This is a tough emotional read. At times I thought I just couldn't bear another minute reading about the loss of a mother, wife and friend. It does get better and where there is loss there is always hope.
Annie is the heart of the family keeping everyone together and on task. When she dies of an aneurysm, her husband is left to raise their four children alone. Such a heartbreaking reality for so many people. The book shows not only the effect on their family but her best friend, Annemarie. She is a recovering addict and Annie was her support team without her she began to falter.
The character Ali is so relatable at the age of 13, she is responsible for her three small brothers. Her loss wasn't any greater than the others, but stressed with each day of her memories and how close she was to her mother. Her guidance counselor was a listening ear and needed since so much of the burden affects her. Her mom was her best friend.
With every page, it did get easier as we saw the seasons of life change we also saw the seasons of grief change. The family dynamics of hope, love, and loss makes for a tough emotional read.
Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this incredible ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This novel explores the aftermath of a heartbreaking aneurism and death of Annie. Annie is a mother of 4. The book follows the impact her death has on her family members.

Quindlen explores themes of grief, acceptance, depression, sexual abuse and denial. There are many good scenes in this book with regard to these themes. There were other scenes that I felt distracted from the focal point of the book. I would have liked the book to focus on the children and maybe the days POV. Ali’s POV was the most interesting.

Overall, an interesting exploration of grief but one that could have been more fleshed out.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher but the arc.

Sweet and tender, real and thoughtful in a way that is so very Anna Quindlen. Though Annie dies in the opening line, the reader knows her deeply through the points of view of three characters who are mourning her. I always love Anna Quindlen's writing and this story is quiet, but touching.

A Touching Tale of Heartbreak and Healing

SUMMARY
Annie Brown dies suddenly and unexpectedly on her kitchen floor at the age of 37. It was an aneurysm. She left behind a husband, four children, and her best friend, all of whom struggled with this unexpected death. Annie’s oldest daughter, Ali, 13, is forced by circumstances to cook, clean, and care for her three younger brothers. Annie’s husband, Bill, a plumber, is at a loss but must recover quickly to keep his family together. Annie’s best friend, Annemarie, fights hard to maintain the sobriety that Annie had helped her obtain. Annie had been a rock for everyone, and now they are all set adrift by her loss.

REVIEW
AFTER ANNIE is a heart-warming story that follows the lives of Annie's family and friends during their first year of grief. The characters of Bill, Ali, and Annemarie are well-developed, and Ali's character is particularly sympathetic. We also meet Bill's mother, Dora, who could easily win an award for the meanest mother-in-law ever. Ali's school counselor, Miss Cruz, is one of my favorite characters.

The book deals with heavy topics, such as addiction and child abuse, which may have contributed to the slow pacing of the story. Despite that, I appreciated the read. I had lost my sister unexpectedly a year earlier. The book helped me realize that everyone's grief is different. I particularly liked the epigraph, "Your absence has gone through me like thread through a needle. Everything I do is stitched with its color," by W. S. Merwin.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher Random House Publishing Group
Published February 27, 2024
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

I've been in a pretty bad reading rut lately because all the books I read seem to be depressing, so I didn't really expect a book that opened with the death of a 30something mother of four to be the page-turning, emotionally fulfilling book it turned out to be.

At his wife's funeral, Bill Brown tells his children that she will live on through them, and the novel bears that out, as the three primary characters--Bill, eldest daughter Ali, and Annie's best friend Annemarie--negotiate their grief while trying to carry on. Bill is lost, trying to run his business while being the sole parent to four young children. Ali, already mature, grows up quickly as her father relies on her to oversee her three younger brothers while also trying to understand her best friend's occasional odd behavior. And Annemarie struggles to maintain her fragile sobriety when she has lost her soulmate.

I loved everything about this book, even the fictional Pennsylvania setting (especially the fictional Pennsylvania setting) which made me homesick for my native Pittsburgh, even it was more likely an eastern Pennsylvania town. #AfterAnnie #NetGalley

This book was beautiful and horrible. A woman, far too young to be even thinking about death, suddenly dies. Right there in the first few pages. Then everyone in her life has to figure out how to deal with Annie's death. You learn so much about each person by the memories they have of Annie and the times they need her voice to help them cope with their lives without her. Anyone who has had a sudden death of someone close to them, unexpected and quick, will feel all of it over again while reading. How many times have I heard my own father's voice in my head?

This book hurt to read. Anna Quindlen handles all of it so beautifully, though. How does a husband go on with his four children? How does a best friend move on without the person who kept her strong? How does the oldest girl handle having to pick up where her father is letting things drop? Does she have to become her mother.

The most touching part of all of it was Quindlen's refusal to make Annie into a saint after her death. She couldn't help those she left behind in some sort of airbrushed version of herself. We need to remember people for who they were to us. After Annie will probably make you cry. t will make you think.

