Review of More Than Enough by Anna Quindlen

Quindlen's key characters find themselves in messy situations whose resolutions are all but assured. The small moments between characters bring them to life (and link them inextricably together), and while their heartwarming, heartbreaking paths are not all smooth, More Than Enough offers a version of a happy ending. I loved this.

Polly is a high school English teacher who leans on her close-knit, longtime book club for support, reason, venting, and laughter. Along with her beloved husband, they are her closest people.

The friends gift Polly an ancestry DNA kit, and when she lightheartedly submits her results, she is matched to a stranger. Sure that it's an error, Polly digs into her family history to make sure she is who she has always thought. She wonders if her difficult relationship with her mother could be due to secrets around her biological origins, and she forges an unexpected bond with a young woman while feeling distance from her brother and even more cold feelings toward her mother. Meanwhile, messy life events are propelling members of the book club in different directions, and the friends' bonds will be tested by all that is to come.

Polly's strong, loving marriage is a bolstering force for her, as is her deep friendship with her brother. The hesitant, imperfect development of her relationship with her mom is difficult and intriguing to witness.

I was fascinated by the way Polly's book club friend group evolved through difficulties. After so many years, they have reads on each other's personalities and preferences in many ways, but some combinations of them also keep each other at an emotional distance. The experiences they share through the course of the book add another layer to their connections.

I felt as though the premise of the book club (everyone buys the book but pledges not to read it) was somewhat silly and contrived, although in theory I'm all for unconventional book club inspiration (I love that my good friend's book club is all about sharing their thoughts on the books they're each personally reading, rather than choosing a book to read on a certain timeline together).

Polly's connection to the young ladies in her school becomes more evident to her and to the reader as the story unfolds; her influence and affinity for the teens--as well as the new teen friend she meets through her DNA test journey--is a poignant juxtaposition to her struggle to start the family she wants to have.

Quindlen is insightful about sharing small moments between characters that are packed with meaning and impact as well as offering peeks into characters' innermost thoughts, and she's tuned into how these elements ultimately build relationships and collectively build a life.

The tone of this one let me know that the story might be messy, and it might not turn out satisfactorily for all involved, but that some version of a happy ending was coming without feeling unrealistically easy.

I loved this novel.

I received a prepublication edition of this novel courtesy of NetGalley and Random House.

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Anna Quindlen is also the author of After Annie, One True Thing, Every Last Thing, Object Lessons, and other books.

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