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Emily, Alone

3.65 of 5 stars 3.65 · rating details · 2,123 ratings · 562 reviews

From the author of Last Night at the Lobster, a moving vision of love and family. A sequel to the bestselling, much-beloved Wish You Were Here, Stewart O'Nan's intimate new novel follows Emily Maxwell, a widow whose grown children have long moved away. She dreams of vists by her grandchildren while mourning the turnover of her quiet Pittsburgh neighborhood, but when her s...more

Hardcover, 255 pages

Published March 17th 2011 by Viking Adult (first published January 1st 2011)

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The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

Protagonists Over 60

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Mar 21, 2011 Jill rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: best-of-2011

Stewart O’Nan may simply be genetically incapable of writing a bad book. His characters are written with precision, intelligence and detail; they’re so luminously alive that a reader can accurately guess about what they’re eating for dinner or what brand toothpaste they use.

In Emily, Alone, Mr. O’Nan revisits Emily, the Maxell family matriarch from a prior book, Wish You Were Alone. Anyone who is seeking an action-based book or “a story arc” (as taught in college writing classes) will be sorely...more Stewart O’Nan may simply be genetically incapable of writing a bad book. His characters are written with precision, intelligence and detail; they’re so luminously alive that a reader can accurately guess about what they’re eating for dinner or what brand toothpaste they use.

In Emily, Alone, Mr. O’Nan revisits Emily, the Maxell family matriarch from a prior book, Wish You Were Alone. Anyone who is seeking an action-based book or “a story arc” (as taught in college writing classes) will be sorely disappointed. But for those readers who are intrigued by a near-perfect portrait of a winningly flawed elderly woman who is still alive with anxieties, hopes, and frustrations, this is an unsparingly candid and beautifully rendered novel.

Emily Maxwell is part of a gentle but dying breed, a representative of a generation that is anchored to faith, friends and family. She mourns the civilities that are gradually going the way of the dinosaur – thank you notes, Mother’s Day remembrances, and the kindness of strangers. Her two adult children have turned out imperfect – a recovering alcoholic daughter and an eager-to-please son who often acquiesces to an uncaring daughter-in-law.

With her old cadre of friends dwindling and her children caught up in their own lives, Emily fills her days with two-for-one buffet breakfasts with her sister-in-law Arlene, classical music, and her daily routine with her obstreperous dog Rufus, who
is instantly recognizable to anyone who has spent life with an aging, sometimes unruly, always goofy and loving animal.

Whether she’s caring for and about her Arlene, trying to keep up with family holiday traditions, keeping tabs on a house sale nearby, and trying to do the right thing in educating her children about executor’s duties, Emily struggles to find purpose. She recognizes that time is not on her side any longer and reflects, “The past was the past. Better to work on the present instead of wallowing, and yet the one comforting thought was also the most infuriating. Time, which had her on the rack, would just as effortlessly rescue her. This funk was temporary. Tomorrow she would be fine.”

The thing is, we all know Emily. She is our grandmother, our mother, our piano teacher, our neighbor. She is the woman who gets up each day and attends the breakfast buffet or participates in a church auction, or waits eagerly for the mail carrier or feels perplexed about preening teenagers who blast their stereo too loud. She is the one who wonders whether she should have tried a little harder with her kids, even though “she’d tried beyond the point where others might have reasonably given up.” She is the woman who senses that life is waning but still intends to hang on as long as possible and go for the gusto.

