Anna Quindlen has been my favorite author for many years. Her words speak volumes and truly get me thinking about life’s complexities. In the book After Annie, she captured my attention from the first page, and I gave up my Saturday night plans to keep reading. On the surface, After Annie is about a thirty-something mother, Annie Brown, who dies suddenly, leaving her husband to raise four young children. Bill Brown, who runs a plumbing business in a small town, relies on his oldest daughter, Ali, a middle school student, to help him raise the other three. Of course, he has his judgmental mother, Dora, who never liked Annie, which exacerbates his loneliness and despair. There is also Annemarie, Annie’s best friend who has an opiate addiction, to weigh in on what Bill should be doing. Then there is Liz Donahue, his high school girlfriend and realtor, whom he taps for romantic support.
Because of Quindlen’s ability to focus on family relationships, especially those in a small town, this story delves into the common yet profound feelings that Ali experiences as she strives to cope, preserve memories, and form a friendship like the one her mother had with Annemarie. Ali got to know her mother when she was alive in direct conversations and by processing comments and conversations she overheard. After her mother’s death, Ali continues to make connections about her mother’s essence. It is incredible to read about her thought processes as she analyzes the people in her family, school, and community. She perceives the quirks of the people in her life with great sensitivity and makes connections that lead to a deeper understanding of humanity.
Annemarie realizes after Annie’s death how dependent she had been on her friend. Through her memories and explanations to Annie’s children, she relives the memories of what Annie meant to her, first in relapsing into her addiction but then in recognizing the pretenses in her life. Bill also realizes through Annie’s “voice in his head” how dependent he had become on Annie. Through the thoughts of Annemarie, Bill, and Ali, Annie, although dead from the book’s first pages, becomes the protagonist in the story. Her attributes were probably exaggerated by the people who needed her most. Still, she had a lifelong positive effect on the other main characters and an assortment of minor characters who missed Annie’s nurturing and wisdom.
