Anna Quindlen – författare

In Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, New York Times bestseller and winner of the Pulitzer Prize Anna Quindlen shares the events of her own life to illuminate our own. From childhood memories to manic motherhood to middle age, Quindlen tells life as she has lived it. She acknowledges the passing years, from the generational shrinking of underwear to facing the fact that her knees make ’this noise like Rice Krispies’ when she exercises. Despite its downsides, she says, aging brings wisdom, and a perspective that makes life satisfying and even joyful. Honest, witty and moving, this irresistible memoir celebrates all our lives.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Part of Quindlen’s gift is that you don’t just read about these characters, you inhabit them. . . . Luminous with life, hope and the power of love.”—People (A Book of the Week Pick) “[A] quietly revelatory and gently gleaming gem of a book.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice) Anna Quindlen’s trademark wisdom on family, friendship, and the ties that bind us are at the center of this novel about the power of love to transcend loss and triumph over adversity, by the author of Still Life with Bread Crumbs and One True Thing.When Annie Brown dies suddenly, her husband, her children, and 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 wife, and Annemarie wrestles with the bad habits her best friend had helped her overcome. And Ali, the eldest of Annie’s children, has to grow up overnight, to 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 Annie, ever-present in their minds, loving but not sentimental, caring but nobody’s fool, a 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 Quindlen’s emotionally resonant voice and with her deep and generous understanding of people, After Annie is about hope, and about the unexpected power of adversity to change us in profound and indelible ways.

Anna Quindlen first visited London from a chair in her suburban Philadelphia home—in one of her beloved childhood mystery novels. She has been back to London countless times since, through the pages of books and in person, and now, in Imagined London, she takes her own readers on a tour of this greatest of literary cities. While New York, Paris, and Dublin are also vividly portrayed in fiction, it is London, Quindlen argues, that has always been the star, both because of the primacy of English literature and the specificity of city descriptions. She bases her view of the city on her own detailed literary map, tracking the footsteps of her favorite characters: the places where Evelyn Waugh’s bright young things danced until dawn, or where Lydia Bennett eloped with the dastardly Wickham. With wit and charm, Imagined London gives this splendid city its full due in the landscape of the literary imagination.

‘Candid and complex ­– and ultimately quite hopeful’ Claire Lombardo‘Beautiful and deeply moving’ J. Courtney Sullivan‘A story of abiding hope’ Mary Beth Keane When Annie Brown dies suddenly, her husband, her four young children and her closest friend are left to struggle without the woman who centred their lives. Bill Brown finds himself overwhelmed, and Annie’s best friend Annemarie is lost to old bad habits without Annie’s support. It is Annie’s daughter, Ali, forced to try to care for her younger brothers and even her father, who manages to maintain some semblance of their former lives for them all, and who confronts the complicated truths of adulthood. Yet over the course of the next year, while Annie looms large in their memories, all three are able to grow, to change, even to become stronger and more sure of themselves. The enduring power Annie gave to those who loved her is the power to love, and to go on without her. Written in Quindlen’s emotionally resonant voice, and with her deep and generous understanding of people, After Annie is a story that ends with hope, a beautiful novel about how adversity can change us in profound ways.‘[A] quietly revelatory and gently gleaming gem of a book.’— New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)Praise for Anna Quindlen‘Leaves the reader feeling grateful, wide awake, lucky to be alive’ Michael Chabon‘Simply impossible to forget’ Alice Hoffman‘Qualities and shades of love are this writer's strong suit, and she has the unusual talent for writing about them with so much truth and heart’ Elizabeth Jane Howard‘Breathtaking... Quindlen writes superbly about families, grief and betrayal. I was completely mesmerised’ Lisa Jewell‘Engaging, immaculately constructed storytelling’ Guardian‘One of our most astute chroniclers of modern life’ New York Times Book Review‘Brave and beautiful’ The Times‘Her storytelling is exemplary’ Sunday Telegraph‘With relentless and dazzling brilliance, Quindlen grapples with the lancing pain and the swirls of disorientation experienced by anyone who has loved and lost’ Daily Mail‘A wise, closely observed, achingly eloquent book’ Huffington Post‘Overwhelmingly moving’ New York Times

