This is a story of what happens when you find yourself on Alternate Sides from your spouse. Nora and Charlie have been married for many years and their twins are finishing college when Nora finds that she has less and less to talk about with Charlie and when things happen their opinions are very different. The differences become monumental after an incident in their close-knit neighborhood leaves the neighborhood reeling and the focus of negative media.

Alternate Side is a descriptive look at family life in New York City. The book follows Nora Nolan, her husband Charlie and their twin teenagers, Rachel and Oliver, through a season of their lives in Manhattan. An act of violence occurs on their street in their wealthy Upper West Side Neighborhood and it affects them all in different ways.

Anna Quindlen is a skilled writer and her observations about day to day life are beautifully articulated and so truthful. The problem is that nothing much happens in this book. The act of violence takes a long time to get to and it's just not that serious. It's not closely related to any of the members of the Nolan family so, although it does affect them, it's a stretch. The book is more of a character study than a novel. As I said, I found parts of it very interesting and it's all very well written but parts of it dragged and I found myself skimming. The last 25 pages were my favorite because many of the characters made decisions and actually did things--rather than just think about them.

In Anna Quindlen's latest novel she takes on both a wealthy upper west side neighborhood in New York and the institution of marriage with satire and humor. On the one hand the book is a statement of our still existing class system while on the other hand it manages to be a love story to New York. She amazingly builds an entire novel around the neighborhood rules of a small parking lot surrounded by the privileged few on one side and the down and out on the other side. There are multiple examples of alternative sides woven throughout the novel. She provides detailed descriptions of powerful moments in her characters lives; the moments that will stick with them and us forever - the moments similar to the ones we all experience and never forget. I loved her narrative stream of conscious that many of us think but few say aloud. I also enjoyed the interspersed neighborhood notes; they make you feel like like you are actually one of the neighbors! It's a societal satire I highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Random House for providing with an early release of this book.

Nora and Charlie Nolan , and their two college aged kids, live on an exclusive dead end block, on the Upper West side of Manhattan. This street with no thru-traffic, is lined with century old Victorian townhouses. Their neighbors, like them, are all professionals who can comfortably afford their homes, nannies, housekeepers and the expense of the full-time handyman, Ricky.
For the most part the neighbors get along, greeting each other while walking their dogs, chatting at the two social gatherings held each year, or discussing the latest note from their selfappointed "mayor" George, about the coveted parking lot.
This lot, crucial to our story later, can hold six cars and everyone wants a spot since parking in New York City is either an impossibility or costs as much as renting an apartment. Charlie Nolan is obsessed with getting one, as Nora is with, "who needs a car in Manhattan anyway." Nora loves rhetorical questions and the fact that her kids understand them.
As the neighbors carry on their daily lives an event takes place in the parking lot that is the pivotal point in the story. One man, convinced he's the most important person on the planet, becomes enraged when he can't get his car to slide past Ricky's van, parked in the driveway to the entrance of the lot. In his haste and fury he swings his golf club insanely at the van then mercilessly at Ricky's leg, over and over, with both Charlie and George standing in stunned shock.
Naturally, everything changes after this incident. Neighbors take sides, spouses take sides, children take sides, and the press report the incident.
From here, our neighbors really get to know each other and reevaluate if this is where they want to continue living. Nora and Charlie find out more about each other that they've been ignoring and need to confront. Many neighbors move on except George, and one woman who has a choice secret about that parking lot!
A lively, intense and often humorous look at living in NYC. Recommend.

Anna Quindlen is certainly the best writer in the family drama genre - her latest novel is mostly a character study and a portrait of a marriage.
I loved the setting in this book and was familiar with all the places mentioned in New York City. I know this book won't be available until sometime in 2018, but I already know it will be one of my favorite books of the year. I live in Manhattan and the very term, ALTERNATE SIDE, fills me with angst and despair. Quindlen uses the parking situation as a metaphor for changing not only parking spaces, but actual lives.

This was the most boring book ever -- I tried and tried to stick with it but I just couldn't care less about the characters or what was going to happen to them (or if anything ever was going to happen!). I've liked other Quindlen books but this one just went nowhere. so I gave up about halfway through. I'm not going to post a review on Goodreads since I didn't get through it.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

I have long been an Anna Quindlen fan. Her Newsweek columns and novels all seemed to be a window into the heart of America's women. Her novels were not always pretty - in fact, some presented a rather sad view of life - but there was an honesty about the characters and their lives. <i>Alternate Side</i> seems like a natural progression. Her protagonist, Nora Nolan, is a wife, mother, museum curator, and stalwart NYC resident.

Most of the time Nora just goes with the flow. She never has specific direction yet people and career opportunities come to her. Her marriage has settled into a routine where neither Nora nor husband Charlie is extraordinarily happy, but day-to-life has a bit of inertia to it. Big changes, some inevitable (her children's graduation from college and adult jobs), some sudden (a violent attack by a neighbor on a handyman), manage to bring her life to a crossroads where certainty of direction is no longer absolute.

Quindlen's lovely writing manages to elevate a story about prosperous people who don't see or appreciate their good fortune to one where their seemingly blessed lives are rather woebegone. In another's hands, characters like Nora and Charlie would appear blandly pathetic and cause me to put down the book; under Quindlen's touch, Nora could be anyone of a certain age who looks around and says, "How did I get here?"

