Alternate Side

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

From the publisher

The tensions in a tight-knit neighborhood—and a seemingly happy marriage—are exposed by an unexpected act of violence in this provocative new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Miller’s Valley and Still Life with Bread Crumbs. Some days Nora Nolan thinks that she and her husband, Charlie, lead a charmed life—except when there’s a crisis at work, a leak in the roof at home, or a problem with their twins at college. And why not? New York City was once Nora’s dream destination, and her clannish dead-end block has become a safe harbor, a tranquil village amid the urban craziness. Then one morning she returns from her run to discover that a terrible incident has shaken the neighborhood, and the fault lines begin to open: on the block, at her job, especially in her marriage. With humor, understanding, an acute eye, and a warm heart, Anna Quindlen explores what it means to be a mother, a wife, and a woman at a moment of reckoning.

This book made me think of Calvin Trillin’s “Tepper is not Going Out” which was about parking in NYC all those years ago. It appears to not have changed AT ALL. I have never understood why anyone in NYC (Manhattan for sure) would want to own a car and this was also very well illustrated in the TV show comedies “Seinfeld” and “Mad About You”. The difference in this novel is that these uber-wealthy people can AFFORD cars and parking spots in front of their mansions on said dead-end street– a quick internet search showed me that I pay less in rent where I live than it can cost to park a car for a month in a garage. It is the chi-chi-poo-poo-ness of still having to park on alternate sides of the street (ergo the title) that leads to these tensions.

I have a personal hatred of “opposite side parking” as I once got a ticket at 7.01 am in Poughkeepsie for being on the wrong side of the street so was surprised that a dead-end $treet would still have rule$ like this --- The book overall? It was laugh out loud awesome at times as Quindlen knows how to write and keep you interested for hour on end. If you love NYC and its urban lore (especially the haves vs., well, everyone else in the city and its suburbs) You will love how biting this book is at times. Five glittering $tar$ from me!!!