A beautiful look at a family in crisis after the loss of the woman who held it all together. Anna Quindlen has an incredible gift of being able to write about real life in a realistic and kind manner.

The Brown family is struggling after the death of Annie who kept everything in balance. Bill is just barely getting by and daughter Ali ends up stepping into her mothers role whether she likes it or not and helps care for her younger brothers and her father.. Annie's best friend is spiraling out of control without Annie to keep her in line.

Somehow, with grace and tenderness, Quindlen crafts a novel of love, loss and moving forward.

Annie's husband, children and best friend try to cope with her unexpected death. All of their lives were so centered around Annie that they are all just lost, floundering and struggling without her. Definitely a sad, emotional book but turns hopeful toward the end.

This is a beautiful book about loss and love. In the first few sentences the main character Annie dies. This story is about all those who deeply loved her reacted to her being gone. Some fell apart some turned to alcohol some who were children became grown ups.
I want to thank Netgalley and Random House for this wonderful advanced copy in exchange for my honest review..

A gentle exploration of the first year after loss. A youngish wife and mother dies unexpectedly setting off a variety of grief responses in her four children, husband, and closest friend. Told through the seasons of the year, I found my heart most connected to eldest child, Ali, a daughter. When the adults in her life cannot seem to be there for her or her siblings, Ali takes on the mantle of adulthood, filling the slippers her mother left on the kitchen floor.

Bill Brown finds he isn't enough to fill the slippers his wife has left behind and sort of checks out, leaning heavily on his daughter to handle things within the home.

Then there is the lifelong friend, Annemarie. A successful business woman who seemingly has it all but no longer has her friend, confidant, and the woman who helped her most at her lowest.

There was such a realness to the atmosphere during the funeral and post burial gathering of attendees and casseroles, gossiping neighbors, inappropriate in-laws, and canonization of the deceased. It felt like funerals I've attended.

Ultimately, time does its work and loss becomes bearable and learning to live and love again is achievable.

Thank you to Random House for an early e-copy via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
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I first read Anna Quindlen for my high school English literature class. I remember thinking wow this book is so different from all the other homework I have to do. It’s actually enjoyable. So thank you to that teacher who introduced me to one of the classic writers of our time. Of course when I saw Quindlen had a new book, After Annie, I jumped at the chance to read/listen to it.

Annie, a middle aged woman married to Bill with four children and a best friend Anne Marie. As Quindlen mentioned in her keynote speech to us at a recent author event I attended, it is not a spoiler to tell you that Annie drops dead in the first chapter.

This is a quiet story about the year after Annie’s death and how it affects those closest to her. Quiet stories are not usually my jam but Quindlen has a knack for writing in a way that characters slowly change and grow without you barely noticing, until you do. I like that.

At first you will be thinking where is this going? Is anything happening? And then suddenly you will feel like you know these people inside and out and be completely emotional about them. These rich characters would make After Annie a great discussion book for book club.

Pick this up for a quiet character driven novel dealing with loss, grief, marriage and friendship.

4.5 stars!
First off, I want to thank Random House Publishing Group via Netgalley for an e-copy and PRH audio for the audiobook in exchange of my honest review. I feel so lucky to have this opportunity.
After Annie by Anna Quindlen was a moving story that has resonated with me in many ways. Family dynamics, dealing with sudden loss and the unexplainable, heavy and hollow grief that no one seem to know how to fix and the feeling of emptiness left by someone whose presence was deeply missed.
I learned a lot in this book. It was beautifully written albeit the sad and painful yet relatable plot. The facts of life that were just subtly hovering over the surface of the living, ever ready to make their presence known when tragedy strikes.
I was deeply taken aback by Ally's statement saying " What's the point of having grown-ups when they can't fix things?"
For. Real.
There is so much that we do not and may never get to know in dealing with life and we just have to get through it one day at a time, just like the characters in this book did.
I highly recommend this book. It is quite a reading experience.

This is not an easy read, but it's an engrossing novel that I read in a single day. Annie Brown, beloved wife of Bill Brown and mother to four young children, drops dead in her kitchen of an aneurysm at the start of this story. The book follows the family and Annie's best friend, Annemarie, as they grieve and struggle through the next year. The characters were vividly drawn, and although the story was simple, it was utterly compelling. This is a book that will pull on your heartstrings, but not in a way that feels at all manipulative. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for a digital review copy.

Anna Quindlen is a master of characters. This is a novel about the lives of a family in the wake of a beloved’s death. How will they survive it?

