Ana Turns
by Lisa Gornick
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Pub Date Nov 07 2023 | Archive Date Aug 31 2023
Turner Publishing Company | Keylight Books
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Description
"A wealth of keen insight and just the right touch of delightful humor." —Sigrid Nunez, author of The Friend
A kaleidoscopic story, unspooling over the twenty-four hours of a very contemporary woman’s sixtieth birthday.
Nine years have passed since Ana Koehl had sex with her pot-addicted anesthesiologist husband, seven since she began an affair with a gonzo journalist. She’s gratified by her work as a book doula, but burdened by her belief that she need always be on call. Her elderly mother’s birthday greeting is an inflation-adjusted calculation of the cost of raising Ana in a mice-infested house, her brother has hijacked the will of their recently deceased starchitect father, her adult child is changing rapidly before her eyes, and her best friend advocates for “the truth in lies.” Gazing out at the dark moat of Central Park from behind her desk, Ana sees that she can no longer postpone making peace with her past or confronting her present.
Narrated by Ana and the key figures in her life—her husband, her brother, her lover’s wife, to name a few—Ana Turns spirals through issues from capital punishment to the dynamiting of the Bamiyan Buddhas, culminating in a watershed dinner party, with Ana’s family members’ true colors on full display. By day’s end, the bounds of her own collaboration and forgiveness illuminated, Ana turns towards a vision of what she wants next in this blink of a life.
Advance Praise
“This moving portrait of a woman assessing the friendships, romances, and family relationships that have shaped her sixty years contains a wealth of keen insight and just the right touch of delightful humor.” —Sigrid Nunez, author of What Are You Going Through
“With each glorious, hilarious page I found myself turning with Ana, one of the most original creations I’ve seen in a while and, to steal from Lermontov, truly A Heroine of Our Time.” —Gary Shteyngart, author of Our Country Friends
“I fell in love with Ana, a modern-day Mrs. Dalloway crisscrossing New York City to discover the unexpected truths about her life, lovers and impossible family. An exquisitely written love letter to what it means to be a grown-up woman.” —Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand and The Summer Before the War
“Lisa Gornick’s Ana Turns is a beautifully written and propulsive novel of desire and longing, regret and forgiveness. Ana is my favorite kind of character—deeply perceptive, surprisingly funny, and smart as hell. I loved this novel.” —Angie Kim, author of Miracle Creek
“It’s a great feat to capture a whole life through the lens of a single day. Lisa Gornick’s Ana Turns does this beautifully in a series of vivid encounters with both the present and the past on the momentous occasion of her sixtieth birthday. It’s exciting to watch Ana risk revealing her true feelings and to ultimately discover what she wants and deserves. But this isn’t only an internal story. The novel sweeps through history and travels all over the world to show the influences Ana is bringing with her into each moment, alone or with others. Ana Turns is a powerful story of a woman coming into her own.” —Alice Elliott Dark, author of Fellowship Point
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781684421398 |
| PRICE | $29.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 236 |
Links
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Tara G, Reviewer
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!
Natalie L, Reviewer
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.
ELIZABETH C, Educator
I really liked this book, and I think as I grow older I will appreciate it more. The book spans one day in the life of Ana. The day is her 60th birthday. Told from multiple perspectives, the novel delves into the different relationships the characters have and the motivations for their actions. The shifting perspectives give a depth that a 3rd person narrator could not have achieved.
Readers who liked this book also liked:
James Patterson; Mike Lupica
General Fiction (Adult), Mystery & Thrillers, Women's Fiction
