All Adults Here
A funny, uplifting and big-hearted novel about family – an instant New York Times bestseller
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3.8 • 32 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
THE IRRESISTIBLE, UPLIFTING AND BIG-HEARTED STORY OF SURVIVING IN A MODERN FAMILY . . .
'A wonderful read' Elizabeth Strout
'Literary sunshine' New York Times
'A gorgeous and witty storyteller' Elizabeth Gilbert, author of City of Girls
'The world will love it' Ann Patchett
The instant New York Times BESTSELLER
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After Astrid Strick - a widowed, 68-year-old mother of three living in upstate New York - witnesses an accident, she resolves to live more honestly. Starting with the mistakes she made in raising her family.
But are her kids, tangled in their own messy adult lives, really ready to be treated like grown ups?
Charming, uplifting and well-observed, All Adults Here is the delightful story about the wonders and woes of modern family life.
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Praise for All Adults Here:
'Perfectly pitched summer reading' Stylist
'Smartly observant, wryly witty, big-hearted . . . ' Sunday Times
'This beautifully written book delves deeply, perceptively and humorously into the contemporary human condition' Daily Mail
'A glorious mash-up of Elizabeth Strout and Gilmore Girls' Red
'If you're a fan of Anne Tyler's writing, you'll love this captivating well-observed family drama' Good Housekeeping
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Straub's witty, topical fourth novel (after Modern Lovers), members of a Hudson Valley family come to terms with adolescence, aging, sexuality, and gender. After 68-year-old widow Astrid Strick witnesses an acquaintance get struck and killed by a bus in the center of Clapham, N.Y., she feels compelled to come clean with her children about her new relationship with Birdie, the local hairdresser, before it's too late ("there were always more school buses," she reasons). Astrid's kids have their own issues to contend with. Thirty-seven-year-old Porter, pregnant via a "stud farm" (aka a sperm bank), is having an affair with her old high school boyfriend, while Elliott, the oldest, is preoccupied with a hush-hush business proposal. Nicky, the youngest, and his wife have shipped their only child, 13-year-old Cecilia, up to live with Astrid after a messy incident at her Brooklyn school involving online pedophilia. Despite Cecilia's fear of not fitting in, she finds friendship with a boy who longs to be recognized as a girl but isn't ready to come out as trans. As per usual, Straub's writing is heartfelt and earnest, without tipping over the edge. There are a lot of issues at play here (abortion, bullying, IVF, gender identity, sexual predators) that Straub easily juggles, and her strong and flawed characters carry the day. This affecting family saga packs plenty of punch.