The fact that Stewart O’Nan can take an “invisible woman” – someone we nod to pleasantly and hope she won’t engage us in conversation too long – and explore her interior and exterior life is testimony to his skill. Mr. O’Nan writes about every woman…and shows that there are no ordinary lives, just extraordinary ones.
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Mar 19, 2013 Pat rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

Emily Alone is a quiet little book and as someone from Pittsburgh as well as someone over 60, I really enjoyed the story. One reviewer wrote that you need to be over fifty to enjoy this book and I have to agree that you have to have a certain understanding of Emily' s mindset to appreciate the story, such as, not driving without her husband for years and making a very brave decision to not only drive again but to buy her own car. When I recently made a trip back to Pittsburgh, I was very proud o...more

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Mar 31, 2011 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This slow, meditative novel is not for those who read for a fast plot. Nothing much actually happens in this character study of an elderly woman dealing with the loneliness and complications of growing older. She nurses her sister-in-law back to health after a health scare, navigates the tricky waters of dealing with her grown children and grandchildren without trying to impose upon them or aggravate them, attends services for old friends who pass away, and tries to fill the endless hours that l...more

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Feb 19, 2012 Sharon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: pacific-u-mfa

Emily, Alone is a language-immersion program in the dialect of old age. Emily is an octogenarian widow living with only her old dog for company in Pittsburgh, and O’Nan makes us feel her physical limitations, loneliness and loss through the accumulation of the small, quotidian details of her days. We are told not only what she eats but whether she finds it to salty or dry. We follow her thoughts, even when she is just reminding herself to use the bathroom before leaving the house. We root for he...more

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Apr 21, 2013 Abby rated it 3 of 5 stars

Started off promising. O'Nan's character development is so beautifully crafted that I mostly read the whole thing just as a case study in how to write both flawed and natural characters. Emily is one of the most realistic old lady characters I have ever read, and O'Nan's trips into her consciousness from a third-person point of view reveal so much about what it is like to be living alone in an age that generally eschews old people. Emily's dialogue was also well-written and I found myself laughi...more

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Mar 08, 2013 Ellyn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Stewart O'Nan is my new favorite writer. He is a sleeper of an American treasure that everyone needs to know about. Emily, Alone picks up several years after Wish You Were Here, an equally exceptional glimpse into the life of the Maxwells, a family spending the summer together for the last time in their summer cottage at Lake Chatauqua. Emily is the matriarch, recently widowed, joined by her two grown children and their children and her sister-in-law Arlene. All of these personalities are drawn...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Nick rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the story of Emily Maxwell, and a good deal of the time, her sister-in-law, Arlene Maxwell (the brother/husband who united them, died some years earlier), and of Emily's grappling with aging (she is in her eighties). There are no earth-shattering events here (aside from the first scene where Arlene collapses over the sneeze-guard at their favorite breakfast buffet); instead the novel is a quiet contemplation of Emily's day-to-day existence. And it is often quite beautiful. He's really go...more

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Jan 07, 2013 Judy rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is my first five star book for 2013, but it comes with a warning. If you are looking for a book with a lot of action, this isn't it. Instead, this is a character-driven look into the life of an 80 year old woman as she nears the end of her life. Emily Maxwell is a widow living alone in a changing Pittsburg neighborhood. Her children are scattered and visit infrequently and she feels that, because of her strongly expressed opinions, she has built a wall between herself, her children, and her...more

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Dec 11, 2012 Bonnie rated it 4 of 5 stars

The title didn't do anything for me, the book didn't look particularly interesting but my best friend gave it to me so I knew it had to be worth my time. Well...I thoroughly enjoyed this book where not much happens. It is character driven and the writing is good, good, I loved Emily and Arlene, I feel like they are my maiden Aunts now.

I feared the ending all the way through, especially after what happened to Arlene in the first few pages, plus they are ELDERLY, but the ending was lovely, it cou...more

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Oct 31, 2012 Cook Memorial Public Library rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: literary-fiction, domestic-fiction, 2011-staff-favorites, family-issues

“Emily, Alone’’ is an honest, moving portrayal about what it’s like for a woman to grow old and feel forgotten. Author Stuart O’Nan first introduced readers to Emily Maxwell in his 2002 book, “Wish You Were Here,’’ which takes a microscopic view of three generations during their annual vacation at the family lake house. In this first book, Emily, who was recently widowed, deals with her grief as well as disappointment in her two grown children.

