Tag Archives: evensong

Apple Best of the Month Pick: Evensong

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Apple Books Review: Evensong

Novelist Stewart O’Nan returns with this heartwarming ode to friendship. Whether hosting rousing bridge matches or delivering medication to shut-ins, Pittsburgh’s Humpty Dumpties aren’t just a social club, but a mutual aid society and sorority for women in their twilight years. When Joan Hargrove, the club’s firecracker of a leader, suffers a debilitating accident leaving her unable to continue her duties, the other members must step up to make sure her vision for the club stays on track. We loved meeting this eclectic group of ladies and seeing how, despite their own self-doubts, they manage to rise to the occasion. We laughed and cried along with Kitzi, Arlene, and Emily (who also appears in some of O’Nan’s previous novels, including Emily Alone) as they deal with colorful characters, unexpected challenges, and one particularly grumpy dog. Heartfelt and funny, Evensong is a glorious reminder that life doesn’t end at retirement.

[apple.co/bestbooks | itunes ]

Big thanks to @AppleBooksOfficial / @AppleBooks!

The Boston Globe: Stewart O’Nan’s ‘Evensong’ is a little miracle of a novel

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Check out the great review of Evensong in The Boston Globe!

How does Stewart O’Nan understand so deeply what it feels like to be an elderly woman?

O’Nan’s 19th novel, “Evensong,” follows half a year in the lives of Susie, Kitzi, Emily, and Arlene, four women in the twilight of life. They are the core members of the Humpty Dumpty Club, a large, loosely knit group of older women in Pittsburgh who look out for each other as their lives contract and their independence falters.

Directed by the highly organized Joan — she of the “highlighter and color-coded file folders” — the women run errands, pick up prescriptions, and groceries, drive people to medical appointments, and, eventually, visit them in the hospital and plan their funerals. This is more than volunteering; this is assuming responsibility, with spreadsheets and follow-up phone calls, and dropping everything, when necessary, to dash out the door, even on a holiday, even late at night.

[full review]

Starred Review from Kirkus for Evensong

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Kirkus Reviews gives a starred review for Evensong!

…O’Nan’s brilliantly rendered characters refuse to be pitied, matter-of-factly accepting loss and physical decline as they go about their days quietly sustained by their faith and commitment to service. Unsentimental yet deeply moving: more wonderful work from the versatile, masterful O’Nan.

[read the full review]

Starred Review from Booklist for Evensong

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Evensong received a starred review from Booklist!

“Fans of Kent Haruf’s Our Souls at Night (2015) and Elizabeth Strout’s Olive, Again (2019) will appreciate the dignity O’Nan (Ocean State, 2022) affords his characters as they navigate both the dramatic and the mundane moments in their lives.”

— Lindsay Harmon [full review]

Evensong will be published on November 11, 2025.

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