Overall a moving story about loss and recovery, dynamics in the family before and after the sudden, unexpected death of the mother. How it affects them and her close friends. There are some side storylines as well, but this is primarily a story of grief and healing and hope over time. A little hard to read at times

Sad and slow paced story about a woman dying in her kitchen at age 37, and the year afterwards where her husband, four children and best friend try to go on living. Annie was married to Bill who is a plumber and she kept things together for their family despite money being tight and living in a house they rent from Bill's mother who is a mean person and never has a kind word to say. One day Annie tells Bill she has a headache and she falls to the floor, dying of a burst vessel in her brain. Bill is in shock and resorts to working all of the time leaving his 13 year old daughter Ali to take on the mother role, cooking, helping with homework and taking care of her three younger brothers.

Annemarie was Annie's best friend and we find out that she was once addicted to drugs and it was only through the help of a group of Mennonite women and Annie that she came clean. Annemarie doesn't know how she will survive the loss of her friend but wants to help Annie's children the best she can. There is also a side story with a girl named Jenny, a friend of Ali's who may be experiencing sexual abuse in her home. I think adding the two stories (the drug addiction and the sexual abuse story) took away from the story about the children and Bill grieving and the result was that none of the stories seemed complete. There is also something dated about this book. It may be that there are neighbor women who appear to be in their 30's like Bill but are named Patsy and Sally and are coming over with casseroles to try to get Bill interested. This seems like something much older women would do, not women who likely work full time and would reach out on social media.
There is also a mention that Annie's mother started a hope chest for her with monogramed towels and other things she would need as a bride; that wasn't even done in my generation and I am in my 60's. I did like the character of Ali very much and thought her story was the most realistic as she navigated between taking over as the mother and wanting to be a teenager. I didn't find Bill to be very likable but I did like him putting his children first at the end. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC in exchange for a review.

Full disclosure. I’m a psychologist. I loved this book as it helps the reader understand grief and recovery, love, family dynamics, and adolescence and the understanding of the impact of death. This is a great book but sad. It’s about the sudden loss of a mother/wife in a family and the year of recovery. I enjoy books that bring up feelings especially, like this one, that has a positive ending. It’s life—sadness comes but so does acceptance. This book will touch your heart, make you want to help your neighbor if they go through a loss, celebrate family no matter how that is defined and understand that recovery comes, sometimes slowly but it comes. But for some readers, depending on where they are in life, it may be too soon although I think reading about recovery always helps.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the Advanced Review copy.

A story of love and loss that will tug at your heartstrings. Annie, the family matriarch, suddenly dies and leaves her family in shock. What follows is the family struggling to put the pieces together and live their lives again. A good choice for a book club discussion.

Thank you to Random House for making this title available. A sudden death leaves four children and their father without the center of their lives. Annie collapses in the kitchen and dies leaving daughter Ali and her younger brothers adrift and her husband Bill struggling to move forward in a world that continues without his childhood sweetheart. The kids, especially Annie and Ant, the older two, are faltering and, with each passing season, the family learns how to navigate life without Annie. They are not alone in their grief. Sharing Annie's loss is Annemarie, her best friend who struggles with her own demons, her sister Kate, and predator high school acquaintance, Liz, who is way too interested in Bill immediately after Annie's death. The family heals with the help of a caring psychologist. The subtleties are there, Quindlen's way of writing characters who are sensitive and complicated and injured, and each perspective is particular. The prose is well written but more of a stream of consciousness at times instead of deep scene but the melancholy is apt for the story. Especially enjoyed Annemarie's POV and Bill's. A solid read, poignant at times, and with a satisfying ending.

Heartbreaking.

Just as you begin to know Annie, she dies suddenly, right in front of her husband and children.

Her husband struggles. When he drops the ball, the oldest daughter picks up the slack. She has to grow up really fast.

Her best friend, who leaned on Annie a great deal, struggles too.

So do the two younger boys.

You do get to know Annie throughout the book through her voice in the heads of those who miss her.

I would recommend this book. I give it 4 stars.

Heart wrenching story of a young family and a best friend. Annie, the energetic loving mother, wife and best friend suddenly dies leaving four young children, her high school sweetheart and her life time best friend Annemarie.

Qunindlen uses flashbacks through Annie’s husband Bill, her best friend Annemarie and her oldest child Ali. The suddenness of Annie’s death leaves the family reeling with little support. As time goes by Bill, Ali and Annemarie learn how to keep Annie’s memory and to channel her love.

I love everything that Anna Quindlen writes and was so excited to read this book. It is an engaging story about what happens to family and friends when a mother dies suddenly. In addition to obvious struggles, the book explores the fissures that were already there in these relationships. I was immediately drawn into this family and cared deeply for the characters. This story is about grief and loss and friendship and rebuilding and what makes a person happy. I highly recommend!

What a beautifully written story. It’s a book that I couldn’t put down but was a complex story that dels with multiple kinds of loves, losses and growth. The characters are all so well ,developed and real, I had to sometimes remind myself this was fiction..

Anna Quindlen is one of my authors and her latest book did not disappoint. She always gets the human experience just right and is able to beautifully tell a story from multiple characters points of view.

A book about grief and recovery, as a young mother's husband, children, best friend, and other family members process their loss when she dies unexpectedly. I am typically a big Anna Quindlen fan, but this was not my favorite book. I found it slow and a little bit predictable. That said, Quindlen is an eloquent and ernest fiction writer. I will look forward to her next novel!

