First published 2018
Nora Nolan believes she and her husband Charlie have built a good life on their quiet Manhattan dead end. Their neighbors watch each other's kids grow up, share the same handyman, and compete for precious parking spots. The block feels like a village sanctuary within the city's chaos. Then Nora returns from her morning run to find that violence has shattered their insular world. The incident exposes deep divisions that transform their coveted street into a symbol of urban inequality. Cracks appear everywhere. Neighbors turn against each other. Tensions flare at Nora's workplace. Her marriage begins to strain under pressure. As the community she trusted crumbles around her, Nora must confront difficult truths about class, money, and her own assumptions. Quindlen examines what happens when a woman's carefully constructed world falls apart and forces her to reckon with who she really is.
Genres: literary-fiction, domestic-fiction, american-fiction, contemporary, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: community, marriage, social-commentary
Setting: Manhattan, New York
Period: 21st-century
304 pages · Hardcover · Random House