Ali, or Alexandra, is the oldest of four. She’s often the one to pick up the slack when mom & dad are busy. Her three younger brothers, Ant (or Anthony), Benjy, and Jamie are pretty much useless with household chores. Heck, even the hamsters live in Ali’s room. Ali is the one who seems to have it all on her shoulders. Caring for her dad. Caring for her siblings.It’s a lot for a young teen.

Dad, Bill, is a plumber and he’s often off taking care of clients and their immediate issues. Mom, Annie, works in a nursing home. But Annie does her best to make sure there is always fresh food for the family and a somewhat clean house. When Annie suddenly collapses on the kitchen floor while making dinner, the whole family comes to a standstill. Annie was the force to be reckoned with. Can they move on without her?

Add in Annemarie, Annie’s lifetime bestie. If it weren’t for Annie, Annemarie might not have even made it to her 30s. Annemarie simply doesn’t care if life goes on. Bill isn’t her fan. Only her relationship with Ali might get her through.

This novel is so complex but put together so simply. It follows the lives of these people over the course of a year in their lives. A year of trying to put the pieces back together after a loss so large they don’t know how to survive. The writing is beautiful and each person has so much depth. They came to life in my mind.

Absolutely amazing and worth the read.

After Annie opens in the first chapter with the death of Annie Brown, a young mother of four. The book unfolds during the days, months, and ultimately year that follows her death through the perspective of husband, daughter, and friend. We see how grief impacts these three people who were closest to Annie, how they cope, and how they become stronger. The subject was so heartbreaking and at times very sad, but I felt hope and love after ultimately completing it.

Quindlen is a master at weaving complex and moving family stories, After Annie is no exception.

I would highly recommend this to lovers of Alice Hoffman, Jodi Picoult, Ann Patchett.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review!

This is the story of what happened after Annie suddenly dies. Can her husband pick up the pieces and move on? Can her best friend make her way through the bad habits that Annie helped her overcome? Can her oldest daughter grow up and help raise her siblings and take care of her father or will this break them all?

After Annie is a beautiful tribute to a loving mother and wife who dies suddenly. Anna Quindlen deftly handles how each member of the family deals with their grief and new responsibilities. She also gives us the meaning of what true friendship can look like. This is both a heart breaking and heart warming novel.

This is a beautifully written novel by Anna Quindlen. It is a story filled with heartbreak, deep emotions and ultimately hope. If you have recently lost a loved one this one may be difficult for you to read. I think this will be a good choice for book clubs!

I love a story that sucks you in from page one. This book pulls you in from the first sentence. This is a wonderful read. Emotional, sad, heart-breaking, yet also a celebration of life and getting through difficult times. I cried several times and that is thanks to the fabulous writing. You feel like all the characters are friends and family. I appreciated how the story was told by different characters at different times. I felt this really advanced the narrative and let you experience the events more deeply. This book should have a trigger warning if anyone you love has died recently, but at the same time, I feel this book might also help you feel less alone and will help normalize the struggle. My only critique is the Jenny storyline. This could have been a novel on its own. It felt a little forced and also like it wasn’t developed enough. I will say this, if Anna Quindlen wrote a novel about Jenny’s experience, I’d read it in a heartbeat. This was a well-done, powerful story of love.

A quote about the latest Anna Quindlen novel, After Annie, says “A new Anna Quindlen novel is always cause for celebration,” and if I were asked whether I enjoy reading her novels, I would say “yes,” but then if asked to name my favorite, I’d be…stumped. Can’t think of any titles, in fact! But after reading about the story told in this latest book, I was happy to receive a copy from Random House Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

The book begins with the sudden death of Annie Brown, leaving her husband, children, and best friend Annemarie to cope with the loss. Annie was the center of their relationships, being a kind and loving woman whose efforts made the family function, saved her BFF’s life when addiction took over her entire being, and allowed her husband Bill to live his life without ever thinking about or (IMO) appreciating all that she did.

Annie’s daughter Ali is suddenly thrust into the role of replacement mom to her younger brothers, and she finds her imagination and internal dialogue occupying much of her attention. “Annie always said that her daughter had a vivid imagination, but she didn’t, not really. It was worry that made Ali think about things…not imagination at all.”

The way Quindlen talks about grief will likely resonate with anyone who has lost a loved one. “Grief was like spring, maybe. You thought you were getting out from under it and then it came roaring back. And getting out from under it felt like forgetting, and forgetting felt like treason.”

The story unfolds over the course of a year, and swirls around the events and feelings of the ones Annie left behind. And the reassurance one gets from reading this story is that love and memories keep people alive even after they are physically gone.

