I have apparently exhausted the catalog of novels by Anna Quindlen - she has more books in print, but they are mostly collections of her essays and columns for Newsweek and other newspapers and magazines. I'm doing novels this summer - may get back to her non-fiction one day soon!!
Object Lessons was her first novel, and the reviews I read were mixed. At first I read so many poor reviews that I thought maybe I wouldn't read it. But I decided to decide for myself. Glad I did - because although it was a little more "ponderous" than her later novels, it was a good story.
Once again the focus was on families, relationships, class, race, and ethnic relations, and quite a bit about the Catholic church - which was certainly interesting and informative.
One reviewer had posited that the "coming of age" of the 12 year old girl did not ring true - she felt that a 12 year old couldn't think that philosophically - but it worked for me. There wasn't a lot of emphasis on her age - sometimes I thought of her as an older teen - but it still rang true.
The evolving relationship between Tommy and Connie was a well-told tale - I found it ringing true also.
As a story, it was a little more fragmented than her other stories have been - but it was a first novel - and a pretty good one at that.
I have a habit of picking and author and then reading everything she or he has written - I started that habit way back in the days of the Los Angeles County Public Library Bookmobile that came to our town every other week - the books were in a row, and you could check out 12 at a time - seemed like a good way to pick 'em!
I enjoyed The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, so thought I'd look for her on the shelf - and you know, she's written over 18 novels - so I think I'm good for awhile - at least if the others are as good as the one I've read!
Will let you know!
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