Review: After Annie (by Anna Quindlen)

My Rating:  4.5 stars

This is a beautifully written story about a young wife and mother, Annie Brown, who collapses on the kitchen floor one night and never gets up again.  In the aftermath, her devastated family, swimming in grief, try to cope with the loss of the person who was the center of their universe — her husband Bill is shellshocked and buries himself in his work; her daughter Ali, only 13 years old, yet as the eldest, takes up the responsibility of caring for her 3 younger brothers as well as her father; Ant, at 11 years old, becomes angry and silent; the two youngest boys, Jamie and Benjy, don't understand what is happening and constantly ask when their mommy will be returning from the hospital, only for their questions to go unanswered; and then there's AnneMarie, the best friend since childhood who was dragged back from the brink of her own drug-fueled self-destruction by Annie, and now is in danger of spiraling out of control again after losing the one person who was her anchor and kept her on solid ground.  

The narrative is divided up based on seasons, starting with the winter day when Annie dies, then follows the family through the subsequent spring, summer, and autumn, at the same time alternating between the perspectives of Bill, Ali, and AnneMarie as they are forced to navigate a world without Annie in it.  The story is so sad and heartbreaking — I especially felt for Ali, who had to take up so much on her own while the adults in her life were adrift and didn't pay her much attention.  All the kids, in fact, I felt so much sympathy for that the entire time I was reading, I just wanted to reach out and hug them, comfort them.

The writing here is so moving and heartfelt — Quindlen captures the nuances of ordinary life so perfectly; at the same time, the way she has her characters navigate grief and loss felt so realistic that, at various points, I found I had tears streaming down my face.

I know Quindlen is a prolific author but this is actually the first time I've read any of her books.  It definitely won't be the last time however and with such a huge backlist, I'm glad that there will be plenty of her books to explore in the future.

Received ARC from Random House via NetGalley.