Seven years later, O’Nan revisits Emily, now in her...more

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Aug 05, 2012 Sue rated it 4 of 5 stars

An 80-year-old widow is an unusual protagonist, and the events of Emily’s life are small ones. In fact, not a lot happens in this book. There are family visits, and walking the dog, and a hospital scare with sister-in-law Arlene, and the purchase of a car. But Emily has an active life going on in her head, sometimes in the present and often in the past. Stewart O’Nan devoted a meditative novel to that interior life, and it turned out to be full of compelling observations.

Emily’s days are counte...more

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Jul 05, 2012 John rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook

Having found O'Nan's Snow Angels a bit grim, but well-written, and Last Night at the Lobster equally well-written, and not nearly as sad as I'd feared, I spent an Audible credit on this book ... which is very well-written, and not at all grim. Like Lobster, it's character-driven; however, in a full-length novel (the other was a novella) that's tougher to pull off. Listening to the audio may have contributed as the short chapters (more or less) ran together, whereas a print book would've seemed l...more Having found O'Nan's Snow Angels a bit grim, but well-written, and Last Night at the Lobster equally well-written, and not nearly as sad as I'd feared, I spent an Audible credit on this book ... which is very well-written, and not at all grim. Like Lobster, it's character-driven; however, in a full-length novel (the other was a novella) that's tougher to pull off. Listening to the audio may have contributed as the short chapters (more or less) ran together, whereas a print book would've seemed less daunting (for lack of a better term). I've given four stars for the writing quality, rather than the story itself.
Having lived a roughly parallel life to Emily's kids, I can vouch that O'Nan completely nailed the character aspect, although the isolation of Emily (and her sister-in-law) seemed a bit overdone to me. It may seem incongruous, but it is accurate that someone who buys a new car in cash would make a point of remembering to bring a restaurant coupon for a couple of bucks off.
There's almost no tension in the novel, except for a bit between Emily and her daughter, and daughter-in-law; the latter almost entirely "Off screen" filtered from Emily's point-of-view, leading to me wonder whether that had been covered already in the previous book Wish You Were Here. Instead, those chapters consist of Emily's reactions to various situations: new neighbors taking the place of the last other "old guard" resident (my folks were about the last to go in their neighborhood after 35 years), Election Day (she votes for McCain, unenthusiastically), etc. One vignettes has her attending the funeral of an old friend, who's survived by a same sex partner - Emily is pleased to note that the woman's (biological) family accords her "widow" status. Later, she expresses disappointment that she hasn't gotten to meet her granddaughter's partner (they live in Boston). Demographically, seniors may be the strongest group opposed to gays, but O'Nan has made it clear that educated WASP's are an exception. One episode I didn't care for was Emily's refusal to try a product recommended by her cleaning lady for dealing with car scratches, with its class-conscious dismissal; instead she moans about paying $500 to the dealership. She also sneers at the woman's "Butler" accent.
The lack of action is at least partially compensated for by the author's sense of place. I've never been to Pittsburgh, but came away seeing the area clearly - and I'm not that "visual" a reader. Granted, he does get carried away at times: it wasn't really necessary to go through all the choices on the salad bar at the (coupon) restaurant in an early episode.
So - would I recommend the book? Yes, if one bears in mind that each chapter is a small part of a larger whole, that doesn't really contain a traditional story arc. If you're new to O'Nan, however, I'd go with Lobster first.
Audio narration itself was overall good, although at times it seemed even Ms. Gallo was overcome by the task of maintaining interest in quite mundane matters.

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Jun 13, 2012 Judy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: novel

4.5
This novel pulled me right in - after a few minutes of reading, I was already inhabiting its world. It's the story of Emily, a widow who lives alone -- her life, her family, her ponderings on her own mortality. There is a sweetness and depth to the characters and relationships. While there is some of the hyper-realism of O'Nan's earlier novels, it is occasional, rather than permeating the entire book. Those descriptions cast light on everyday things that usually go unnoticed:

"As she plucked t...more

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Jan 01, 2012 Kit rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this sequel to Stewart O’Nan’s Wish You Were Here, exploring Emily’s life alone without her husband, her children’s families busy and geographically removed. As with some of his other books, there wasn’t much in the way of plot but was rich in character development.