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER‘Candid and complex ­– and ultimately quite hopeful’ Claire Lombardo‘Beautiful and deeply moving’ J. Courtney Sullivan‘A story of abiding hope’ Mary Beth Keane When Annie Brown dies suddenly, her husband, her four young children and her closest friend are left to struggle without the woman who centred their lives. Bill Brown finds himself overwhelmed, and Annie’s best friend Annemarie is lost to old bad habits without Annie’s support. It is Annie’s daughter, Ali, forced to try to care for her younger brothers and even her father, who manages to maintain some semblance of their former lives for them all, and who confronts the complicated truths of adulthood. Yet over the course of the next year, while Annie looms large in their memories, all three are able to grow, to change, even to become stronger and more sure of themselves. The enduring power Annie gave to those who loved her is the power to love, and to go on without her. Written in Quindlen’s emotionally resonant voice, and with her deep and generous understanding of people, After Annie is a story that ends with hope, a beautiful novel about how adversity can change us in profound ways. Praise for Anna Quindlen‘Leaves the reader feeling grateful, wide awake, lucky to be alive’ Michael Chabon‘Simply impossible to forget’ Alice Hoffman‘Qualities and shades of love are this writer's strong suit, and she has the unusual talent for writing about them with so much truth and heart’ Elizabeth Jane Howard‘Breathtaking... Quindlen writes superbly about families, grief and betrayal. I was completely mesmerised’ Lisa Jewell‘Engaging, immaculately constructed storytelling’ Guardian‘One of our most astute chroniclers of modern life’ New York Times Book Review‘Brave and beautiful’ The Times‘Her storytelling is exemplary’ Sunday Telegraph‘With relentless and dazzling brilliance, Quindlen grapples with the lancing pain and the swirls of disorientation experienced by anyone who has loved and lost’ Daily Mail‘A wise, closely observed, achingly eloquent book’ Huffington Post‘Overwhelmingly moving’ New York Times

A woman confronts the surprising results of an ancestry test and begins to question the meaning of family and friendship in this wise, tender novel teeming with life—from the beloved New York Times bestselling author of After Annie.High school English teacher Polly Goodman can talk about everything and anything with the women in her book club, which is why they’ve become her closest friends and, along with her veterinarian husband, the bedrock of her life. Her students, her fraught relationship with her mother, her struggles with IVF—Polly’s book club friends have heard it all.But when they give Polly an ancestry test kit as a joke, the results match her with a stranger. Despite it seeming clear that this match is a mistake, Polly cannot help but comb through her own family history for answers. Then, when it seems that the book club circle of four will become three, Polly learns how friendships can change your life in the most profound ways.Written with Anna Quindlen’s trademark warmth, humor, and insight into the power of love and hope, More Than Enough explores how we find ourselves again and again through the relationships that define us.Praise for Anna Quindlen‘Leaves the reader feeling grateful, wide awake, lucky to be alive’ Michael Chabon‘Simply impossible to forget’ Alice Hoffman‘Qualities and shades of love are this writer's strong suit, and she has the unusual talent for writing about them with so much truth and heart’ Elizabeth Jane Howard‘Breathtaking... Quindlen writes superbly about families, grief and betrayal. I was completely mesmerised’ Lisa Jewell‘Engaging, immaculately constructed storytelling’ Guardian‘One of our most astute chroniclers of modern life’ New York Times Book Review‘Brave and beautiful’ The Times‘Her storytelling is exemplary’ Sunday Telegraph‘With relentless and dazzling brilliance, Quindlen grapples with the lancing pain and the swirls of disorientation experienced by anyone who has loved and lost’ Daily Mail‘A wise, closely observed, achingly eloquent book’ Huffington Post‘Overwhelmingly moving’ New York Times

~The New York Times bestselling novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer~‘Miller's Valley reads like a companion to Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge’ Elisabeth Egan, author of A Window Opens  Mimi Miller’s family have lived in Miller’s Valley for generations and at times it feels like nothing ever changes – until now when the town is under threat. But as Mimi looks back on the span of her life in this place, she confronts the toxicity of secrets, the dangers of gossip, the flaws of marriage, the risks and inequalities of friendship, loyalty and passion. Home, she acknowledges, is somewhere it’s just as easy to feel lost as contented.  A captivating, beautifully crafted story of family and memory that recalls the work of Anne Tyler or Elizabeth Strout, Miller's Valley reminds us that the place where you grew up can disappear, and the people in it too, but all will live on in your heart for ever.'Qualities and shades of love are this writer's strong suit, and she has the unusual talent for writing about them with so much truth and heart that one is carried away on a tidal wave of involvement and concern' Elizabeth Jane Howard'Mesmerizing. Quindlen makes her characters so richly alive, so believable, that it’s impossible not to feel every doubt and dream they harbor . . . Overwhelmingly moving’ New York Times