I chose to read this book because Anna Quindlen writes beautifully. She didn't disappoint in this novel of grief and hope.

Description:
When Annie Brown dies suddenly, her husband, her four young children and her closest friend are left to struggle without the woman who centered their lives. Bill Brown finds himself overwhelmed, and Annie’s best friend Annemarie is lost to old bad habits without Annie’s support. It is Annie’s 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 Quindlen’s 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.

My Thoughts:
There's no question that this family, as well as Annie's best friend Annemarie basically fell apart after Annie's death and couldn't seem to find a way forward. I had to admire Ali, who shouldered so much responsibility after losing her mother, for stepping in and trying to take care of her father and younger brothers. She had to grow up so fast! Annemarie was a real mess. She had leaned on Annie so much for support with her sobriety. The book covers the family and AnneMarie for one year after Annie's death. It is an emotional story and at times difficult to read. I loved the counselor at the school who helped Ali so much.

Thanks to Random House through Netgalley for an advance copy. Expected publication February 27, 2024.

Admittedly, it took me a good while to take to this book. Mostly because I was being expected to have empathy for a fictional character whom, obviously, I did not know, from page one. Now I can get all teary eyed and caring about fictional characters, but I need a little investment before they take root within my heart. If these were real people, that's a whole different story, but fictionalized ones need to gel in my mind in order to form those bonds. Others will get hooked from the first paragraph. I don't think that makes either of us better or worse people. Just that some might be a bit more aware of what's real and what's not and need time and investment to allow for the sell before we buy into the deeper aspects of the story. But when it comes to books, I do have persistence and kept on reading. I know that there's often a pay off by doing so. This one will pay off if you stick with it, providing that you appreciate a family and friend story that explores the dynamics of each character's emotional and psychological place withing the plot.

The writing style is somewhat of a stream of consciousness method, but consistent and very easy to follow. It winds through in a manner that allows us to get to know the entire family Annie's unexpected death centers around, as well as several others within the family's realm. We not only get to know Annie, but also an array of other characters within this storyline.

Nothing unexpected here, short of Annie's death, but even that is not because, after all, that's the premise of the book. Most of it is quite predictable. It's just allowing yourself to get involved and observe this family's connection and experiences with Annie, as well as finally getting to know whom this character is that this story is based on.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for a free copy of the eBook in leu of a review.

After Annie is a portrait of what happens when you suddenly lose the person who is the glue that holds your family together. It takes place over a year’s time and we see each character struggle with the loss in their own way, from the husband to the children to her best friend. Annie was a force and the loss of her is felt in big and small ways.

There were two moments in this book that destroyed me. Both involved the character, Ant, who was Annie’s oldest son.

If you enjoy women’s fiction and stories about families, I think you will like this book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of this beautiful story. I have always connected with Anna Quindlen's novels. This novel did as well and hits right at the heart. What happens to each family member and friends when a person dies suddenly? Annie, who is the center and the rock to her husband, 4 children and her best friend Annemarie. When she dies suddenly each of their lives is sent into a tail spin. This novel is so different from others which deal with death. Anna Quindlen digs deep into each of these characters to show their grief, their fright and their mother, wife, friend through each eyes. This is so beautifully written and so vividly true to life.

Loved this one! At first I thought this story about a young mother's sudden death and the aftermath was going to be too unbearably sad to read but it was so beautifully written that I didn't want to stop. How can her family, her best friend, even the patients she took care of at the local nursing home, bear such a shocking loss, learn to carry on? This is a terrific look at how grief affects different people in different ways. And ultimately, how love carries on in each heart.

I received an arc of this new novel from the author and publisher via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

This is a quiet novel about life, love, loss and grief. Family, friends, and those who aren't quite either but make all the difference in someone's life. In this description of one family's life after the death of the person who holds everything together, we see how the ordinary holds so much, and can become so extraordinary, based on what everyone is looking at. Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for the advance digital copy.

Annie Brown dies suddenly, her family and friends must learn to live without her. Ali, the eldest, has to become the mom to the rest of the kids. She is the character I most cared about. Quindlen’s writing is very good, as is her character development, but it just a little too dramatic and emotional for me.