This book made me confront the idea of what it would be like to live alone, and just how I would fill my days. Would, like Emily, my mundane daily chores become rituals of comfort, providing my life with structure and meani...more

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Dec 06, 2011 Bill Krieger rated it 3 of 5 stars

About 200 pages in, I realized that nothing was actually going to happen in Emily, Alone. Meh. It was okay, so I kept on reading. I enjoyed the portrait of a senior citizen living alone enough to give it 3 stars and a thumbs up.

Emily, Alone is just a character study of an old, retired widow living in Pittsburgh. Now, you might think that the life of a retired widow in Pittsburgh might not be that exciting, and you'd be correct. O'Nan goes into great detail about the very mundane activities of Em...more

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Oct 18, 2011 TheGirlBytheSeaofCortez rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: american-authors, contemporary-authors, literary-fiction, character-studies

Some other reviewers have said Stewart O’Nan’s lovely book, Emily, Alone was “too slow” or didn’t contain “enough plot” for them. I loved Emily, Alone precisely because it was so lovely and leisurely paced and didn’t contain a lot of plot twists and turns or overly dramatic situations.

Readers first met Emily Maxwell in 2002’s Wish You Were Here. In that book, which takes place at Emily’s Chautauqua lake house shortly after Emily’s husband, Henry has died, we also met Emily’s family, many of whom...more

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Oct 09, 2011 Lori L (She Treads Softly) rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Stewart O'Nan fan club is back in session. Please note that O'Nan is incapable of writing a bad book. They are all very highly recommended.

In Emily, Alone it is amazing how Stewart O'Nan realistically captures the inner thoughts of Emily Maxwell, an 80 year old middle class widow in Pittsburgh. Her life revolves around future visits from her children and grandchildren, Tuesday breakfast buffets with her sister-in-law, Arlene (using, naturally, a two for one coupon), her dog Rufus, and attend...more

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Sep 18, 2011 Jeannie Turicik rated it 4 of 5 stars

I immediately purchased this book after reading "Wish You Were Here". It's about a regular American family--grown children now in their 40's, early 50's, Dad passed away in the first book "Wish You Were Here", and now it's about, oh I think about 7 or so years later. The lake cabin is sold but the family still manages to meet there every summer at a rental--although it doesn't sound like they all make it. Grandchildren are now grown and in college, one Granddaughter is gay, one can't seem to qui...more

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Sep 18, 2011 Marie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'd like to read more of Stewart O'Nan. I really loved this book when I started it - loved the short "snapshot" chapters, loved the clear, concise writing. I was excited to read the voice of a much older woman, to see what life might be like for me 35 years from now. I found it insightful, honest, sad, a cautionary tale about what relationships with my children may be like when they're adults, what having a daughter-in-law might feel like, or being widowed, or losing my best friends.

Further into...more

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Sep 02, 2011 Kathleen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pearl-recommendations

The sequel to “Wish You Were Here”, “Emily, Alone” focuses on Emily Maxwell seven years later. While she still questions some of the decisions made by members of her family (e.g., grandson dropping out of college) and worries about others (e.g., her daughter’s dating history), she is less fretful with others. In her late 70’s (I think that is right) she is more comfortable allowing others to live their own life.
I grew to love Emily here. She gained more confidence, more independence, fought fie...more

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Aug 21, 2011 Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: challenge, death, happiness, healing, health, relationships, old-age

Before you are allowed to post a review of this novel, I’m going to have to ask you to present an official id. An official id with your dob on it. I’m sorry, but I just don’t think a person under fifty can really appreciate this book and I’m not sure those of you under fifty would have the patience to read a book where the biggest plot points are repairing a scratch on her new car.