I have been reading Anna Quindlen's books for many years, since I was in my 20's. I used to read her newspaper column also. I was very excited to see that she was publishing a new book this year, as I have enjoyed her books in the past. Unfortunately, I was disappointed in her latest endeavor. I understand that not every story needs to have a direct point to it, but it took at least a third of the book for anything to really happen. The story is set in NYC in a wealthy, established part of the city, in which the neighbors have their own routine, rules and regulations. There is a pecking order to be followed, including the parking arrangement. In addition, each home has a full-time maid/nanny to help with the daily routine of the wealthy families. There are minor skirmishes between neighbors, the annoying, self-important neighbor, etc. The book takes a turn when one of the homeowners becomes angry at the local handyman for blocking his exit to his "well-earned" parking spot in the parking lot. He takes one of his golf clubs and starts smashing the handyman's van, and in the process, either misses a swing or intentionally strikes the handyman, causing great physical harm. The neighbors become divided on the issue, including if the violence was intentional and whether they should continue to socialize with the neighbor that caused the event. While this is taking place, there is also the story of the family of Charlie and Nora and their twins. The writing isn't as cohesive as I've come to expect from Anna Quindlen and the story seems to meander. Still an "ok" read but not as highly anticipated as I have come to expect from the author.

I love everything, every word, Anna Quindlen has ever written. This one though, not as much. It didn't seem to speak to me in the same positive, upbeat, hopeful voice I always look for when reading Ms. Quidlen's work.

Anne Quinden has an amazing ability to look inside the lives of families and neighbours who live on a dead end block in New York.. Nora, the main character, gives the reader an honest account of her life, her emotions and insights. There is never a dull moment on the block, but one major incident, creates friction and disturbs so many lives. Very well written and a joy to read.

Read in prepub. Pub date 3/20/18. I am predisposed to any New York City based story but am easily annoyed by "rich people problem" books so I was unsure of this one going in. Even given the fact that none of the characters were ever really in peril because their cushion of money ensured that any suffering they had would be existential, I still cared what happened to Nora. There is enough meat here--about class, about marriage, about community--that it would make a good book group discussion book. Recommend.

75% of this novel is the story of Nora Nolan’s life told as if it were her memoir. While it is based on the present, Nora flashes back to other times in her life. She is an educated white woman, wife, and mother who is not unhappy yet not happy about her life. She acknowledges her privilege and seeks to compensate for it through acts of kindness for her Jamaican nanny/housekeeper, Hispanic handyman, and “homeless” friend Phil. The response she gets from those different individuals is very interesting. It is not the typical, “Golly gee, you’re amazing.” There is real pushback that is nice to read. The other 25% of this novel is a love letter to New York City. Nora really loves NYC and her descriptions about what she loves are the best parts of the book.

Nora’s life story is somewhat interesting but also a little confusing at times. I felt lost when I began the book because it picked up right into Nora’s life. I did not know whom she was talking about and what was going on. It’s like I missed the prequel. Furthermore, there are paragraphs that will be describing a current event and then suddenly the reader is thrust back into another time and tangential story. I found it a little confusing when that happened. I understand that a lot of people do that when telling a story, but it doesn’t come across well on the page.

Overall, it was a nice, easy read. It wasn’t earth shattering or really moving for me.

I received an ARC of Alternate Side: A Novel through NetGalley for an honest review.

An engrossing book about NYC, a neighborhood, a marriage, a family, and a wife/mother/neighbor/career woman. I thoroughly enjoyed it and didn't want it to end. Kudos t0 Quindlen.

Anna Quindlen takes on on New Yorkers this time, and writes about them with such clarity and understanding that even if you don't like them, you are perfectly clear about whom and what they are about. There are some twists and turns in this book, which keep the story interesting and never dull. She tackles one of todays pressing issues in a very real way. It was hard to put this book down.

A family drama filled with a neighborhood of well-developed "New Yorker" characters, both obnoxious and kind.

I have enjoyed Anna Quindlen’s novels in the past, but just couldn’t get into this one. I bailed about a quarter of the way in. I didn’t feel a connection to the characters or the story on this one.

I've been an Anna Quindlen fan since her Newsweek days & have read all of her novels & non-fiction. Miller's Valley is one of my favorite recent reads, so I had high expectations for Alternate Side.

The book clearly lived up to them because I tore through it in two days.

Alternate Side is a book about divisions. Quindlen uses a coveted NY parking spot—"alternate side" is a parking-enforcement term anyone who's lived in a city knows all too well— to expose the tensions in an ordinary neighborhood, the long-ignored fault-lines in a marriage, and the widening gulf of income inequality in the U.S.

Although the incident that kicks off the action is violent, the story has Quindlen's characteristic warmth, wit and subtlety. Empty-nesters Nora and Charlie, who live in the same home but have drifted into separate lives despite their best intentions, were completely relatable. The privilege-skewering & contrast between haves/have-nots in the neighborhood is timely, but Quindlen never detours into cold social satire.

Wise, warm-hearted and gripping.

Anna Quindlen is certainly the best writer in the family drama genre - her latest novel is mostly a character study and a portrait of a marriage.
I loved the setting in this book and was familiar with all the places mentioned in New York City.

I wasn't that fond of most of the characters, but I feel as though I know them inside and out, and I thought about them at odd times of the day when I wasn't reading.
A tragic event happened in the insular neighborhood block where they lived, and their lives changed accordingly, but I can't say I feel badly for any of the residents.

It was interesting to read about each character's motivation and how they interacted with each other, what goes on behind the closed doors within a closeknit community which thinks they know everything about everyone.

I could finish this book. I got halfway through it and just could not engage in this story. There is an incident in an upper class New York City neighborhood which causes discord between the residence. The incident didn't take place until about a third of the way through the book but I was patient. I read all the character backstories, marriage histories, and musings about the city and its out of control real estate prices, all the while waiting for the story to begin. Halfway through I still felt as though I was waiting for things to start so I had to just set this one aside and move on ... too many book, too little time.

Favorite read lately, a literate examination of place, marriage and social class, Character development, writing style and plot are all
on point, Harkens back to the wonderful times spent with Ann Tyler, Ann Hood and Alice Adams.