It’s been awhile since I’ve read an Anna Quindlen book, and I’d forgotten how vividly her characters come to life through the dialog. As sad as this story is, the conversations involving the little children had me smiling, and occasionally laughing. The relationship, including the hostilities, between the best friend, Annemarie and Bill, the Husband, illustrated some interesting emotions I haven’t seen depicted much in fiction. My favorite character was Ali, the oldest daughter, whose coming of age story was dramatically altered by her mother’s death. Upon finishing this book, I found myself wanting more Anna Quindlen, so picked up one of her earlier books ( Black and Blue) for a reread. I appreciate the opportunity for an advanced read in exchange for an honest review in my own words.
#AfterAnnie. # NetGalley

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After Annie follows a family the year after the sudden and unexpected death of their 30-something wife and mother. The narrative focuses in on three people: Annie's husband, Bill, best friend, Annemarie, and oldest of 3 siblings, 13-year-old daughter, Ali. I've seen Anna Quindlen described as a "domestic anthropologist" and it's so perfectly fitting. After Annie is a quiet story yet rich and brimming with the everyday crumbs of family life, which here take on a touching significance. A well rendered, poignant story of love, life, grief, and hope.

This is not the first Anna Quindlen I've read though it's been a while and I haven't read much of her backlist. After Annie reminded me quite a bit of what I love about the style of Anne Tyler's writing.

A case study on grief and loss. Annie was the glue holding life together for her family and best friend. When she suddenly dies, they must all figure out how to continue moving forward.
It is a slower moving book told over the course of four seasons and moving between Annie's eldest daughter, her husband, and her best friend. We progress and process with each of them while they also deal with all the other baggage they carry in life.

I am so glad I got over my hesitance to read this wonderful novel by Anna Quindlen because of its subject matter: the sudden death of a young woman and how her husband, her lifelong best friend and children process the loss. That just sounds so sad, and of course it was, but the larger story is about how they cope and grow and learn about love and loss in different ways.

The writing is exquisite and I fell in love with the characters. I was drawn intimately into their lives and experiences and felt a deep, emotional connection to them. Through their journeys of loss and grieving, a deeper picture of the woman who was suddenly felled by a brain aneurysm at the beginning of the novel, emerged and I fell in love with and mourned the loss of Annie along with them.

I was profoundly impacted by this amazing story and am immensely grateful to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read it as an eARC. After Annie will be published on 27 February 2024 and I urge you to add it to your wait list at your local library as soon as possible!

Maudlin and Engaging at the Same Time

The book opens with a family having dinner in a kitchen that has seen better days and needs work. However, it is a happy group of mom, dad and four children. All of a sudden, Annie, the mother,, excitedly asks her husband to get her an Advil, she has a terrible headache. Her husband, Bill, doesn’t have a chance because Annie drops dead on the kitchen floor. Bill calls for an ambulance and goes to the hospital leaving his four children alone, wondering what happen to their mom. She is the mother of four children, Ali, the only daughter is the oldest who stays up all night waiting for her dad, Bill, to return. She has three younger brothers.

When her father comes home, he somehow tells Ali that her mom, Annie, died. Everyone in this house, except Dora, Bill’s mother and owner of this home, adores Annie. Annie is the center; she works hard in a nursing home and takes care of her four children, espousing practical rules and overtly loving them.

Annie, the young mother and wife, has died. Quindlin now takes us through her precarious friendship with Annemarie, who is a wonderful best friend, but she is an addict.

Annie is a mother who treated each child individually which was replicated with the residents of the nursing home. Annie Fonzheimer touched many; she was a loyal, strong person. An aneurysm changed the fabric of this family. Bill, her husband, is a plumber and has not one clue how to get from one minute to the next. All five are suffering; Ali tries to find answers and seeks help for her grief and made a new friend at school named Jenny. Here is where Quindlen’s writing takes a different pathway and delves into Jenny and her family. She presents the reader with an extreme set of circumstances for a new friend,, Jenny. It is shocking when presented against this conventional town and outwardly normal families. The most important secondary character is Ms. Cruz, a psychologist at Ali’s school.

Quindlen draws her characters carefully and they may appear commonplace. but they are anything but normal. Amidst this story of a sweet family trying to replicate Annie’s love, are some secrets, addictions and a hope motif. A good story written by a pro.

My gratitude to NetGalley and Random House for this pre-published book. All opinions expressed are my own.

I sobbed my way through this book. What an accurate and beautiful portrayal of grief across different relationships and generations. The titular Annie is only technically in the very first paragraph of the book, but her spirit is in every page and you really see how her legacy lives on in her loved ones. A very moving read!

When Annie does unexpectedly, she leaves behind four children, a husband, and a friend who don’t know who to live their lives without her to guide and love them. This is a raw, intimate portrayal of a bereft family, struggling on every front, trying to find a way forward. The story is told from the points of view of her husband, her daughter, and her best friend. I related mostly with Ali’s story, as she was the oldest of four kids, and suddenly found herself in charge of her brothers, the house, the shopping…and she was only in middle school. The author pulled no punches in the telling of these heart wrenching stories, and parts were really hard for me to read, especially the husband’s story—I didn’t like him very much through most of the book, to be honest. There are many things in this book that may be triggers for some people—drug addiction, child abuse, and of course the death of a young woman.