Emily is an elderly widow, in the last years of her life. Her family, except for an elderly sister-in-law, lives far...more

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Aug 05, 2011 Barbara Bryant rated it 3 of 5 stars

My first readings of Stewart O'Nan, Wish You Were Here and its sequel, Emily, Alone, listed here without a review, were positive with a few misgivings. Following an older woman, recently widowed in the first book and revisited some 7 or so years later in this one, O'Nan provides an incredibly detailed description about just what this woman does in her day and year. At one point I panicked a little, because I hadn't been given the detail of who mowed her lawn, that is how complete this is. (Fortu...more My first readings of Stewart O'Nan, Wish You Were Here and its sequel, Emily, Alone, listed here without a review, were positive with a few misgivings. Following an older woman, recently widowed in the first book and revisited some 7 or so years later in this one, O'Nan provides an incredibly detailed description about just what this woman does in her day and year. At one point I panicked a little, because I hadn't been given the detail of who mowed her lawn, that is how complete this is. (Fortunately, I later learned who mowed it while she was on vacation.)

This can make the books a little slow, which mostly I don't mind, but Emily is also a difficult character, rigid and unforgiving and not deserving of such snobbery as she possesses as she was not to the manor born, although she is well-off now through her marriage.

The first book details a summer vacation in New York (she lives in Pittsburgh, like the author) with her extended family, including her children and a spouse, grandchildren and sister-in-law, Arlene. All the adults are reserved with each other, past hurts unresolved, and Emily demanding even on vacation. Exasperated by her rather charming sister-in-law, despairing of her grandchildren and disappointed in her children, Emily is difficult to like, but she is the tool we have to look into the thoughts of a lonely woman in her later years. As a significantly younger but senior woman myself, I found her thoughts quite riveting at times, and was haunted by Emily's feelings about her eventual complete loneliness and demise.

The second book deals more minutely with her life for about a year, as she moves toward another vacation with her family, nothing really solved or resolved, but with things somewhat changed. She is still annoyed with poor Arlene, who I thought might be the best character in the book, but is in some ways taking charge of her aging self, acknowledging and accepting to some extent the death she must face. There is religion and spirituality here, pride, loss, sentiment and remembrance of things past, especially her love for her now-dead husband. We can see more of what we might like a little about her, especially her fondness for her beloved dog. We wish that her kind thoughts toward others were occasionally expressed aloud, but they are not, for the most part. She will end as she begins, the angry Emily who cannot reconcile herself to being close to anyone without giving something away.(less)

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Jul 14, 2011 Judith rated it 3 of 5 stars

I have finally found my genre and I predict a new category of literature for aging female baby-boomers. When we find a book that appeals to us, but that I figure guys would have no interest, it can no longer be called chick-lit; it will have to be called crone-lit. "Emily, Alone" is just that. Nothing happens in this book, yet I gobbled it down, which just goes to prove my theory that the success of a book depends all on the author's voice, not the story. A little old lady and her aging springer...more

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Jul 13, 2011 Felice rated it 5 of 5 stars

Stewart O'Nan is a brilliant writer. He is a master of making small, ordinary lives important, meaningful and unexpectedly eventful. In his newest novel Emily Alone he expands a character from an earlier novel, Emily Maxwell the family matriarch in Wish You Were Here, into a heroine.

There is nothing remarkable about Emily or her life. Emily is 80 years old. She has out lasted a husband and raised a family. She is healthy for her age and financial secure. She even has good relationships with her...more Stewart O'Nan is a brilliant writer. He is a master of making small, ordinary lives important, meaningful and unexpectedly eventful. In his newest novel Emily Alone he expands a character from an earlier novel, Emily Maxwell the family matriarch in Wish You Were Here, into a heroine.

