No one should believe a word of any review about any book, movie, concert or TV show. Including this one. Period.
Here’s the proof:
- In the May 9, 2024 edition of the Wall Street Journal, a reviewer said that “After Annie” by Anna Quindlen stinks. She said the plot was an easy cliché, and the characters were predictable. She attacked the similes used. Finally, she said the characters think thoughts that are inconsistent with their sophistication. This must mean the characters are “deplorables.”
- I, on the other hand, was in the middle of writing a review for “After Annie” that started out by saying “How can one say something that isn’t trite about a book like “After Annie” . . . This novel is one of her best.”
Some of us look forward to new books by Anna Quindlen and pay the highest price to get them. I remember looking forward to her columns in the New York Times back when we were both youngish journalists. Quindlen won a Pulitzer Prize for her columns. I was happy with a nice paycheck.
In “After Annie,” the plot is real life. Catastrophe strikes when Annie dies suddenly of an aneurysm. Her husband, four children and best friend are left to work out their grief, each in his or her own way. There are no murders. No chase scenes. No hot sex. The closest thing to a negative foil is Annie’s mother-in-law who manages to say the wrong thing at the wrong time.
The aftermath of Annie’s death is told through the eyes of grieving husband Bill, Annie’s best friend AnneMarie, and 13-year-old daughter Alexandra (Ali). Bill is not very good at managing or expressing his feelings. AnneMarie is devastated to lose her childhood friend and returns to drug addiction. Ali has to grow up overnight, filling in for her bewildered father, looking after her three siblings and trying to manage her puberty.
This could be a bad book. I grant you that. But it isn’t. It’s a GREAT book about ordinary people living ordinary lives and managing to survive. The writing is excellent. The similes fit. The protagonists react as we would react – but Quindlen manages to find meaning in it all. Quindlen has the gift of putting scenes, actions, dialogue together in ways that surprise and astound the reader.
In my unhumble opinion!
So . . . it all boils down to this: If you’re a reader who likes Anna Quindlen books, you will love “After Annie.” If you are not a reader who likes Quindlen books, you won’t. Simple as that.
