Evensong
- Judith D Collins
- Sep 4
- 2 min read
By: Stewart O'Nan
ISBN: 9780802166432
Publisher: Grove Atlantic
Atlantic Monthly Press
Publication Date: 11/11/2025
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: TBR (ARC)
“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.
Praise
“What a great writer is Stewart O’Nan, and Evensong is one of his best: A beautifully structured, wonderfully nuanced story of a quartet of women negotiating friendships, rivalries, cats and dogs, frailty, and even new love as they slide into old age. This portrait of the so-called golden years displays O’Nan’s unmatchable talent for imbuing even the smallest moment with humor and sympathy. Excellent and unforgettable.”
– Kate Walbert, author of The Sunken Cathedral, Our Kind, and His Favorites
About the Author
Stewart O’Nan’s award-winning fiction includes Snow Angels, A Prayer for the Dying, Last Night at the Lobster, and Emily, Alone. Granta named him one of America’s Best Young Novelists. He lives in Pittsburgh.