I enjoyed this more than I expected to, and appreciated the warm feelings it evoked. Four stars.

Annie Brown is greatly loved. She’s loved by her husband Bill, by her children Ali, Ant, Benjy and Jamie, by her best friend Annemarie and so many others. Readers will only know Annie through their memories because on the first page she drops dead in her kitchen. This brutal scene begins After Annie by the talented Anna Quindlen. This book is a story of grief, of love, relationships, family and survival. Bill watches his family fall apart as he tries to cope with school schedules, doctors’ appointments, shopping for clothing and keeping meals on the table. Ali at twelve takes on the role of the adult in the house, hiding her sorrow, walking her younger brothers to school and learning to cook. Ant is full of anger, lashing out at his family and friends. Annemarie tries to fill the emptiness she feels after the loss of her lifelong best friend.

After Annie, divided into the four seasons following Annie’s death, is heartbreaking. Each family member learns to deal with death and find a different future than they had anticipated. There is no happy ending here but there is the hope that things are getting better. This is a beautiful story about ordinary people who you will care so much about. The emotion that leaps from the pages of After Annie will stay with you long after you finish the final pages. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House and Anna Quindlen for this ARC.

Another stellar offering by Anna Quindlen. I felt invested in all the grieving characters-the husband, the daughter, the longtime best friend. Even though Annie died so early in the story, she felt fully formed through others’ recollections of her. I appreciated how the different characters each dealt with the loss in their own messy way. Definitely worth a read.

Thank you to Net Galley, Random House and Anna Quindlen for the opportunity to read the heart wrenching but wonderful novel, After Annie. This story is a roller coaster of emotions. I cried, laughed and everything in between. The characters were so realistic I felt I was part of the family. Many situations were similar to my life that as I was reading I was comparing the story to my own experiences. I went down memory lane many times. It really hits home how important mothers are and all the roles they play in life. I especially identified with Annamarie. Losing my best friend would be devastating. Her actions were understandable and her grief, very believable.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story.. I have read everything by Anna Quindlen and look forward to more.

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.



My Thoughts:

After Annie is an emotionally wrought story of loss and putting life back together when a big hole is now in their world.

The story is alternately narrated by the characters, from Ali to Bill, and even best friend Annemarie offers a taste of what life looks life “after Annie” is gone.

Each of the four children show us what their lives are now, and how their challenges and difficulties become part of their journey.

Ali, as the oldest, has taken over the role left by their mother, and acquires a lot of wisdom along the way.

At the end, all of them are moving from the old house, guided by their experiences over the year. What will they be now? All of what they have learned has made them almost whole, but in new ways. 4.5 stars.

***

I'll read anything Anna Quindlen writes and picked up After Annie without even looking into what it was about. Be prepared: it's a tear jerker!
After Annie is the story of a year in the life of the Brown family: Annie and Bill and their kids Ali, Ant, Benjy and Jamie. Thrown into the mix is Annemarie, Annie's best childhood friend, along with other relatives and friends, and, of course, life challenges.
The biggest challenge happens as the book opens when Annie dies suddenly. The family's story is then told from the perspectives of Bill, Annemarie and Ali and over the course of a year. I came away feeling like Annie was able to tell her story as well.
It's a beautifully written and interesting story and you might find yourself, like me, wanting to know more about how they're doing as time has passed. In addition to sudden/early death, After Annie also touches on themes of substance abuse and child abuse, handled effectively in Ms. Quindlen's usual style. I also liked the settings outside of Philadelphia and in the Amish/Mennonite community of Lancaster County.
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for the opportunity to read After Annie!

I set this aside after the first chapter. I have known two people who died suddenly the same way that Annie does in the first chapter of this book. I picked it up again and set it down again. After a week, I picked it up again and stuck with it.

This is a book about death and grief and learning to live without the most important person in your life.

There is Annie’s husband, Bill, a cute plumber. They married hastily when Annie became pregnant. He is a good husband and father and sees his work as helping people. He can provide his family with a house rented from his mother but couldn’t give Annie her dream kitchen or the kids their own rooms.

There are the kids, the wise before her time eldest, Ali, and brother Ant, and the little boys.

And then there is Annemarie, Annie’s life-long best friend and confidant. Bill has held Annemarie in suspicion ever since Annie risked her job at the nursing home to help Annemarie overcome her addiction.

Quindlen creates wonderful characters and she keeps you emotionally engaged. Grief and loss is not the end game here, for in their own way, each character finds their way into the future, Annie’s love still sustaining them, but able to grow and move on.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book.