First... lots of A names - Annie, her best friend AnneMarie, and her daughter Ali. All written by Anna. Sometimes a little confusing.
In the first few pages of this novel, Annie falls to the kitchen floor and is dead. She's under 40 and has 4 children and a loving husband. The rest of the novel deals with the fallout from her death. It's sad but handled quite well and probably realistic in the way the father, daughter, best friend, and son all go through stages of grief. So I liked the book... basically.
However, there were a couple of subplots that I felt were unnecessary and not developed well. One of these is the story of Jenny, Ali's best friend. She clearly has secrets and when the truth does come out, I didn't feel satisfied with the resolution.
But I've enjoyed Anna Quindlan's books in the past and this was a good read. - June
