Unfortunately, for me this book was too messy (writing style) and self absorbed. I just couldn't get into the character or her life. Sorry!

I loved this book! I really enjoyed the character development and complexities in all the characters. There were so many relationships (familial, friend, romantic) and they all had interesting and thoughtful details. Count me in as a new fan of Gornick!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Simply, this is an exquisite novel. I was so involved that I found it hard to believe it was fiction. The cruel family Ana has constructed is analyzed by her on her 60th birthday. The reader receives an introduction to each of “her people”.

I admit I took longer than usual to read this because I found each relationship so compelling. Ana’s relationship with her cold, jealous and distant mother was touching. The timely revelations about her child will give every reader pause to examine their own feelings in the event of similar revelations.

I love her relationship with her closest female friends. Gornick even gives us closure in the relationship with her youthful buddy. Oh, brother George, continually cruel betrayer, but brother nonetheless who shared a childhood.

Her 60th birthday,by happenstance, is also the day when the structure of her future is formed, not with a bang, but with a whimper.

This is the ultimate novel for reading groups. There is a trove of topics to mine. I think that Ana’s marriage and infidelity will take hours of examination.

Thank you Netgalley for this lovely opportunity to read and review this thoughtful novel.

Ana Turns


Ana Turns is broadly based on the structure of Mrs. Dalloway. It is a day in the life of a woman reckoning with her past and present. Although the most notable tribute was Michael Cunningham’s Pulitzer prize winning, THE HOURS, written in 1998, in many ways, this story is truer to the spirit of the original. With grace, perception of what makes us tick and originality, this book was a wonderful read.

It's Ana’s sixtieth birthday. And what are birthdays for (especially the milestones) but to think about the rest of our lives. Her life has been complicated and is looking back, knowing that if she is to find happiness in her future, she must make peace with her past. Unlike Clarissa, she did not plan her party, which may be part of her overall problem.

The book is narrated by Ana as well as the central people in her life—husband, mother, father, brother, best friend and more. Although all of these points of view could be clunky and distracting, they are not. In fact, I thought they were pitch perfect in dovetailing with Ana’s chapters.

Raised by a single, resentful mother, the story opens with a birthday email . It is a calculation that in the twenty years she was raising Ana, she spent $56,000, which adjusted for inflation would amount to $85,000. Had she invested it, rather than spending it on her daughter, it would have grown to A QUARTER OF A MILLION. And now in her old age, she is forced to live on social security and small pension in an infested apartment. Happy Birthday!

A great start to the special day...

Her father, a recently deceased famous architect, wasn’t much of a father either. An egotistical chauvinist never interested in his children, traveled the world, married multiple times, was never much interested in who he disappointed until towards his end.

These are the bullet points of her life now:
• She hasn’t had sex with her husband, Henry, in nine years, since he became pot addicted after an accident.
• For seven of those years, she’s been having an affair with a married gonzo journalist.
• Professionally, she is a book doula, which satisfies her to some extent as it mixes her professions of social work and study of literature but is becoming tilted in a negative direction.
• Her brother, George, cold, calculating, favored child has done something that affects Ana’s family without consulting her.
• And her son, Simon, is undergoing changes that is understandably rattling her but which she wants to understand and support.

Whew! There is more but I’ll leave it at that.

At the dinner party finale, a colorful event with all the family at their best and worst, Ana shows us what she’s made of.

Author Lisa Gornick is a fabulous writer. The characters were nuanced and though some were extremely unlikable, you understood them. There was humor amidst the pathos. Ana was a vivid, beautifully rendered protagonist. As a practicing psychotherapist, Gornick’s understanding of all our shades of gray, made this book sing.

Highly recommend.
With many thanks to both Keylight Books and Netgalley for the privilege of reading this advanced reading copy.

For more reviews, please check out: www.jantramontano.com/readerscafe


Publisher ‏ : ‎ Keylight Books (November 7, 2023)

This is a book about a woman turning 60, the event itself overshadowed by her mean mother's sniping comments about how much it cost to raise her. The mother is an actuary so not surprising that the only value she would place on the relationship is fiscal.
Ana's sexual relationship with her husband is non existent but not to fear, she's having an affair with Lance.
The story leapt from anecdote to anecdote, the best one being about the thwarted hijacking but I found it very hard to care. I was at first intrigued to read a story about someone with a trans son, and navigating the somewhat tricky world of pronouns but this was only used as a way to snipe at her brother, whom she also had a bad relationship with. Possibly this book was trying to do too much in too little time.

Absolutely fantastic plot! Could not put the book down once I began reading it. Cannot wait for it to be released. Will recommend it to everyone I know!

Lucky me—I got an early look at ANA TURNS, Lisa Gornick’s vivid portrayal of a woman revealed through her reflections on her 60th birthday. With intelligence and humor, Ana Koehl reviews her life, seeking insights into complicated relationships with her parents, her husband, her former lover, and more. A smart book that Mrs. Dalloway would surely recommend.

Ana Turns is a propulsive novel about an unforgettable character in a moment of reckoning. With the perfect mix of wisdom and humor, Lisa Gornick has given us a masterful portrait of an entire life—with all of life’s joy, sorry, regret and hope—over the course of a single day. Ana’s presence has lingered, indelible, in this reader’s mind. Highly recommend.

Such a fun and funny read. This is so refreshing, I loved Ana and that she is an older female protagonist, as this is based around her 60th birthday yet she hasn't given up on her lust for life and she's a really fun character to read about. The premise for this is so interesting and I really enjoyed this book.

Ana is a great character and Gornick has developed a good story around her turning 60! I liked the idea of this and the pace was good. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Three stars.