Neshama’s Choices for August 12

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After Annie by Anna Quindlen

Annie, the mother of four, drops dead on the kitchen floor—an aneurysm. She is leaving her husband Bill, a plumber, stunned and unequipped to cope. Ali, the oldest, does what she can. Ant, the younger brother, is furious and acts out, and there are two little brothers as well. Annie’s longtime best friend Annemarie is problematic.  She’s single, kind of wild, and Bill considers her an interloper. She’s a currently sober addict whom Annie rescued, hiding her during detox in the nursing home where she worked. The family lives in the house Bill’s mother rents to them and she’s horrid. A counselor at high school helps, but it’s incredibly challenging. Quindlen takes us through the seasons of grief until the family finally settles into an equilibrium. The book managed to be unsentimental yet full of feeling.

All Fours by Miranda July

The unnamed protagonist (who might bear some resemblance to the author) sets out on a road trip from LA to NYC. She doesn’t get far.  A half-hour from home, she kind of flirts with the young man who fills her tank, moves into a funky motel and stays. Since the motel furniture is predictably awful, she hires Claire, a local decorator, to replace it with decor to mimic an elegant London hotel room she loves. We eventually discover that the decorator’s partner is the gas station guy. He introduces her to Monrovia and its surroundings from an insider’s perspective. I had to suspend disbelief to accept the wiggy premise of the plot but stuck with it because I was curious how it would play out. The title refers to that position, often connected with sexual abasement but also as “stable as a table.” July’s always original, for sure.

Crow Mary but Kathleen Grissom

In the late 1870s, Crow Mary’s father marries her off to Abe, a white man, in exchange for blankets and guns. This may sound heartless, but the tribe is suffering greatly from the scarcity of game and it’s the only hope available. Abe loves her but wants her to forsake her culture and it’s a constant issue between them. Also, Abe has a problem with alcohol, as do the natives, and that ultimately brings about his end. Crow Mary is strong, smart, and very determined. Her story echoes the ills that have befallen Indians throughout our history, but through the specific lens of her experience, the book delivers freshness and immediacy—Montana setting.

Leaving by Roxana Robinson

Their college romance ended when Sarah balked at going off to Bucharest with Henry. When they run into each other at the opera in NYC many years later, things rekindle fast. Complicated for sure since he’s still married in Boston, and she’s divorced in the city.  But it feels so right together until the emotional and practical fallout of the relationship brings them down. Their respective grown children are furious and the geographical logistics and attachments to house and home present insurmountable conflicts. Even though I have recently been resistant to books about entitled people’s problems, this one worked because of the unflinching exploration of the extent of love and loyalty