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 changes that have occurred over the years. She has one close girlfriend, Arlene, another widow in similar circumstances. Arelene is usually the driver on their outings, but she scares Emily to death. Arlene can barely see! Emily decides that she will start driving again, and buys a new 4-wheel drive Subaru. She gets rid of her husband’s 25-year old dinosaur that has been sitting in the garage. It’s too big and won’t drive in the snow and ice. The novel takes us through Emily’s life in short, episodic bursts, and we begin to understand – through O’Nan’s beautifully descriptive writing – what the thoughts and desires and concerns of an old woman actually might be. Highly recommended.