After Annie

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ΓÇó ΓÇ£Part of QuindlenΓÇÖs gift is that you donΓÇÖt just read about these characters,you inhabit them. . . . Luminous with lifehope and the power of love.ΓÇ¥ΓÇöPeople (A Book of the Week Pick) ΓÇ£[A] quietly revelatory and gently gleaming gem of a book.ΓÇ¥ΓÇöThe New York Times Book Review (EditorsΓÇÖ Choice) Anna QuindlenΓÇÖs trademark wisdom on familyfriendshipand the ties that bind us are at the center of this novel about the power of love to transcend loss and triumph over adversityby the author of Still Life with Bread Crumbs and One True Thing. When Annie Brown dies suddenlyher husbandher childrenand 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 wifeand Annemarie wrestles with the bad habits her best friend had helped her overcome. And Alithe eldest of AnnieΓÇÖs childrenhas to grow up overnightto 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 Annieever-present in their mindsloving but not sentimentalcaring but nobodyΓÇÖs foola 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 QuindlenΓÇÖs emotionally resonant voice and with her deep and generous understanding of peopleAfter Annie is about hopeand about the unexpected power of adversity to change us in profound and indelible ways.