Book Review: Alternate Side by Anna Quindlen
Alternate Side by Anna Quindlen
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: March 20, 2018
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Some days 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 harbor, 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 maneuver 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 neighborhood, and the enviable dead-end block turns into a potent symbol of a divided city. The fault lines begin to open: on the block, at Nora’s job, and especially in her marriage.
Alternate Side starts slowly, showing the reader a slice of Nora and Charlie Nolan’s life in their New York City neighborhood. They live on a dead end street so it’s more like they’re in a small town than in the heart of a big city. There is a big cast of characters, such as the resident who’s been there forever and knows everything and the annoying know-it-all neighbor George, who has appointed himself the neighborhood hall monitor. The big news in the Noland’s life is that Charlie has just scored a parking space in the neighborhood’s parking lot and that their twins are about to graduate from college. I enjoyed the slow and winding story but wondered where it was going.
Halfway through, a tragic incident occurs on the block that has the neighbors reeling. Nora and Charlie find themselves on opposite sides as far as who was at fault for what happened. (Sorry – not going to spoil what it was!) Alternate Side is also a study on life and marriage after one’s children are grown and gone. What are you left with when being a parent is no longer your life’s primary focus? Charlie and Nora find themselves on opposite sides of this issue as well.
I loved that there was such a wide variety of characters in this book. Some I loved and some I loved to hate. And some I just hated! New York City was another character in itself. I lived there in my younger days and it made me miss it.
The only other one of Quindlen’s books I’ve read is Every Last One, which I really liked. Every Last One was like a punch in the gut. Alternate Side is completely different but I liked it too. I liked getting to know Nora and following her journey. I know Quindlen has a lot of books and now I’m curious if they are more like this one or like Every Last One. Either way, I’d like to read them as well. I definitely recommend Alternate Side.
(I received a complimentary copy of this book for review.)
