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...

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

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...

This story resonates for me because I'm always curious about the second half of life. In Emily, Alone, an older woman grapples with what must be a common existential conundrum: what is the motivation, at this age? Was she too old to start something? How was she to see herself now? Emily see-saws back and forth between a hunger for life and a sense of futility. In one scene, Emily's daughter and adult grandchildren are visiting for Christmas. Everyone has gone to bed, the house is finally quiet a...

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...

I have been binge reading Stewart O'Nan novels lately and this book, 'Emily, Alone' is a reread for me. This is the story of 80 year-old Emily Maxwell. Emily is a widow.. she has lost her husband and her children and grandchildren are scattered across the country. Emily spends her time with her old dog Rufus and her sister-in-law Arlene. This story COULD have been a sad one.. after all, Emily is an elderly woman trying to cope with her loneliness and attempting to come to terms with all of the e...

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...

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

This is a gentle, sensitive, but unsentimental story about the marginalized lives of the elderly. Eighty-year-old Pittsburgh widow Emily Maxwell lives alone with her ripe old intractable dog, Rufus, in the modest and dignified neighborhood where she raised her children and loved her husband. She's alert, oriented, and productive in the garden, a wisp of a woman with a waning appetite and bones like balsa. She goes about her days with routine ruminations and mingled sensations. Her nights are lon...

Lately, Stewart O’Nan hasn’t made it easy to recommend his novels. The only thing they’ve got going for them is their superb quality. But ask, “What’s it about?” and his fans sound defensive or pretend they’re getting an important call on their cellphones. Just try persuading your book club to read a novel about the day a Red Lobster restaurant closes. (Without incident.) Or how about a novel that describes an old lady waiting for spring? (It comes.) Face it: O’Nan has become the Kobayashi Maru

Stewart O'Nan is one of my favorite authors. He has written some absolutely phenomenal books, including Snow Angels, which is one of my favorite books of all time. He has an incredible ability to tell a story that stays with you, and creates vivid, multidimensional characters. His latest book, Emily, Alone is a perfect example of his literary talents, and I read the whole thing in one day. Emily Maxwell is growing older, and she's not enjoying it entirely. She doesn't enjoy the changes her subur...

I'm a big fan of Stewart O'Nan and have read several of his books. They're not easy reading even though most are not overly long, coming in at a publisher's dream of 300+ pages. O'Nan's stories are slow and complex with a lot of room for perspective of the reader. Emily Alone left me feeling drained and a bit sad. It's never quite clear, at least to me, exactly what age Emily is. I'd like to think she is way older than me but I don't think that's true. This perhaps is the reason for the emotiona...

An 80-year-old widow living in Pittsburgh waiting for Spring to come, how exciting can this story be? The narrative provides a book length character development by giving an account of the myriad of thoughts, worries, and activities of an older woman. Some readers will note that not much happens, but it’s surprising how interesting this life can be when portrayed by skilled writing.Life at this age may appear to be uneventful, but early in this book the reader is startled by an event that shows

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...

I quite enjoyed this book. It deserves 3.5 stars. I found Emily interesting, compelling and quite wish she was my neighbor. Or even better, I'd introduce her to my father. This would be a good book for discussion (I seem to be saying that a lot about the books I've been reading) especially if you have a wide-age range book group. Although, I don't think I would have liked this much if I had read it in my 20s. There were times where I felt a sad for Emily and it made me ponder how my life will be...

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...

Stewart O'Nan is best known for his novels about the typical and the everyday. No extra frills, no dramatic twists. Good writing about the everyday, even the mundane. He exemplified this masterfully in "Last Night At The Lobster" (a dedicated manager's last shift at, quite literally, The Red Lobster), and even more so in "The Odds" (a last attempt on a marriage on the rocks, quite literally, over the rocks in Niagara Falls). Unfortunately, he failed to repeat this with "Emily, Alone". Perhaps be...

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...

In February, I loved reading the author's book, Henry, Himself, which is about Henry, his wife Emily and their life together. When I learned O'Nan had written about Emily after Henry's death, Emily, Alone, I wanted to read that as well. What ties the books together is O'Nan's beautiful writing. He certainly excels at writing living, breathing characters.In "Emily, Alone," she is in her eighties, widowed and living alone with her dog companion, Rufus. Arlene, Henry's sister, is her surviving frie...