There is nothing remarkable about Emily or her life. Emily is 80 years old. She has out lasted a husband and raised a family. She is healthy for her age and financial secure. She even has good relationships with her two children and grandchildren. Maybe ‘good’ is a strong word. How about we say they have we’ve-all-grown-up-and-we’re-going-to-get-along relationships.

Emily spends her days within an ever decreasing circle. Her friends are passing away at a good clip. If she could score frequent flier miles for attending funerals she could go around the globe. Her world isn’t just shrinking socially it’s also shrinking physically. Where she feels comfortable going and where she’s willing to go are on smaller and smaller lists. The urgencies of life are over for her. Emily doesn’t dwell on what is missing in her life. She grew up during the Depression and WWII complaining would not occur to her.

In O’Nan’s talented hands Emily is a real person. She’s thoughtful, smart, a bit judgmental, a good friend, funny, observant, a person you would want to spend time with. She is also someone who is coming to grips with the end of her life. There is no death wish in Emily but there is awareness that if the end isn’t in sight it’s just around the corner. A health crisis involving her sister-in-law Arlene and a new car bring Emily back out into a larger world and more self-questioning about her success and failure follow.

How do I convey what a dynamic novel this is? Should a novel where the main character spends time redistributing the open Kleenex boxes from the less used rooms of the house into the busier rooms be un-put-downable? No but it is because of Stewart O’Nan. He is a remarkable writer. He should be on bestseller lists all over the place. Read Emily Alone and be impressed, enlightened and enteratined.(less)

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Jun 07, 2011 Caren rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction

This is a quiet story that covers not even a year in the life of an eighty-year-old widow. Truthfully, not a lot happens, but then, that is probably true to the life of someone in her (and it is usually a 'her') eighties. I suppose I read it with my mind on two planes---one plane relating the story to my own mother, who passed away at age eighty-three, and the other plane relating it to myself. Should I live so long, is this what my own life would be like? Emily and her sister-in-law help each o...more

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Jun 07, 2011 Mom rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Mom by: NYT

Shelves: fiction

It is hard to believe that a man could write so realistically about the thoughts of an elderly woman living alone, or that I could find the result so hard to put down.

My favorite chapter, "Kleenex," began and ended on page 76. In it, Emily prepares for a Christmas visit from her daughter and young adult grand-children. When she uses the last tissue from the box in her bathroom, she travels throughout the house weighing tissue boxes and swapping them around before deciding where the new full box...more

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Apr 28, 2011 Judy rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Stewart O'Nan fans

Shelves: 21st-century-fiction

After finishing Wish You Were Here, I went immediately into Emily Alone, the sequel. I was already intimately involved with this family and though Wish You Were Here was far from an ideal novel, it was worth having read it because I could more exactly track with Emily as she lives through a winter and spring in her Pittsburgh home.

In this novel, approximately eight years have passed since Emily's beloved husband Henry died of cancer. She lives alone with Rufus, her aging springer spaniel, sur...more
After finishing Wish You Were Here, I went immediately into Emily Alone, the sequel. I was already intimately involved with this family and though Wish You Were Here was far from an ideal novel, it was worth having read it because I could more exactly track with Emily as she lives through a winter and spring in her Pittsburgh home.

In this novel, approximately eight years have passed since Emily's beloved husband Henry died of cancer. She lives alone with Rufus, her aging springer spaniel, surrounded by her furniture, paintings, china and silver, listening to classical music, reading novels and suffering from loneliness and the indignities of her own aging. She is the oldest remaining woman in her neighborhood, her best friend having died a year ago. Attending funerals is now a constant in her life.

Emily's closest companion is her sister-in-law Arlene, who lives nearby. Once a week they have breakfast together at Eat'n'Park's two-for-one breakfast buffet. Emily clips the coupon from the Sunday "Post-Gazette." Arlene drives, badly, which makes Emily highly nervous though she knows she should feel grateful.

If Stewart O'Nan didn't write so close to the bone, these two women and their mishaps would be comedic. Somehow Jonathan Franzen makes this sort of thing funny, but that is not O'Nan's way.

