After Annie: A Novel

Wow! Bring on the master storyteller. Anna Quindlen can sure set a mood and bring the reader inside a family in an expert fashion. Annie Brown is well loved by her husband and four children. She is the mainstay and rock of the family. Everyone feels lucky to know her. Her husband is so grateful that he ended up married to her and still can’t believe his good fortune. Unfortunately, as Annie is serving dinner on what might have been a routine evening, she is taken by an aneurism, swiftly and fatally.

The aftermath and the families’ attempt to grieve, not grieve, get on with their lives, and stop hearing her voice, leaves the family shattered. The eldest girl is left with all the responsibilities and worries of keeping the family running since her father has taken to being absent from the family home. Annie’s closest friend, once a drug addict, was forcibly rehabbed by Annie and feels duty bound to care for her children, despite her emotional frailty and the animosity from Annie’s husband. Complex characters make this well worth the read.