After Annie by Anna Quindlen
Annie Brown dies at dinnertime, struck down by an aneurysm as she’s making the mashed potatoes. Her death is a shock; to those who love her, Annie is the heartbeat of life, and absent her steady sensibility, their lives are immediately upended. Husband Bill fumbles through his grief, incapable of parenting their four children, “a visitor in his own life”. Thirteen-year-old daughter Ali assumes responsibility for her younger brothers, determined to keep the family together but unsure how to do it. And best friend Annemarie spirals out of control, seemingly set on imploding the life that Annie helped her put back together years before. As the story moves through the first year after Annie’s death, readers see these characters fall but also get back up again, guided by their sense of Annie all around. This emotionally resonant novel is sensitive and relatable, peopled by those moving through the pain of loss in ways both messy and true.
Reviewed by Mary Kinser, collection development librarian, Whatcom County Library System
(Originally published in Bellingham Alive August 2024 issue.)