For fans of Elizabeth Strout and Anne Tyler comes a brilliantly provocative novel from the Richard and Judy Book Club and Number One bestselling author Anna Quindlen.'Mesmerizing. Quindlen makes her characters so richly alive, so believable, that it’s impossible not to feel every doubt and dream they harbour . . . Overwhelmingly moving’ New York Times  Anna Quindlen follows her highly-praised novel Miller’s Valley – ‘reads like a companion to Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge’, Elisabeth Egan – with a captivating novel about money, class and self-discovery set in the heart of New York where the tensions in a tight-knit neighbourhood – and a seemingly happy marriage – are exposed by an unexpected act of violence.  There are days when Nora Nolan thinks that she and her husband, Charlie, lead a charmed life – except when there’s a crisis at work, a leak in the roof at home or a problem with their twins at college. And why not? Nora has never stopped loving New York, and their street has become a safe harbour, a tranquil village amid the urban craziness. The residents watch one another’s children grow up. They trade gossip and gripes, and they manoeuvre for the ultimate status symbol: a spot in the block’s small parking lot.Then, into their secure, privileged midst comes an unexpected act of violence and their enviable neighbourhood turns into a potent symbol of a divided city.  This is a novel of domesticity, of the jarring cacophony of city life and of daily routine and conversation and expectation being suddenly, awkwardly disrupted. It is about the change of dynamics wrought within a family when children leave home and the fading of love within an outwardly settled marriage.     Utterly absorbing and impeccably observed, Alternate Side explores, too, what it means to be a mother, a wife and a woman at a moment of reckoning.  ‘Qualities and shades of love are this writer’s strong suit, and she has the unusual talent for writing about them with so much truth and heart that one is carried away on a tidal wave of involvement and concern’  Elizabeth Jane Howard  'I’m a big fan of US author Anna Quindlen’s sharp writing. Her latest novel, Alternate Side, is a clear-eyed look at a long marriage, written with wit and warmth' Good Housekeeping'A book about being a mother, a wife and a woman at a moment of reckoning, this is an acutely observed story' Stylist Books ‘Middle age proves treacherous ground in this smart comedy of manners… Insightful, acerbic and pleasingly tinged with melancholy’ Mail on Sunday

For fans of Elizabeth Strout and Anne Tyler comes a brilliantly provocative novel from the Richard and Judy Book Club and Number One bestselling author Anna Quindlen.'Mesmerizing. Quindlen makes her characters so richly alive, so believable, that it’s impossible not to feel every doubt and dream they harbour . . . Overwhelmingly moving’ New York Times  Anna Quindlen follows her highly-praised novel Miller’s Valley – ‘reads like a companion to Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge’, Elisabeth Egan – with a captivating novel about money, class and self-discovery set in the heart of New York where the tensions in a tight-knit neighbourhood—and a seemingly happy marriage—are exposed by an unexpected act of violence.  There are days when Nora Nolan thinks that she and her husband, Charlie, lead a charmed life—except when there’s a crisis at work, a leak in the roof at home or a problem with their twins at college. And why not? New York City was once Nora’s dream destination and her clannish dead-end block has become a safe harbour, a tranquil village amid the urban craziness. The owners watch one another’s children grow up. They use the same handyman. They trade gossip and gripes, and they manoeuvre for the ultimate status symbol: a spot in the block’s small parking lot.Then one morning, Nora returns from her run to discover that a terrible incident has shaken the neighbourhood, and the enviable dead-end block turns into a potent symbol of a divided city. The fault lines begin to open: in their street, at Nora’s place of work in a jewellery museum and, most especially, in her marriage.  With an unerring and acute eye that captures beautifully the snap and crackle of modern life, Anna Quindlen explores what it means to be a mother, a wife and a woman at a moment of reckoning.  ‘Qualities and shades of love are this writer’s strong suit, and she has the unusual talent for writing about them with so much truth and heart that one is carried away on a tidal wave of involvement and concern’  Elizabeth Jane Howard  'I’m a big fan of US author Anna Quindlen’s sharp writing. Her latest novel, Alternate Side, is a clear-eyed look at a long marriage, written with wit and warmth' Good Housekeeping'A book about being a mother, a wife and a woman at a moment of reckoning, this is an acutely observed story' Stylist Books ‘Middle age proves treacherous ground in this smart comedy of manners… Insightful, acerbic and pleasingly tinged with melancholy’ Mail on Sunday