Stewart O’Nan’s Emily, Alone touched my heart as it follows Emily Maxwell on her final journey, alone. The novel is a sequel to the acclaimed Wish You Were Here.
Now 80, Emily manages to fill her days maintaining the home where she and her late husband raised their children. She hires a few things done, but she has her rigid housekeeping rituals, her music, her garden and her old dog, Rufus.
Emily’s children live a distance from her Philadelphia home, so visits with them and her grandchildren are infrequent. In any event, she finds their relationship as distant as the miles that separate them.
When Arlene, Emily’s best friend and sister-in-law, faints at their favorite breakfast buffet, Emily finds herself without transportation. She dusts off her husband’s old, treasured Oldsmobile, and drives to the hospital where Arlene has been admitted. Emily is intimidated with the huge car, but for now she can’t rely on Arlene for transportation.
Another vehicle sideswipes the car where it’s parked on the street and Emily feels compelled to replace it with a new, smaller car. The new car paves the way toward a new independence. Arlene is discharged from the hospital and now Emily is often the driver for their excursions. She discovers she can go places and do things on her own and she savors these new possibilities.
Emily, Alone follows the daily life of a woman used to an orderly life. The novel goes into the sort of detail that brings Emily into the reader’s world. It’s a rare glimpse into the life of a person in her twilight years with typical anxieties, hopes and frustrations. I found myself holding my breath as Emily braves the freeway by herself to visit the graves of her parents, an errand she feels duty-bound to fulfill.
Emily, Alone isn’t a fast-paced novel with a breath-taking plot. It’s a quiet story of a lovable woman who faces life with dignity, hope and wry, sometimes quirky humor. I loved this story and its humane, intricate details.