Having just experienced the death of two family members in six weeks, After Annie pulled my heartstrings on so many pages. It didn't keep me from reading, it gave permission for the adjustments a family makes when they lose a loved one. It is not an instruction manual, but it was a realistic telling of what life is like after for a family. I would recommend it to any reader.

A stunning portrayal of the profound grief of those she left behind, a character study of the wife, mother and friend named Annie who we know dies in the first sentence of this affecting novel. The characterizations of her husband Bill who can’t imagine how he’ll live without her and how he’ll manage the children, her four children trying to cope with their loss, her life long best friend, Annemarie, who Annie helped save from addiction are equally well done. We follow them through the heartbreaking year after Annie’s death , as each of them tries to figure out how they can manage without her. Bill is blinded by his grief and loses sight of what his children need. Thirteen year old Ali, even though mature for her age, bears more responsibility than she should have to, is also coping with an awful secret of what her best friend is enduring. Eleven year old Ant’s sadness manifests itself in anger. And the youngest boys eight and six, lost little souls who just want their mommy to come home brought tears to my eyes. Annemarie, Annie’s best friend loses control. The depth of their friendship is wonderfully portrayed. This is such a touching story, a very realistic one that connected me emotionally with these characters. I think anyone who has lost a loved one will be moved. I should read more by this author.


I received a copy of this book from Random House through NetGalley.

So excited to see Anna Quindlen return to the fiction list. Her characters and the situations in which she places them are those we can all identify. But also she puts them all in a new focus that resonates with me.

I saved this book to read when I could read it in one sitting. I just loved this story about a family shattered after the death of their young mother. Told in alternating perspectives between her husband, her oldest daughter and her best friend. It was so lovely and I’m sure informed by Anna Quindlen’s experience losing her own mother and being the oldest child in a family of five.

After Annie is a perfect read for anyone who has loved and lost someone through death, divorce or desertion. It is a tear- jerker, but also a pathway to acceptance and guidance for the future. I loved the novel.

"After Annie" by Anna Quindlen is a wise and heartfelt novel that delves into the intricacies of family, friendship, and the enduring power of love in the face of loss and adversity. Quindlen, known for her insightful observations on modern life, weaves a beautiful narrative that captures the essence of human connection.

The story unfolds after the sudden death of Annie Brown, leaving her husband, children, and closest friend grappling with the void she left behind. Bill, overwhelmed by the absence of his beloved wife, and Annemarie, Annie's best friend, find themselves navigating life without the woman who had been the linchpin of their existence. Ali, the eldest of Annie's children, is thrust into a role of responsibility, forced to care for her younger siblings and even her grieving father.

Throughout the narrative, Annie's presence lingers in the minds of those who loved her. Her voice becomes a guiding force, offering wisdom that is both loving and pragmatic. Quindlen portrays the characters' journey over the course of a year, emphasizing the transformative power of adversity. The lessons learned center on the idea that the influence of a beloved individual endures, allowing those left behind to carry on with resilience and strength.

The novel is written in Quindlen's emotionally resonant voice, showcasing her deep understanding of people and their complex emotions. "After Annie" is a story of hope, illustrating how unexpected challenges can bring about profound and lasting change. Through its poignant exploration of grief, resilience, and the enduring bonds of love, Quindlen delivers a narrative that is both comforting and thought-provoking.

“I know you. How many times had she said that to Annemarie? That was the hole in her heart now, not just that Annie was gone, but that there was no one in the world who knew her, not really.”

I’ve been reading Anna Quindlen’s books for years. I love both her fiction and non-fiction. She has a way of writing characters and stories that are so true and real, and are my very favorite to read.

She’s not afraid of tough subjects and I wasn’t sure right now was the best time for me to read After Annie, but once I started her writing hooked me and I couldn’t put it down.

Annie Brown dies suddenly one night while making dinner for her husband and four children. The story is told from the perspectives of Ali, her oldest child and only girl; Bill, her husband; and AnneMarie, her best friend. It’s about how they learn to live without Annie at the center of their lives. It’s as much a story about grief as it is about losing someone who is like the glue keeping everything together.

It’s obviously very sad but there is so much I loved about it. It’s a story full of life and connections and healing. Ali is dealing with being the oldest and the responsibilities that fall to her now. Bill is pretty much clueless on how to take care of his kids, but he makes the effort to learn and give them what they need. AnneMarie is an addict who leaned on Annie in her sobriety. I love when a book includes its characters going to therapy to deal with situations like this.

It’s mostly character-driven - there is not a whole lot of plot - but sometimes those are my favorite types of stories, and a reason Quindlen remains one of my favorite authors.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random house for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. After Annie publishes on March 12, 2024.

A beautifully written novel about those left behind after a death, in this case a sudden one of a young mother. The actions and feelings of the children, the widower, and best friend were explored over the course of the following year. You could really feel the love emanating from the pages. I lost it when the widower, Bill, made this profound statement towards the end of the novel "Some of the trees were beginning to green again, and it felt not like an outrage as it had the approaching spring before, but like some sense of possibility, even if possibility would always be edged with sadness."

Such a brilliant telling of what happens to a family when the glue that binds them dies. Annie is a great wife, mother, sister, and best friend. When she unexpectedly drops dead in her kitchen, she leaves behind 4 lost children, a lost husband and a lost best friend. This is the story of his thru food with life After Annie. Anna Quindlen captures the emotions so vividly, I feel like o know each of these characters inside and out. Finished in just one day!