a woman of her age and privilege, and that's what took the book from a 4 to a 3. I would have liked to have seen her a little more complicated and less of a white savior,, with the usual mistakes and pitfalls a wealthy 50-something white woman would make,, that may have lead to some insight and self-awareness, but this is not that book.

Quindlen looks at the lives of Nora and Charlie in a trendy New York neighbourhood where the ultimate in status symbols is a spot in the parking lot on their dead end street. The class system is firmly in place with the rich needing but not recognizing the worth of the lower class repair people they depend on. The author ponders the moments in our lives, the trivial and the momentous and how they shape the person we become.

It's a thoughtful look at all the small moments which come together to transform us over time, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.

3.5 Stars.

ARC received with thanks from publisher via NetGalley for review.