Evensong
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
Longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize 2026
“Stewart O’Nan has been one of the best chroniclers of the lives of American women.”—Susan Straight
An intimate, moving novel that follows The Humpty Dumpty Club, a group of women of a certain age who band together to help one another and their circle of friends in Pittsburgh as they face the challenges of their golden years
The Humpty Dumpty Club is distraught when their powerhouse leader, Joan Hargrove, takes a bad fall down her stairs, knocking her out of commission. Now, as well as running errands and shepherding those less able to their doctors’ appointments, they have to pick up the slack.
Between navigating their own relationships and aging bodies and attending choir practice, these invisible yet indomitable women help where they can. They bake cookies, they care for pets, they pick up prescriptions, they sit vigil by the sick, and most of all, they show up for the people they’ve pledged to help. In the face of death, divorce, and the myriad directions our lives can take, the Humpty Dumpty club represents the power of community and chosen family.
Weaving together the perspectives of the four cardinal members as they tend to those in need, Stewart O’Nan revisits beloved characters from his past work -- most notably Emily Maxwell -- to fashion a rich and moving novel that celebrates our capacity for patience and care. Vivid, warm, and often wryly funny, Evensong reminds us that life is made up of moments both climactic and quotidian, and we weather those moments with the people we choose to keep close.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Novelist Stewart O’Nan returns with this heartwarming ode to friendship. Whether hosting rousing bridge matches or delivering medication to shut-ins, Pittsburgh’s Humpty Dumpties aren’t just a social club, but a mutual aid society and sorority for women in their twilight years. When Joan Hargrove, the club’s firecracker of a leader, suffers a debilitating accident leaving her unable to continue her duties, the other members must step up to make sure her vision for the club stays on track. We loved meeting this eclectic group of ladies and seeing how, despite their own self-doubts, they manage to rise to the occasion. We laughed and cried along with Kitzi, Arlene, and Emily (who also appears in some of O’Nan’s previous novels, including Emily, Alone) as they deal with colourful characters, unexpected challenges, and one particularly grumpy dog. Heartfelt and funny, Evensong is a glorious reminder that life doesn’t end at retirement.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
O'Nan (Last Night at the Lobster) once again finds extraordinary resonance in the lives of ordinary people. In Pittsburgh, 89-year-old Joan Hargrove, leader of the Humpty Dumpty Club, a group of elderly women who help each other out, lives the "nightmare" they all share when she falls down a flight of stairs and breaks her leg. With Joan recovering in the hospital, it's left to other club members to fill the void: Kitzi delivers prescriptions to Gene and Jean Sokolov, brother-and-sister hoarders who live with a houseful of cats, and slowly becomes enmeshed in the siblings' lives; Susie, a divorcee, takes care of Joan's cat and finds romance with a retired postal worker who plays in a bluegrass band. Meanwhile, Emily, a recurring character in O'Nan's fiction, is having trouble with her sister-in-law, who is showing the first signs of dementia. The drama here is strictly low-key (a funeral is the emotional high point), but O'Nan proves that he has no peers when it comes to evoking the quotidian challenges and routines of daily life. It's a bittersweet celebration of the twilight years.
