by Lisa Alther
First published 1988
The characters in this collection face the complexities of approaching middle age while still feeling young. Each person grapples with different challenges that define their thirties. Some struggle with career disappointments that force them to reconsider their ambitions. Others navigate relationship changes as marriages evolve or dissolve. Parents among them wrestle with raising children while questioning their own choices. The unmarried characters wonder if they have missed crucial opportunities for love and family. Financial pressures mount as youthful optimism meets adult responsibilities. Each story reveals how people adapt when their twenties end and real adulthood begins. The characters discover that turning thirty does not bring the clarity they expected. Instead, they find themselves caught between who they thought they would become and who they actually are. Alther captures the particular anxiety of this life stage, when time feels both abundant and suddenly precious.
Genres: literary-fiction, family-life, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-driven, slice-of-life
Period: 21st-century
365 pages · Pocket Book · Rowohlt