Emily, Alone

Emily, Alone (2011) by Stewart O'Nan. Emily Maxwell is old, and she lives alone with her dog, Rufus. There's really no story here. O'Nan describes in minute detail the daily life of this old woman, her friend and sister-in-law Arlene, and their comings and goings together. Emily desperately wants to be included in the lives of her children and grandchildren, but they all, in their various ways, shut her out. She listens to music. She gets a new car. She visits the graves of her husband and her parents. I kept expecting some dramatic turn to make all the accumulation of detail worth the effort, but it never came. This is a highly accomplished book, but not a page-turner. Grade: B