Over the past decade I watched my father succumb to Alzheimer's, finally going into a home where he died at the age of 87. Then I watched my mother grieve, age and go on to live alone for five more years until a series of strokes finally ended her life. Reading about Emily battling with loneliness and a deteriorating body while being continually disappointed by her son and daughter, yet living for Thanksgiving, Christmas and a week in the summer at Lake Chautauqua, when she can be together with them and her grandchildren, I felt I was going through it all over again. It was almost too much for me.

If you have watched a parent or grandparent move through this period of life that our society calls "The Golden Years" or if you are going through it yourself, I advise you approach Emily Alone with extreme caution. I was talking to my sister about it all and we both decided that, should we find ourselves outliving our husbands, we certainly will not live alone.

I used to want to live to be 100 and become wise. It might be wiser to quit while I am ahead. Maybe I will take up a dangerous sport. I don't enjoy sports though. Possibly race car driving. I like driving, a lot. Emily liked driving also. She finally traded in her old gas hog for an all-wheel drive Subaru wagon, as did my mom.

Did I find this book depressing? Oh, just a little.(less)

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Apr 23, 2011 Tony rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-mainstream

O’Nan, Stewart. EMILY, ALONE. (2011). *****.
O’Nan lets us follow Emily Maxwell, whom we met in a previous novel – “Wish You Were Here” – as she navigates her way through a difficult period of life. Emily is an older woman, a widow of many years, whose children have all moved away and started their own families. She sees them mainly on the holidays – though that’s not a given. She still lives in the house that she and her husband bought in a neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and carefully notes the ch...more

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Apr 07, 2011 Nicole rated it 1 of 5 stars

I'm not sure about all the great reviews this book received. Yes, Stewart O'Nan is a good author (Songs for the Missing and The Good Wife are among his best novels), however, NOTHING happens in this book. Yes, 80-year-old Emily keeps busy worrying about her aging dog, nagging her adult children about their upcoming visits (she has to plan!), and going to museum openings and breakfast buffets (always with a coupon) with her sister-in-law, Arlene. The reader spends nearly a year with Emily...and t...more

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Mar 31, 2011 Alecia rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love Stewart O'Nan. I have read many of his other novels, and especially liked Last Night at the Lobster. This one is a slow (not to mean boring) take on a year in the life of an ageing woman. Emily's husband and friends have mostly died off, except for her sister-in-law, Arlene. Emily and Arlene enjoy two-for-one breakfasts together, and provide each other with companionship. We read about Emily's relationship with her children and grandchildren, and her musings on her husband and her parents...more

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About Stewart O'Nan

Stewart O'Nan is the author of eleven novels, including Snow Angels and A Prayer for the Dying, a story collection, and two works of nonfiction. His previous novel, Last Night at the Lobster, was a national bestseller, was nominated for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and was named one of the New York Public Library Books to Remember. Additionally, Granta named him one of the 20 Best Young Ameri...more

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“Often, as she leafed through the sticky, plastic-coated pages, spotting herself with a frizzy perm or wearing a loud, printed blouse, she was struck by how long life was, and how much time had passed, and she wished she could go back and apologize to those closest to her, explain that she understood now. Impossible, and yet the urge to return and be a different person never lessened, grew only more acute.” — 3 people liked it

“It was the ultimate cautionary tale, the moral being Don't fall, as if they were made of glass. In a sense they were--their fragility was irrefutable, medically proven--and yet Emily detested the inevitable rundown of accidents and tragedies, the more fortunate clucking their tongues and counting their blessings, all the while knowing it was just a matter of time. She didn't need to be reminded that she was a single misstep from disaster, especially here, without Henry, surrounded by the survivors of an earlier life.” — 3 people liked it

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9412055-emily-alone?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1311281799l/9412055.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9412055-emily-alone?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan[/url]

Emily, Alone

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